I’ve always learned that planning is good. More recently however, I’ve learned that daily planning carries with it powerful rewards. I’ve been only mildly successful ’till this point in my life in being a proactive participant through planning, but the times that I’ve actually sat down and detailed how I want to live my life I’ve felt the energy that comes from painting a picture of my future through setting goals. It has provided direction to my days and peace to my oft cloudy mind.
During the first week of 2008 I spent some quality time with a business partner. For some reason we decided to make a new tradition that I definitely didn’t have as part of my life during 2007. We decided on our first day back to work after the new year that we’d spend 30 minutes each morning in silence. During the quiet we would let all thoughts of necessities settle to the ground, organize them into a written list and then prioritize them with the the help of the question, “If I only achieved one thing today, what would be the most important?”
After several days of planning like that my partner began planning in the evening before so that the next day he could awake and get straight to his list, approaching his goals that much sooner in the day. A wise choice, as morning accomplishments seem to raise morale and boost self-confidence.
My experience with purposeful and daily morning planning has helped me to feel the excitement in my work that I crave. It has contributed to much more focused days and to keeping my mind on the task at hand. I have left work each day feeling accomplished which has meant a lot to me as I often will stay up late when I don’t feel accomplished during the day. This breeds poor sleep habits and I am often tempted to rationalize poor decisions the next day and sidestep responsibility, blaming errors on the lack of sleep.
In all, this simple principle of daily planning has helped me to feel as if I’m moving towards my goals. And since I’m an idea guy, I’ve valued dearly this little strategy that is helping me to see my dreams come to life a little each day.