Understanding Your Daily Value

24 hours.  It’s not much time in the grand scheme of things… geologically speaking, not even a blink of an eye.  A day is however, one of most definable significant social/business/life increments we have.  “How was your day?”  “What did you do today?”  “Is that a work day?”  Chances are you will experience over 25,000 days in your lifetime, and in some countries the average is well over 30,000.  That is a lot of opportunities!

Here are 3 keys to getting the most out of every day you have.

1.  Carpe Diem - This is the big one, and I know it’s a bit cliche but the concept works if it means something to you.  Trouble is for many people this concept is a bit too robust all on it’s own.  What does seizing the day mean anyhow?  It imbues a certain grandiose significance that we simply can’t muster every 24 hours, can we?   What we can do however is start living in the moment, and by that I mean living with intent, or giving cognoscente thought to as many of our actions as possible.  And by doing so, we can find opportunities to add value to our life and the lives around us in some very significant ways.

Here’s an example… I drink coffee.  And in my office the coffee machine is about, 25 seconds or 44 paces away.  (Yes, I like my coffee that much.)  If I am not paying attention I will get up from my desk, walk the 44 paces staring down at my feet, contemplating my spreadsheet or whatever, and will return to my desk in approximately 1 minute with a full cup of coffee.  [Time spent: 1 minute ---> Net gain: Burned 22 calories on the walk/1 full cup o' joe]

But in that amount of time, I’ve ignored 3 open office doors and the receptionist (the ultimate linchpin to any successful organization), as well as a copy room and the water cooler along my way.  Now, if I am living in the moment and giving intent to all of my actions I will open my eyes and I just might think to take the opportunity to greet the faces in those 3 open office doors with a quick hello.  Or perhaps offer to get the receptionist a refill while I’m getting my own coffee.  And maybe I’d even grab my mail out of the copy room.  I don’t even have to break stride to say hello, and if done in a cheery manner, it will actually be appreciated.  The extra cup of coffee may add 10-12 seconds onto my trip, but hey that’s worth it right?  [Time spent: 1 minute 30 seconds ---> Net gain: Burned 27 calories on the walk/1 full cup o' joe/brownie points with the receptionist/more goodwill with my coworkers/stack of mail (saving a later trip)/more pep in my step]

Give this a try in your life and you will be amazed.  The great part is, the better you get at it the deeper it goes… start with a walk to the coffee machine, but learn to concentrate on your movements, your decisions, your interactions, your opportunities and interacting with life can go from a constant battle between your interior monologue and the noise of the world to a kinetic meditative experience.  And that brings the unreachable grandiose-ness of Carpe Diem to an obtainable level.  Seize the day, but moment by moment… action by action by living with intent.  Even when relaxing. 

2.  Get better at contemplating the future. We’re focused on tomorrow too much, and in the wrong ways.  Plans are great, thinking of the future is completely necessary for visionaries and creatives.  Imagining a better world, an end goal, a new life, all have their merits… don’t loose the dreams and creative thinking, but treat them for what they are, an active experience.  We too often don’t spend enough time fully immersed in thinking about the future, and too much time pining for it.  When you find yourself considering the future, go for it full tilt.  Get out pens, paper, paints whatever it takes to get that spark to light a fire.  Make plans, paint pictures, write something down!  By doing so, you’ve then taken that passive-secondary process to an engaged primary process.  This will help you get there sooner, trust me.  Then don’t forget to act.  No matter what your dreaming about, there is something you can do today to make that future reality a bit closer.

3.  Prioritize prioritizing… Don’t waste time, those 25-30 thousand days are going to fly by.  Here are a couple of sub-tips: A) make lists B) Spend time figuring out what you want most in life… then choose to do things that get you closer to those goals C) People and education should always get top billing.  Opportunities to focus on either should never be passed up.

Give these concepts a try (practice) and I’m confident you’ll get more value of each and every day… and your life will be better for it… talk to you soon.