I need a day in which I remember to relax. And meditate. Exercise. Eat and drink mindfully.
I need a day in which I'm motivated (I know what I want and I go after it) but flexible (I'm unfazed when someone suggests a different approach and their idea prevails over mine).
I need a day when I remember to save some time for fun.
I need a day when I calmly address things that are wrong (clear as day; black and white) or might be wrong (this should be looked at but I might not be privy to all the facts or I might be blind to another way of looking at the facts).
I need a day when I listen to understand versus rushing to conclusions.
These are currently the thoughts that fit my needs the most, thoughts that I review every morning. I check, "How did I do against these commitments yesterday? Did I eat or drink too much? Did I fail to listen during that meeting last night? Did I fight too hard to get my way when we debated on what to do next? Did I fail or succeed in challenging things that were or seemed wrong? For the day to come, how will I get my exercise in? My meditation? What will I do for fun? Are there things I will need to fight for?"
This is a very personal, individual list. These are things I need to reinforce, things that loved ones have asked me to work on, things that I recognize are not yet habits but that should be habits. I add or remove a bullet point off the list every few months because I never know what is going to matter most at any given time.
This isn't a matter of simple positive thinking. I'm not claiming that I have mastered something that I haven't yet mastered. I'm just holding myself accountable to how well I met these goals yesterday and picturing how I might meet them today. And, as I would expect from the research I've read, this does work pretty well. When I set my intentions at the start of the day, visualize specific actions that could make the outcome happen, and review what I did and didn't do well the previous day, I find it does steer me to shift in the direction that I'd like to move.
