Most people don’t have a vision
Most people are living their life on autopilot, following the vision set by society: go to school, get a job, retire at 65.
Is this truly what it means to live our own lives, or simply to exist in a loop created by others?
Living on autopilot is the result of not having a vision for yourself.
Not having a vision means lacking clarity. A lack of clarity is a lack of purpose and direction.
That's exactly what makes most people pursue short term pleasures instead of long term fulfillment.
Your ideal day is part of creating your vision
By defining your ideal day, you’re creating a vision for yourself.
A vision is a clear image of what you want your future to look like and who you want to become in 2-5 years.
Defining your vision is like turning on your GPS and setting a destination.
With a vision, you're moving towards a future you've consciously chosen.
Without a vision, you’re more likely to wander through life and end up realizing the vision set out by others.
Having a vision is knowing where you want to go and what you want to achieve, providing a purposeful direction for your life.
Once you have your vision, everything else is secondary and a waste of time. And life's too short to waste our time on secondary things.
Your vision puts you on rails to :
- live a meaningful life
- build meaningful things
- meet meaningful people
- feel grateful and aligned with your true self
And feeling aligned is the best gift we can do to ourselves.
When we're aligned with ourselves, our lives flow smoothly with minimum resistance. It's as if life is supporting us in pursuing our vision.
But when we are not aligned with ourselves, we face friction and problems. It's as if we're being warned: "You're going in the wrong direction, don't take that path. Define your vision and pursue it."
To conclude this part: defining your ideal day is a major part of defining your vision.
By doing so, you gain clarity, direction and alignment.
How to design your ideal day
Defining your ideal day can be easier for some people, and harder for others.
Don't put pressure on yourself, it’s fine to have no idea of where to start. And you don’t have to define everything at once, writing down your ideal day can often take a few hours over a few weeks.
Before we dive in, keep in mind it will be updated, it will change with time.
Nothing is definitive and your ideal day will evolve with you. I've updated mine once over the last 2 years.
1. Reflect on key questions to visualize the big picture
Here are relevant questions to reflect on:
- Imagine one of your friends describing you to someone else in 3 years: how would you like to be portrayed?
- In 3 years, what did you accomplish? What does your job or business look like?
- What habits or skills do you want to have developed in three years?
- What activities make you lose track of time?
- What does success mean to you personally?
- Imagine a day where you feel completely fulfilled. What are you doing? How do you spend your time?
- If you had complete freedom and no limitations, how would you choose to spend time?
2. Write a first version of your ideal day as detailed as possible
Here are the two main guidelines to follow:
- Write down what you do at specific times throughout the day. Example: "8:00am: I wake up" or it could be "I wake up without an alarm clock when my body feels rested"
- Be precise and as specific as you can on the environment and your feelings.
3. My ideal day as an example
6:30am: I wake up in a spacious house next to my girlfriend. We've slept in ideal conditions and have had an excellent rest.
The place is satisfying, clean, and well-organized. It's a bright, cozy and warm space. It's also a smartly designed living area.
I’m happy because I know I also have close friends nearby in the house.
I drink water and take time to read a great non fiction book in front of a super cool view (mountain, jungle or ocean). I can hear birds singing. After reading, I meditate 15 minutes.
7:30am: There's healthy and delicious food in the kitchen. I take a savory, high protein breakfast.
8am: in a wooden office, in front of an incredible view of nature, I start writing with a hot coffee on the side. I’m smiling, grateful to write my thoughts and transform them into something.
9:30am: I start working for one of my businesses. I’m fully aligned with what I do as I know it brings true value to others.
I work very well, making progress, with clear ideas and total focus. I'm in the flow and very satisfied with my productivity.
If I have people around, I suggest a quick table tennis break or another fun activity. I can also swim in the pool. I come out of this break full of joy and energy.
I get back to work in the flow state.
12am: workout session with my girlfriend / friends. Gym, movement practice, running or swimming. We have fun, help each other and laugh. We end the session by taking an ice bath.
13pm: depending on who I am with and everyone's mood, we can either decide to eat a healthy meal in the house or go outside to a nice place. During the meal: we eat well, laugh, and brainstorm on our projects. Joy, kindness and ambition.
2pm: walk session in beautiful nature. Forest, lake or ocean.
4pm: I make some calls. I can give coaching calls, these calls energize me because I feel useful. Or I can call my family or friends. If I don’t have calls I take time learn something new (language, sport, cooking, music instrument) with a super talented and friendly teacher.
5pm: resting time. I can take a little nap.
6pm: depending the mood of everyone we can decide to go out, explore, meet new people or work pro bono for a project we love. We can have dinner outside.
If it's a weekday, we return home at 10 pm., in good shape, energized by enriching conversations.
I go to bed with my girlfriend.
4. Take it further by defining your ideal week, month, year
Once you have your ideal day written down, you can ask yourself: If I could design my ideal life, what would I want to do every week, month, year?
Here what it looks like for me:
Every week: I want to have deep conversations with people I care about, release a new piece of long form content, hang out with friends, learn something, exercise my body. I want to give value to people either with my writing, a coaching sessions or a course.
Every month: I want to go on an adventure with people I love, explore new areas and have fun. I want to do hikes in natures, camping. I want to play board games with friends. I want to work on my projects.
Every year: I want to travel at least 3 months, alone and with people. I want to disconnect from technology at least for one month. Live outside in nature for a while. I want to explore new countries and cultures.
Your ideal day is what truly matters to you. Everything else is secondary
This point is essential.
Your ideal day contains what's essential for you. What brings you joy, fulfillment and meaning.
If something is not is any version of your ideal day, week, month or year, it's not essential for you.
The clarity and focus that your ideal day brings is huge.
You can now set the goal to let go or minimize what doesn't belong to it.
Once your ideal day is written, start moving towards it and living it
Read your ideal day, week, month, year every morning. That helps you keep it in mind and stay focused on what really matters for you.
Ask yourself: what do you need to do, learn or change to fully live your ideal day?
Start living your ideal day. Even if, right now, you can’t live it entirely, there are things you can start doing. And these things are important for you.
Your ideal day is not an utopy you will never experience. It's what you want to live, it's your vision.
Don't wait and start moving towards your ideal day now.
Final word
Defining a vision for ourselves is key to our personal development. It's an absolute game-changer to live a better life.
Defining your ideal day can take a few hours over several days. These hours might have the best ROI of time spent for your professional and personal life.
In a future article, I'll also talk about the power of having a vision board.