3 little questions help us make use of every day – intentionally

Often, time flies by, one day quickly passes, and then the next, and the next, and suddenly the week is gone.

And if someone asked us what actually happened during the week, what we did or didn’t do, what went well and what didn’t, we struggle to remember.

That’s a pity.

We risk losing valuable memories and experiences. And we miss the opportunity to learn from our daily successes and failures.

A little evening routine can help us live every day more intentionally.

EXERCISE

Every evening, sit down for 5 minutes (or do it while you brush your teeth), look back at the day that’s just ended, and answer these 3 questions:

• • What worked well today?
  • What didn’t work?
  • What am I going to do differently in future?

Let’s have a look how this works in more deteail:

Question 1: What worked?

It is important to start with thinking about what worked – because that brings you to a more positive place and opens your mind to the insights that can be gained.

List everything that went well this day. Every little thing. 

Ask, and answer, for example,

• • What did I do well today?
  • Which of the actions I took were effective?
  • Which helpful toughts did I have?
  • Which positive feelings did I experience?
  • What did I do well in my encounters with others?
  • What did I do better than the day before?
  • Etc.

Question 2: What didn’t work?

Keep the list as neutral as possible, avoid negative adjectives. This is just about creating an inventory of the things (actions and thoughts) that didn’t work out, it’s not about collecting accusations.

Ask, and answer, for example,

• • Which thoughts or beliefs got into my way and kept me from doing what had to be done?
  • In which ways didn’t I show up like I wanted?
  • Did I lack certain skills or necessary knowledge?
  • What did I do that made me feel frustrated, disappointed, miserable, …?
  • Etc.

Question 3: What am I going to do differrently tomorrow?

Based on your answers to the other two questions you can now make a plan and list what you want to do differently in future.

This step is vital for our development and our future successes, but most of us don’t do it – because we are so eager to get away from the not so perfect experiences that came to mind when we answered Question 2.

Answering these questions every evening makes every day – the good days and the not-so-great days – valuable.

If we deliberately evaluate what we experienced today, we can decide to make use of our insights tomorrow.

This means that we are living (more) intentionally.