How Was Your Day?
There's a very special moment at the end of the day. All the hustle, bustle, and activity of the day has finally settled. The pitter patter of children's feet have stopped as they are tucked away safely in their beds. Many of the lights in the house are turned to the off position. The normal glow of devices has gone black. Computers, cell phones, tablets are all in sleep mode recovering from a day of use.
As we begin the night time routine of brushing teeth and making our way to bed we hear the voice. Some call it the inner voice. Some call it the conscious. Either way it asks the same question every time. How was your day?
How Was Your Day? The Lies We Tell Ourselves
Much of the time we brush off our inner voice much like we brush off a spouse or friend when they ask us, "How was you day?" We respond with, "It was fine." If we're being honest, we know better. Chances are it wasn't fine. Rarely are our daily actions and the subsequent results so neutral. If we're being honest when we answer the question how was your day we can easily see that it was either well below par or extraordinary. We are also clear on why the day turned out the way it did.
We know for example if we were disciplined, did the hard work, sucked it up and pushed through when it was tough. We also know if we were lazy and sloppy. If we cut corners, avoided the real work and basically skated through the day.
How Was Your Day Action Steps
Conduct A Raw Review: The first thing true professionals do is take a look back over their days and asked, "How was your day?" We must answer the question honestly. Then make an action plan of how to make the next day even better. Remember just because today may have sucked, doesn't mean tomorrow has to. A simple way I suggest to clients is a simple plus/delta model. Plus obviously being the things that went well. Delta (sign for change) being things that need some tweaking.
Pick 3 From Both Sides Of The List: This is a critical step. You can't attempt to take on too much on at once. No matter how we answer the "how was your day" question, we have to take small bites at a time if we're going to have any sustained success. This is the time to look for the low hanging fruit. The stuff that is easy to identify as important to either keep doing or to change. When it comes to picking items from the delta list that you want to work on for the next day go after the ones that seem the hardest first. If you need help with how to do this, have a listen to this lesson I recently did on how to do the hardest work first.
Ask How Was Your Day, Answer, Then Move On:
Professionals evaluate, reconfigure, and make it happen because tomorrow doesn't care about today. If you attempt to carry the negative baggage of today into tomorrow you'll find yourself slogging up uphill and crushing your performance. As the great Zig Ziglar was fond of saying...
Yesterday ended last night. - Zig Ziglar
How Will Tomorrow Be?
If there is one thing I know after years of working with clients as a professional development coach is that most people despite understanding the clear benefits of an exercise, will not take massive action to make it a part of their lives. Once you get the hang of it, conducting a plus/delta review of your day will take about ten to fifteen
minutes tops. Again, it doesn't take long because if we're honest we know exactly how things went. That knowledge though is only potential power. We need to face the truth head on, construct a plan, then let it go.
If the goal in your life is success for tomorrow then take a hard look at today. If you need a place to start, I'll help you. How was your day?
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