Every week, I follow an insanely simple ritual that helps me feel more confident, motivated, and energized in life. And by doing it week after week,—no matter what’s going on—the benefits compound over time in a massive way.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
— Will Durant
Here are five simple things I do each week to enhance my life—it’s like hitting a reset button to start every new week ready to go. To make things smoother and more efficient, I recommend doing all of them on one specific day. (I do them on Sundays.) That way, you have a definite end to each week, have something to look forward to, and create a fresh start for the next week.
Track My Weekly Gain
Every week, I track any and all accomplishments across all areas of my life to see how I’ve grown and what I’ve achieved.
Did I sign a new client? Did I make a good trade in my portfolio? Did I wake up at a certain time? Did I talk to someone I was attracted to? If so, all of them go on my list of “gains.”
This concept comes from Dan Sullivan who explains we should measure the “gain,” not the “gap.” The “gain” is how far you’ve grown from where you started; the “gap” is how far you have to go to where you want to be:
“…if you turn around and measure your progress against where you started, then you’re in The Gain, and you’ll experience a sense of having moved forward, of having achieved something, and you’ll be motivated to continue on to your next stage of growth.”
The hilarious thing—which also stresses the importance of measuring the “gain”—is that I regularly forget everything I accomplished by the end of each week! Why? Because during the week, I’m so focused on day-to-day things that I rarely have a moment to pause and reflect on the past few days.
If I didn’t take time to measure my gains, I wouldn’t realize that I’m making progress or accomplishing things; as a result, I would feel less motivated, less confident, or like I’m stuck.
That’s why it’s so important to regularly track and celebrate your wins. It builds confidence, it makes you feel like you’re moving forward, and it builds momentum that flows into the next week.
(I also do this once a quarter to review my progress and plan for the following quarter.)
Treat Myself
I eat pretty healthy most of the time, but once a week, I like to treat myself to a cheat meal—a juicy burger and French fries, a couple of scoops of gelato, a pizza, or something like that. Why? Because I need to remind myself to enjoy life and all its pleasures.
“There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want, and after that to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second.”
— Logan Pearsall Smith
Yes, it’s important to eat healthy, exercise, and all that jazz, but if you can’t enjoy your health, what’s the bloody point? Interestingly enough, cheat meals actually help you stick to your diet, improve fat loss, and help your psychology towards food. (Remember that the next time you get a Double-Double, Animal Style at In-N-Out.)
Enjoy yourself. If you don’t want junk food, treat yourself to a movie, a massage, a visit to a museum, or anything else that’s positive and pleasurable.
Take a Break
I dedicate one day a week to do nothing.
As an entrepreneur, it’s easy to work too much because you run the show and there are no set hours. But working all the time isn’t a sign of productivity; it’s a sign of poor boundaries. There’s nothing good or healthy about it. And while hard work is important, the more you work, the more you need to recover; otherwise, you’ll create more problems for yourself.
That’s why I force myself to disconnect weekly, which boosts my energy, maintains my motivation, and prevents burnout.
“If, then, I were asked for the most important advice I could give, that which I considered to be the most useful to the men of our century, I should simply say: in the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.”
― Leo Tolstoy
To recover, I recommend switching your environment so you’re not reminded of work and routines. For example, you can take a day trip somewhere farther away. You can meet some friends and watch the game. You can go to a farmers market and cook a great meal with your family.
By the time start your workweek, don’t be surprised if you feel more energized and come up with new insights to improve your work and life.
Reread an Important Book
Once a week, I spend time rereading a meaningful book because, every time I do so, I gain new insights and remind myself of previous lessons that keep me on the right track.
Usually, I reread The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Dr. Joseph Murphy because it reminds me that success comes from within, how I feel about myself, and how I feel about the world around me. Other books I like to reread are The Four-Hour Work Week, Letters From a Stoic, The Inner Game of Tennis, and Willpower Doesn’t Work among others.
Fill My Memento Mori Chart
Every week, I fill one box in my “Memento Mori chart,” which vividly shows how much of my life has already passed and how much is left to go.
Memento mori is a Latin phrase popular in Stoicism, which roughly translates to, “Remember you will die.” The chart has 52 columns and 80 rows—the 52 columns represent the weeks in a year, the 80 rows represent a lifespan of 80 years (give or take), and each box equals one week of your life. (Download your chart here.)
Filling one box every week and becoming aware that I’m getting closer to the end inspires me to live life to the fullest — it helps me appreciate what I have, value the precious (and limited) time left, handle life’s setbacks easier, and take more risks.
Because when you’re aware every moment of life is irreplaceable, it can destroy a lot of barriers and give you massive courage to take action.
Also, when I fill each cell, I ask myself if I liked how I spent the previous week. This is powerful self-analysis—if week after week, you’re living incongruently with what you want and what’s important to you, you need to be brutally honest with yourself.
“Let us prepare our minds as if we’d come to the very end of life. Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life’s books each day. The one who puts the finishing touches on their life each day is never short of time.”
— Seneca
You always hear people say “life is short,” but it’s hard to truly see how short life is when you’re in the middle of it.
By visually watching your life pass before your eyes, it can give you the courage and motivation to take the leaps you’ve always wanted — before it’s too late.
And that will enhance your life like nothing else.
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