Perfect Perspective

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Today’s Read: 2 minute, 23 seconds

Someone was asking me about my morning routine the other day. They asked - do you wake up at 6, meditate, fast, cold shower, work out - are you trying to have the perfect morning every day?

Me: Actually no. I used to do that. I used to try to create the perfect conditions for myself - wake up, drink a big glass of water, morning sunlight, Wim Hof breathing exercises, meditate, cold shower, stretch, work out, dress to impress.

I was so obsessed with perfect conditions, and then I realized, that's a recipe for failure. Anytime I would get thrown off, I'd go into a tailspin.

So I threw away perfect conditions and I traded it for perfect perspective.

Perfect perspective = your reaction to the action.

These other tools - meditate, work out, cold shower - help you be in the right state of mind.

But all you need is perfect perspective.

Treat every experience you're walking into as if you're picking off the menu - what do you want to feel in this situation?

How cool would it be if you got to choose your experience, regardless of the circumstances?

If you got to choose when you’re going to feel joy, laughter, or curiosity. Choose when you’re going to be high energy bouncing off the walls or when you’re going to feel focused.

Rather than being dependent on the situation to determine your mood.

Ex. Weather is great, I feel great. Weather is bad, I feel bad. Boss is nice, I feel good. Boss is stressed, I feel stressed.

Choose your own adventure. Weather apps shouldn't control your happiness.

I’ll go into a parking lot and say I choose to feel lucky. And guess what - a spot starts to open up. Maybe it’s the spot far from the store - oh cool I get to walk, how lucky. 

It’s not even about having to talk yourself into these things. You don’t really want to be thinking about it, you just want to feel it. 

You’re choosing what you get to feel. 

TLDR: Look at each scene you enter as if you're presented with a menu in front of you.

If I’m eating a healthy meal - kale salad - I used to feel like I was making a sacrifice to the health gods by eating the salad. 

I’ve tried to change my perspective to - oh kale salad? I can literally feel my cells putting on their party hats for the rejuvenation festival.

Here’s a thing to consider. Raise your hand if you have a calendar. I’m assuming your calendar has meetings scheduled, homework, classes, tailgate, date, etc.

So what you’re doing is you’re taking your most precious asset - your time - and you’re assigning it to tasks.

Fundamentally, this is how most people use their calendars. They take their time and allocate it to tasks. 

Consider an alternative. You take your calendar and instead of assigning 9 AM to do test prep you wrote ‘9 AM - feel powerful.’

Regardless of if you’re doing test prep, if you’re having breakfast with somebody, or if you’re in a meeting with your boss - doesn’t matter, powerful = scheduled. I’m having that at 9 AM. At noon, I’m having focus. At 1 PM, I’m having gratitude. 

Ultimately, why do we even do these tasks? (Test prep)

We do the tasks because you want to achieve something. (Ace the test)

You want to accomplish something because you think it’s gonna make you feel some kind of way. (I’m a beast)

So why not just skip to the feeling? Use the backdoor and go straight there. (9 AM - powerful)

Just something to consider. What if you allocated your time towards the experiences you want to have, instead of the things you’re going to do. And what would you become if you ended up doing this? The answer is epic.

So throughout today, whatever you walk into, just start to pick off the menu. I’m going to have joy here, I’m going to have laughter here. And then watch as the magic happens.

You have 2 options when you enter the door home.

1. You’re slouched over, drop your bag. Complain about the weather. You’re hungry.

2. Bust through the door. Hit em with the HONEY I’M HOME ENERGY. Chest up, head high, smile dawned across your face.

Honey I’m home energy does have side effects. Your partner or friends might resist it. They like you as is. They don’t like change, so at first they might be suspicious of your new honey I’m home energy. But they’ll start to realize that you’re on a new level. If their suspicion lasts more than 4 hours, call a doctor.

How’d we do today? Excellent | Good | Meh | Do Better |

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Make today epic my friend,

Jacob & The Renewal team

📬 Only forward this to friends who you wish to live longer.

🔥 Just used my last matchstick for warmth. coffee might save me from the cold though.

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