I would like to lay the groundwork for our next batch of lessons to help you Win The Day and provide some insight into the habits that we’ll be working on! These are not ideas that I have come up with myself, but that I try to live out. This is based on a book that I have read – Win The Day by Mark Batterson. This collection of thoughts needs to be shared around so that everyone can learn how to improve their outlook on life and ultimately Win The Day! But first, there are a couple of key thoughts that need to be laid out prior to looking deeper into our habits and these can be life-changing!
Sir William Osler was a very accomplished individual being one of the most famous medical doctors of his time. He was one of four founding partners of the Johns Hopkins Hospital and established the first residency program for specialization.
On April 20, 1913, Sir William Osler delivered an address to Yale University. An individual as distinguished as Osler was, he only professed to be of average intelligence, but the words that he spoke changed the outcome of many lives.
“The load of tomorrow, added to that of yesterday, carried today makes the strongest falter”.
Simply put, we feel overwhelmed by yesterday’s mistakes and underqualified for tomorrow’s opportunities. As a result, we often give up before we even try, feeling the weight of our circumstances pushing us down.
If we are paralyzed by the things we cannot change (the past) and crippled by things we cannot control (the future), what should we do? Sir William Osler’s advice – let go of “dead yesterdays” and “unborn tomorrows”. Focus on today!
Aim to live in “day-tight compartments” only allowing what is immediately in front of you to dictate what your outcomes are. When you focus on today, tomorrow takes care of itself. If you do that enough days in a row, you will be able to accomplish almost anything!!!
It’s important to outline what “Winning the Day” looks like to you. Identify items to measure for success. Establish daily rituals that provide opportunities to build on each other. Break bad habits but establishing good habits (we’ll get to all of this later).
It’s time to unleash the power of 24-hours!
Imagine there is a bank that provides you with $86,400 at the beginning of every single day. The only catch is that you only have 24 hours to use it. You can’t use any of it in advance, and you can’t save it for the next day. How would you use it? Would you plan it out? Would you spend it frivolously?
The thing is…we are all provided with this bank, except it’s time that we are given to use. We have 86,400 seconds every day to utilize, and at the end of the day, they’re gone!
So how will you use your time?
“According to psychologists Matthew Killingsworth and Daniel Gilbert, the average person spends 46.9 percent of their time thinking about something other than what they are doing in the present moment. We’re half-present half the time, which means we’re half alive”.
“The only way to be fully alive is to be fully present, and the only way to be fully present is to live in day-tight compartments”.
Live each day like it is the first day, and last day of your life. Don’t waste your time away.
While you go through this mini-course, be sure not to take on too many habits at once. That becomes overwhelming and nothing ever changes. Take it one step at a time…one day at a time.
Have you ever wondered why so many New Years Resolutions fail? Sometimes they are made on a whim, with no real thought or planning…sometimes they aren’t written down to help remind you of them as time goes on…but more often than not, it’s because the timelines we set for our resolutions are too long! Can you do something for a day? Absolutely. A week? Sure, why not. A month? Maybe. A year? I’m not so sure…not unless you have lived in day-tight compartments.
Ask yourself “Can I do it for a day”? And when the answer is yes, you have won the day! Then, the next day, ask yourself that same question! And when the answer is yes again, do you know what you have? A winning streak! And that build momentum!
So…identify a habit that you want to work on. Write it down. And over the next couple of weeks, let’s work on that!
Live in day-tight compartments and you’ll win the day!
If you’d like to check out the book that I’m working through, here is the link! Win The Day
Batterson, Mark. Win the Day: Seven Daily Habits to Help You Stress Less and Accomplish More. Multnomah, 2020.
