The Days of Your Life

I can't believe it's Friday again. Writing a weekly newsletter that goes out at 8am CET every Friday for the past several weeks has given a clear reference point to passing time. And it seems to pass by faster each week. Welcome to the 8th editon of The Daily Reset .

We've been working on final typesetting and cover design of my new book this week and I think it looks great. I'm really excited to share it with all of you. The advance nudges go out on Monday so if you'd like to get a taste of the content for a couple of weeks before it's published please sign up here .

Back to the theme of this week's newsletter - time. There are a few dozen nudges in the book that deal with time, first on how we perceive time and also how we live our days. Indeed, the main rationale for The Daily Reset is living, fully, all our days, and appreciating the miracle of life. This doesn't mean we fixate on optimisation or performance, simply that we get involved. And if one particular day doesn't work out, that's ok. We get the opportunity to reset and try again the next.

This daily focus and perception of time have been key themes in my writing and speaking over the years, including this week with 100+ managers from Telefónica. We covered a lot of content, yet also immersed ourselves in time -- 5 minutes in silence at the beginning of a session, a 1 minute meditation, time and space to think -- not always rushing to doing, just being. And when we talked of doing, we talked of the daily focus, because:

What we do every day matters more than what we do every now and again.

The program this week was virtual but much of my approach was honed during seven wonderful years at the physical hub of Telefonica's main learning and development activity, Universitas, which is the focus of the second nudge below. The first looks at the way a Buddhist monk would spend the days of their life, with reflections on my own, slightly monkish book writing experience :)

Thanks again for reading this week and warm wishes for the weekend. Steven

A Monk's Life (Nudge #143/366)

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” Confucius

A Buddhist monk will typically wake at 4:30am followed by early morning prayers or recitation and personal hygiene. They may then go to collect alms and return for breakfast. Learning takes up the rest of the morning with the main meal of the day around lunchtime, which for them is, typically the last meal of the day. More learning, prayers and meditation follow and then comes the afternoon when work is done for the physical upkeep of the monastery. Everyone is in bed by 7pm. Seven days a week, 365 (or 366) days a year.

Could you live such a life? I know I couldn’t. But, still, maybe there are some elements of their experience we could adopt?

The last stretch of writing this book gave me some insight. Several days alone, mostly in silence, following a simple routine each day. Early to bed and early to rise. I wouldn’t want that as my typical life but there was a pleasure and fullness in the simplicity and isolation, of observing the same patterns in the world around me each day, of appreciating the symmetry.

What monastic practices could you implement today? De-cluttering? Listening without judgement? Learning something new? Taking on just one task at a time? Can you let go of what you can’t control?

We don’t need to be a monk to be more monk.

Days and Weeks (Nudge #150/366)

When I delivered programs at Universitas Telefónica in Barcelona, it was often an exhausting experience. I would arrive to campus on Monday morning for a reception that evening with up to 180 participants from all over the world. Classes would start early the next day and run until Friday lunchtime. Activities would take place each after classes finished, followed by dinner at a very Spanish hour. My day could stretch from a 7am pre-breakfast run to a midnight after-dinner cocktail. During that week, it seemed we were always on.

What particularly struck me was the feeling that came over me during Friday lunch when we celebrated another successful week of transformation. It all seemed to have passed in a flash.

This is when I came up with the phrase:

The days are long but the weeks are short.

If you feel your day stretching out and even find yourself complaining about its interminable nature, stop yourself. Don’t try and escape from it. Go deeper. Immerse yourself in the experience.

Because when it’s gone, you may wish for it to be back.

www.dailyreset.me