7 Actionable Ways to Achieve More in Life

Summary

本视频介绍了Matthew Dicks的书籍《总有一天就是今天》，分享了作者通过三次濒死经历后的人生转变和实用建议。视频总结了书中的七个行动指南，包括适应不完美的工作环境、利用碎片时间、以跳跃式方法处理大项目、设定宽泛的远景目标、避免过于详细的五年计划、从百岁老人的角度做决策以及追求有意义的软目标，旨在帮助观众实现生活中更多的愿望。

Takeaways

• 📚 书籍《总有一天是今天》由Matthew Dicks撰写，提供了实用的建议帮助人们实现生活目标。
• 🚀 作者Matthew Dicks经历了三次濒死经历，从而改变了他的生活轨迹，从破产到成为畅销书作家。
• 🅿️ “停车场练习”鼓励在任何环境中都能进行创造性工作，而不是等待完美的条件。
• 🕒 “分钟心态”强调利用碎片时间，而不是按小时计划，以提高效率。
• 🌿 “荷叶方法”提倡在多个项目之间跳跃，根据心情和动力选择不同的任务。
• 🌅 “地平线习惯”建议设定一个大致方向的目标，而不是过于具体的压力重重的目标。
• 🎹 “钢琴先例”警告过于详细的五年计划可能会因不可预见的事件而失败。
• 👴 “100岁计划”建议在面临选择时，想象自己100岁时会给出的建议。
• 🎯 “有目的的方法”强调生产力不仅仅是工作，还包括那些对我们有意义的“软目标”。
• 💡 通过提高工作效率，我们可以释放更多时间去做生活中真正重要的事情。

Q & A

《总有一天是今天》这本书的核心主题是什么？

这本书的核心主题是如何通过实际可行的建议来实现生活中我们想要达成的目标。

Matthew Dicks是如何从困境中崛起，最终成为畅销书作家的？

Matthew Dicks经历了三次濒死经历，包括一场严重的车祸和22岁时被持枪威胁，这些经历迫使他重新审视自己的生活和成就。他从一贫如洗、住在车里、在麦当劳工作的状态，通过不懈努力，最终成为了畅销书作家、世界故事冠军和获奖记者。

在《总有一天是今天》中提到的“停车场练习”是什么？

“停车场练习”是指在任何环境中都能进行创造性工作的能力，而不是等待完美的环境。Matthew Dicks通过自己在牙医诊所外的停车场写作的经历，强调了真正的生产力并不需要完美的条件。

Matthew Dicks在书中提到的“分钟心态”是什么？

“分钟心态”是指将时间规划和利用细化到每一分钟，而不是以小时为单位。这种思维方式鼓励人们珍惜时间，利用日常生活中的零碎时间进行有意义的工作。

“荷叶方法”是如何帮助人们克服大型项目的难题？

“荷叶方法”鼓励人们在面对大型项目时，不必按部就班地从开始到结束，而是可以根据自己的心情和感觉跳跃性地进行工作，像青蛙在荷叶上跳跃一样，这样可以减轻压力，提高工作效率。

什么是“地平线习惯”？

“地平线习惯”是指设定一个大致方向性的目标，而不是具体、可衡量的目标。这种方法减轻了目标设定的压力，允许人们灵活地追求自己的激情和兴趣。

为什么Matthew Dicks建议避免制定过于详细的五年计划？

因为过于详细的五年计划可能会因为生活中不可预测的变化而变得不切实际。他建议人们应该有一个大致的方向，但同时保持灵活性，以应对生活中的变化。

如何运用“100岁计划”来做出生活中的决策？

“100岁计划”是指在面临生活抉择时，想象自己100岁时会给现在的自己什么建议。这种方法可以帮助人们从长远的角度考虑问题，做出更有意义和价值的决策。

Matthew Dicks如何定义“软目标”？

“软目标”是指那些可能看起来不具有传统生产力意义，但对于个人来说却非常有意义和满足感的目标。这些目标是个人刻意追求的，能带来目标感和成就感。

如何将生产力提升应用到个人生活中？

通过提高工作效率和生产力，减少不必要的时间浪费，人们可以为自己真正关心的事情腾出更多的时间和精力。这包括优化工作时间、家务时间等，以便有更多时间投入到对自己来说真正重要的事情上。

Outlines

00:00

📚 书籍介绍与作者背景

本段介绍了一本名为《总有一天是今天》的书籍，作者是Matthew Dicks，他通过三次濒死经历，包括严重的车祸和被持枪威胁，重新审视了自己的生活。书中提供了实用的建议，帮助人们实现生活中想要达成的目标。作者从无家可归、在麦当劳工作的困境，成长为畅销书作家、世界级故事讲述者和获奖记者。

05:01

🚗 停车场练习：适应任何环境

这一部分讲述了作者在创作时对环境的依赖，以及Matthew Dicks如何改变这一观念。Matthew认为真正的生产力并不需要完美的环境，他通过在停车场写作的例子，强调即使在不完美的环境下也能保持生产力。他提醒我们，等待完美的时机或环境来实现目标是不现实的，成功的人是在不完美的环境下采取行动的人。

10:01

⏰ 分钟心态：珍惜每一分钟

在这一段中，作者强调了珍惜每一分钟的重要性。Matthew通过一个关于他与一位想要写书的女士的早餐会面的故事，说明了即使只有几分钟，也可以用于创作。他提倡利用零碎时间进行小步骤的工作，而不是等待完美的几个小时来完成任务。这种方法可以帮助我们在日常生活中更有效地利用时间。

15:02

🍀 荷叶方法：灵活的创作路径

这一部分介绍了Matthew的荷叶方法，这是一种非线性的创作方式。他鼓励人们不要从项目的开始就着手，而是可以根据自己的心情和感觉跳跃性地进行创作。这种方法可以帮助人们在面对庞大项目时，避免感到压力和不知所措，而是通过灵活的方式逐步实现目标。

🌅 地平线习惯：设定宽泛的目标

在这一段中，作者讨论了设定目标的问题，特别是SMART目标可能带来的限制。Matthew提出了地平线目标的概念，这是一种更宽泛、更灵活的目标设定方式。地平线目标允许我们在追求目标的过程中保持灵活性，而不是被具体的数字或时间限制束缚。

🎹 钢琴前瞻：避免过度规划

这一部分讲述了过度规划的风险，Matthew用“5年计划是邀请宇宙在你头上掉下钢琴”的比喻，来说明过度规划可能导致无法适应生活中不可预见的变化。他提倡制定一个大致的计划，但同时要为命运的不确定性留出空间。

👴 百岁计划：长远的视角

在这一段中，作者介绍了Matthew的百岁计划，这是一种从长远角度考虑问题的方法。通过想象自己100岁时会给现在的自己什么建议，可以帮助我们做出更有意义和价值的决策。这种方法鼓励我们考虑长期的影响，而不是仅仅基于短期的紧迫性。

🎯 有目的的方法：生产力的真正意义

最后一段讨论了生产力的真正含义，强调生产力不仅仅是工作或经济产出，而是关于如何有效地利用时间来做对自己真正重要的事情。Matthew提倡设定软目标，这些目标可能在传统的生产力定义中看起来不那么“生产力”，但对个人来说却是有意义和满足感的。

📖 生产力书籍总结

作者提到自己对阅读生产力书籍的热爱，并推荐了一个视频，该视频总结了他阅读的107本生产力书籍，提炼出一个九步框架，帮助观众提升生产力，做更多对自己重要的事情。

Keywords

💡生产力

生产力在视频中指的是个人完成任务和目标的能力。它不仅关乎工作效率，还包括如何有效地利用时间来实现生活中真正重要的事情。例如，视频中提到通过提高工作效率来释放更多时间去做重要的事情，如与家人共度时光。

💡停车场练习

停车场练习是指在不完美的环境下进行创造性工作的一种方法。它强调的是，真正的生产力并不需要一个完美的环境，而是可以在任何地方、任何时间开始行动。这个概念来自于作者Matthew Dicks在牙医诊所外的停车场写作的经历。

💡分钟心态

分钟心态是指将时间分割成更小的单元来提高效率和利用时间的一种思维方式。这种心态鼓励人们珍惜每一分钟，而不是仅仅按小时来计划和工作，从而在日常生活中找到更多的创造性和生产力。

💡荷叶方法

荷叶方法是一种非线性的工作方式，它允许人们在多个项目或任务之间跳转，而不是按顺序完成。这种方法认识到，有时候从项目的中间部分开始，或者根据情绪和动力跳到不同的任务上，可能会更有效率和动力。

💡地平线习惯

地平线习惯是指设定一个大致方向性的目标，而不是具体、可衡量的目标。这种方法减轻了目标设定的压力，允许人们在追求目标的过程中保持灵活性和适应性。

💡钢琴先例

钢琴先例是指避免制定过于详细和长期的计划，因为生活中不可预测的事件可能会破坏这些计划。这个概念鼓励人们有一个大致的方向，但同时保持对变化的适应性和灵活性。

💡100岁计划

100岁计划是一种通过想象自己在未来的样子来做出当前决策的方法。这种方法鼓励人们从长远的角度考虑，思考未来的自己会给现在的自己什么建议，从而做出更有意义和价值的选择。

💡有目的的方法

有目的的方法是指在生活中有意识地安排时间，以便更有效地完成工作和琐事，从而为真正重要的事情腾出更多时间。这种方法强调的是，生产力不仅仅是为了工作或经济产出，更是为了能够享受生活中真正重要的事情。

💡软目标

软目标是指那些可能不符合传统生产力定义的目标，但对个人来说却非常重要和有意义的目标。这些目标可能不会直接提高工作效率，但它们对个人的满足感和幸福感有着重要影响。

Highlights

本书《总有一天是今天》由经历过三次濒死经历的Matthew Dicks撰写，提供了实用的建议帮助人们实现生活中想要达成的目标。

作者Matthew Dicks从破产、无家可归到成为畅销书作家、世界级讲故事者和获奖记者的转变，展示了他生活观念的重大改变。

Matthew在22岁时被持枪威胁的经历让他深刻反思生活，意识到自己对未能实现梦想的遗憾。

书中提出的“停车场练习”鼓励人们在任何环境下都能进行创造性工作，而不是等待完美的条件。

Matthew强调真正的生产力并不需要看起来漂亮，而是要实际产出。

“分钟心态”教导我们珍惜每一分钟，而不是仅仅按小时计划生活。

通过利用碎片时间，即使是几分钟，也可以有效地推进创造性工作。

“荷叶方法”鼓励创作者在项目中跳跃式前进，而不是按部就班。

Matthew建议通过设定“地平线目标”来减轻目标设定的压力，允许灵活性。

“钢琴先例”提醒我们不要过于详细地规划生活，因为不可预见的事件可能会破坏计划。

想象自己的“100岁计划”可以帮助在生活十字路口做出更有意义的决策。

生产力不仅仅是关于工作，还包括我们想要投入时间的有意义的活动。

书中提倡的“软目标”是指那些可能看起来不生产性，但对个人来说却非常有意义和满足的目标。

通过最大化工作效率，我们可以释放更多时间来专注于对我们真正重要的事情。

作者分享了他如何在全职医生工作的同时，通过利用零碎时间增长YouTube频道的经验。

书中的故事和建议都是基于作者个人经历和对时间价值的深刻理解。

Matthew Dicks的书提供了七个实用的建议，帮助人们在生活中实现更多的愿望。

Transcripts

hey friends welcome back to the channel

so this is one of my favorite books it's

called someday is today and it's filled

with incredibly actionable helpful

practical advice for achieving more of

the things we want in life it's written

by an incredible guy called Matthew

dicks who has survived three near-death

experiences including a ridiculously bad

car crash and also being held at

gunpoint at the age of 22 and these

experiences forced him to reconsider

what he was doing with his life and what

he achieved and he went from being

someone who was completely broke living

in his car and working at McDonald's to

becoming a best-selling author world

champion Storyteller and award-winning

journalist I was sure that I was going

to die that day and I will tell you that

I did not feel fear or sadness or anger

the only feeling I was consumed with was

regret I was 22 years old and I had

failed to do anything with my life that

I had wanted to do that was a quote from

a podcast that I did with Matthew a few

months ago incredible episode but in

this episode of book club which is the

ongoing series will be distill and

discuss highlights and summaries from

some of my favorite books I'm going to

talk through seven actionable tips that

I took from his latest book Sunday is

today these are seven tips that will

help you achieve more of what you want

in life let's get into it tip number one

the parking lot practice so when I first

started writing my book feel good

productivity uh I felt like I had to do

it in the right environment I felt like

I had to go into a coffee shop and have

my little latte next to me and my

headphones on and I wanted the

environment to be perfect otherwise you

know for some reason I felt this

writer's block and I felt like I

couldn't do the thing but Matthew's

approach to this is completely different

and his approach is actually change the

way that I approach my creative work and

I think you can get a lot of value from

this as well and one of my favorite

quotes from the book is that product ity

is not pretty now we've all seen those

examples of like you know the students

that are like doing the notes in like

the most elaborate colorful method

possible we've seen those sketch notes

we've seen all these people with their

like incredibly pretty desks and

everything and it just looks like such a

productive Vibe and it looks very pretty

but the point that Matthew is making is

that true productivity does not have to

look pretty and the example that he

talks about in the book is where he was

early for a dentist appointment and so

instead of just sort of waiting in the

car or like scrolling Tik Tok or

whatever the thing was instead of doing

that he decided to just sit on the side

of the road in the parking lot lot get

out his laptop and continue writing some

more of the novel that he was working on

during World War I there were men in

trenches wearing gas masks artillery

exploding over their heads and they were

scribbling in little books in journals

hoping that if they survive this battle

and the many battles that were to come

someday they might publish something so

thank goodness that the writers of the

1910s did not require Starbucks smooth

jazz and 2hour quiet blocks of time for

them to get their work done his point is

that there's never going to be a perfect

place or a perfect setting to get things

done especially when your life is

chaotic especially when you have kids I

don't have kids but he does and so he

would know and if you're always waiting

for the right time or the right

environment to be able to do a thing

that propels your creative life forward

or to do a thing that you really want to

do you're going to be waiting for a very

very very long time it's the same with

eating healthily it's the same with

going to the gym it's the same with

building a business the timing is never

going to be right the time is now the

time is never and the people who can

take action on the things that they want

to do despite the imperfect environment

are the ones who ultimately succeed and

timately move forward with what they

want in life tip number two the minut

mindset so the point here is that when

we plan out our day we tend to think in

blocks of hours but thinking in hours

can actually cause us to waste quite a

lot of time now in the book he talks

about this and this is one of my

favorite stories in any book that I've

ever read he talks about how he was

meeting up with a person who wanted to

write a book and he was meeting up with

her for breakfast she met me at the

McDonald's and she was late and so when

she sat down I said tell me what you're

planned what you're doing and she

started describing this book and then

eventually I said as I always say to

writers I say so how much have you

written and so often almost always the

answer is oh well I haven't started

writing anything yet and I then I said

to her I said well you were 7 minutes

late today and she said I'm sorry you

know she I'm so sorry I'm like no no no

my point was not that you were 7 minutes

late and I was upset my point was I used

the 7 minutes that you were late to

write some sentences you know I turned

my computer I said this is what I wrote

in the 7 minutes that you were late and

I just absolutely love this approach

like after Matthew's near-death

experiences he says that he realized the

profound value of time and he didn't

want to come to the end of his life with

regret for failing to achieve the things

that he actually wanted to do and so

what he tries to do now is he tries to

get the most out of every single minute

rather than every single hour I I tell

all of the creative people of the world

10 minutes is precious to you it doesn't

mean in 10 minutes I can write a chapter

in 10 minutes I can reread the last

three paragraphs I wrote earlier today

and see if they're okay and clean them

up a little bit or I can write five good

new sentences and this is actually how I

was able to grow this YouTube Channel

while I was working for 2 years

full-time as a doctor this book hadn't

come out yet but at that time I had a

similar attitude in that in between

patients or in my lunch break or in a

random break here and there when I had a

few minutes of time I would get out my

phone or I would go on notion on the

Windows computers at work and I would

just make a few more notes on a video

that I was working on and so what that

meant is that in these little blocks of

time here and there throughout the day

where other people around me were

scrolling Tik Tok on their phones or

whatever in those moments I was writing

more bullet points for a video or

fleshing out some title ideas or

figuring out a thumbnail and in this

context me and Matthew are absolutely

not saying that there is no time for a

break and that you should never ever

recharge and relax in fact my whole the

whole final three chapters of my book

Feelgood productivity are all about the

power of rest and relaxation to make

things sustainable over time but the way

to think about this is that what do you

find yourself doing in those pockets of

time do you wait until it hits like 5:00

to be able to do something because you

have to start on the hour what if you

just had 3 minutes or 5 or seven or 9

minutes left could you do something

intentional and effective and enjoyable

with that time rather than wasting that

time on scrolling whatever thing that

you tend to default to oh and by the way

one of the productiv tools that I use

every single day that really helps me

make the most of my time is what I call

the year at a glance spreadsheet it's

basically a Google sheet that has the

entire year laid out and it's a way of

visualizing the calendar that you just

don't really get within calendar apps

and there's going to be a link in the

video description where you can download

this completely for free if you want a

better way for planning your year as

well all right tip number three is the

lily pad method now in the book Matthew

writes that the only real failure for

any Creator is to stop making stuff now

by making stuff it could be writing it

could be YouTube videos it could be

studying for your exam it could be

learning to code it could be starting

that business or working on your sales

scripts so you know this all of this

stuff is what I would call Creative in

some ways but sometimes doing this stuff

can feel really overwhelming especially

with everything else going on in our

lives and especially if you have a big

project that you're working on like

trying to study for a massive exam or

like trying to write a novel or trying

to start a business and get it off the

ground there's often a lot of little

steps involved in that thing but if you

look at the whole thing it can seem like

a mountain that feels very daunting to

climb now normally the conventional path

towards working towards our goals is to

do things in sequence in order one at a

time but the lily method is kind of

Matthew's approach to this which is to

recognize that you don't actually need

to start at the beginning and you don't

need to finish at the end you can in

fact jump around I think sometimes

people see a goal or a dream as a linear

process Like A to B to C and I think

that's always a mistake too so I was

working with someone yesterday who said

I want to write a memoir and I said

we'll start writing a memoir and she

said I don't know where to start and I

said do you have some good moments that

you know you want to include she said oh

yeah I said well write those she said

don't you have to start a book at the

beginning I said no you write something

just write chapter 15 if that's what you

can write today so seeing your dream as

stepping stones but you get to touch

whichever one you want at any point cuz

you're going to have to touch all of

them eventually that's really helpful so

if you figure out what is the goal that

you're trying to go for and then you

break it down into these tasks but

instead of seeing these tasks as things

that that have to happen in sequence if

you can think of them as almost like

lily pads where you can sort of Leap

Frog around these different lily pads

depending on your mood and depending on

how you're feeling then in those moments

where you feel overwhelmed by a

particular task or you feel like you

don't have the motivation or the

discipline or whatever you want to call

it you can then just Leap Frog to

another lily pad and you can make

progress in that direction I also did an

interview with writer Mo Gat who's

written a bunch of books he's amazing

he's like an World expert in happiness

happiness research stuff like that but I

asked him about his writing habit and

how he managed to write so many books

and what he said was that he always

works on like five or six different

books in parallel and so every day he

spends a few hours writing I wake up

sometimes in the morning and I write for

3 4 5 hours but every morning he asks

himself which is the project that I feel

most pulled right now to be working on

and he just works on that one I loved

the Journey of writing it I loved the

Journey of exploration I loved the

analysis the research I love the

conversation I had with a friend to say

does this make sense to you I love all

of that and it's you know what it's it's

hours of my life that are filled with a

joy he's not forcing himself to stick to

one particular project or one particular

task in a way he Leap Frogs around

depending on how his energy is going on

a particular day and so the question to

ask yourself to take something away from

this point is when it comes to the goals

that I'm pursuing how might I be able to

start in the Middle with some of them

rather than necessarily starting at the

beginning and in moments where I feel

overwhelmed with a particular task is

there a way I can leap frog that

particular task and do something else

that takes me towards my goals okay tip

number four is the Horizon habit now

you've probably heard of smart goals

which is goals that are specific

measurable attainable or assignable

realistic or relevant and te for time

bound but the problem with setting these

sorts of goals is that often we can set

them towards things that are actually

outside of our control like if you want

to start a YouTube channel but you set a

specific goal of hitting a million

subscribers which is specific and

measurable and time bound and all that

kind of stuff it's a goal that's kind of

out of your control and so it can be

very demotivating trying to get there

and so the way Matthew thinks about this

is setting Horizon goals instead and I

really like this way of thinking about

it because the way I think about goals

is that goals are ultimately just a

destination they don't actually help us

get there they're just the destination

and so Horizon goals are just a way of

taking the pressure off of the idea of

goal setting and explicitly allowing us

to set a General vague directional goal

that's like over there on the horizon

but it's not really that specific I like

to identify that IDE of I'm going to be

a Storyteller but that I'm going to be a

Storyteller also allows cuz it's on the

horizon to be maybe I'll teach

storytelling someday maybe I'll be a

consultant about storytelling maybe

maybe an advertising company will allow

me to inject storytelling into their car

commercials which is what I've done

right all of those things are sort of on

the storytelling Horizon but it affords

me the opportunity to be flexible in

terms of what ultimately is going to

happen so if your goal is to be a

musician you might think about all the

other ways you can incorporate that

dream into your career you could become

a band member but you could also try

songwriting or DJing or radio presenting

you could learn how to produce music and

become a technician or a background

singer who picks up an event management

job or a teacher or an online Creator

sharing insights into the music world

all of these jobs are crucially on the

music Horizon but this flexibility gives

you both freedom and also resilience

which brings us to the next point in the

book which is tip number five the piano

precedent and there's a great quote from

the book which is that 5-year plans are

inviting the universe to drop a piano on

you basically if you try and

meticulously plan out your life then

it's inevitable that something is going

to happen that will completely ruin your

plans now that's not to say that

planning is not important because making

a plan is generally quite helpful and

we've talked about setting a horizon

goal as your destination so you can

start working towards it and generally

you know when I find people come to me

for Life advice and I ask them well what

do you actually want they don't really

have a vision of where they actually

want to go and it's like that quote from

Louis Carol's Alice in Wonderland if you

don't know where you're going then any

road will get you there but I just

wanted to ask you which way I ought to

go well that depends on where you want

to get to oh it really doesn't matter as

long as I then it really doesn't matter

which way you go and there's a graph

that I really like I think I think it's

from Darren Brown's book happy which is

basically all about stoicism which is

where you've got your plans on one axis

and then you've got Fate on the other

axis and the path that your life takes

is sort of somewhere in between these

two things you're very unlikely to

always be going in the same direction as

your plans but equally having some sort

of plan will allow you to not just be

completely buffeted by The Winds of fate

and you'll be able to sort of chart your

ship in those in those Waters of Fate

tip number six the 100-year old plan now

in Matthew Dix's thingy I think it's one

of the early chapters in his book which

I really liked which is that when you're

at a Crossroads in life try to imagine

your 100-year-old self and think to

yourself what advice would my

100-year-old self give to me right now

now the example that he uses is where

he's sitting at his desk and he's

writing and he's got deadlines and he's

got work and he's got stuff to do but

then his son comes up to him and asks

him to play tag now one option in that

path is to continue with work because

you got to be disciplined and you can't

be distracted and you've got to focus

but then thinks what would his

100-year-old self want him to do and his

100-year-old self is always going to say

look man go play with the kid because

there's going to come a day where the

kid no longer wants to play with you and

you want to take advantage of the

moments when the kid is actually Keen to

play tag with you now similarly Alex

homo's approach to this he calls it the

Solomon project is when he does

journaling but he imagines the

journaling session as a conversation

between him and his 86-year-old self a

practice that I started doing which is I

have a coaching session with myself

weird I have a conversation with my

future self who's 85 and I ask him for

advice on what I should do now and he

knows that the 86-year-old has context

on where where he is at right now and

what his goals are and what he needs and

he knows that the advice that the 86y

old gives him is going to be well the

right advice and again there's so much

value in this kind of thinking right

because the more shortterm we think of

our life trajectory and the more

short-term our decision- making the more

we tend to make decisions based on

what's urgent rather than what's

actually important honestly this is

still something I really struggle with

far too often when it's a choice between

friends and work I'll think oh but works

really fun and I've got this deadline

I've got you know I've I've got all this

stuff and so I'll choose work when

actually I know that my older self would

have wanted me to choose friends or

family or relationships or health in

that moment and tip number seven is the

purposeful approach now often when we

talk about productivity and this is

fundamentally a productivity book it's

easy to default to thinking that

productivity means work or hustling or

business or money you know that kind of

stuff but sometimes we need to take a

step back and really think about why we

want to get things done efficiently so

when people say productivity sort of

grinds you down I think of productivity

is it's the thing that you want to be

doing that you should be doing more of

so let's Max imiz our life the things we

have to do in order to sustain life in

order to get to the things we want to do

so we don't have to think of

productivity in terms of work so the way

I think of it is that I want to be

making the most of my time not for its

own sake or not because I want to

maximize economic output but actually by

making the most of my time it frees me

up to be able to spend my time doing the

things that truly matter to me and this

is why Matthew is a big fan of what he

calls soft goals which are things that

aren't necessarily productive if you

look at like the standard definitions of

productivity but that are intentional

and that are meaningful to us anyway so

the action point here is figure out what

are the soft goals that you want to aim

for in life what are the things that

like someone else looking at it might

not think it's particularly productive

but for you it's very intentional it's

very satisfying and it brings you the

sense of meaning and fulfillment I was

talking to a client the other day and I

said well what's your horizon goal and

she said I want to see the 50 greatest

movies of all time there's a list in the

world I have the list and I want to sit

on my couch and watch the 50 greatest

movies she said but that doesn't feel

super productive and I said that sounds

incredibly productive to me

because it's your dream let's make sure

we maximize your work time your chore

time let's take away all of those little

black holes of your life that you're

wasting and make sure that we use all

that so you can get your ass on the

couch more often with your husband

watching black and white movies and so

now if you can be really productive in

the areas of your life like your work or

like your studies or whatever the thing

might be you free yourself up you unlock

a lot more time and energy to be able to

give to the things that truly matter to

you now as you might know I am

completely obsessed with reading

productivity books which is why I ended

up actually writing one link down below

but if you're interested in my top

insights from most of the productivity

books I read check out this video over

here which summarizes 107 productivity

books that I've read into a nine-step

framework that you can use to level up

your productivity and do more of the

things that matter to you so thank you

so much for watching and I'll see you

hopefully in the next video bye-bye