7 Actionable Ways to Achieve More in Life

Summary

In this video, the host shares key insights from Matthew Dicks' book 'Someday is Today,' which offers practical advice for achieving life goals. The host distills seven actionable tips, including the 'Parking Lot Practice' for seizing creative moments, the 'Minute Mindset' to value every minute, the 'Lily Pad Method' for non-linear progress, 'Horizon Goals' for flexible direction, the 'Piano Precedent' against over-planning, the '100-Year Old Plan' for long-term perspective, and the 'Purposeful Approach' to prioritize meaningful activities. The summary encourages embracing imperfect conditions for productivity and aligning actions with personal values.

Takeaways

• 📚 The book 'Someday is Today' by Matthew Dicks offers practical advice for achieving life goals, inspired by his near-death experiences.
• 🚗 Matthew Dicks' life turnaround from living in his car to becoming a best-selling author demonstrates the power of resilience and determination.
• 💡 'The Parking Lot Practice' encourages seizing any opportunity to be productive, regardless of the environment.
• ⏰ 'The Minute Mindset' stresses the importance of valuing every minute for productivity instead of waiting for 'perfect' hours.
• 🌅 'The Lily Pad Method' suggests a non-linear approach to goal achievement, allowing for flexibility and reduced overwhelm.
• 🎯 'Horizon Goals' are broad, flexible objectives that provide direction without the pressure of specific targets.
• 🛑 'The Piano Precedent' warns against over-planning, as unforeseen events can derail the best-laid plans.
• 👶 'The 100-Year-Old Plan' advises considering long-term impacts of current decisions, prioritizing what truly matters in life.
• 🔑 'The Purposeful Approach' to productivity emphasizes efficiency not just for work, but to free up time for meaningful activities.
• 🎬 The speaker's personal anecdote about watching the 50 greatest movies as a 'soft goal' illustrates the value of personal fulfillment over traditional productivity measures.
• 📈 The video script underlines the theme that productivity should serve to enhance life's meaningful experiences, not just work-related tasks.

Q & A

What is the title of the book 'Someday is Today' about?

The book 'Someday is Today' is about actionable advice for achieving more in life, written by Matthew Dicks who has survived three near-death experiences and transformed his life from being broke to becoming a best-selling author, world champion Storyteller, and award-winning journalist.

What was Matthew Dicks' life like before his transformation?

Before his transformation, Matthew Dicks was broke, living in his car, and working at McDonald's.

What did Matthew Dicks feel when he was sure he was going to die during his near-death experiences?

When Matthew Dicks was sure he was going to die, he did not feel fear, sadness, or anger. Instead, he was consumed with regret for not having done anything significant with his life.

What is the 'Parking Lot Practice' mentioned in the script?

The 'Parking Lot Practice' is an approach to being productive in any environment, regardless of whether it's perfect or not. It's about taking advantage of any available time, like writing in a parking lot during a dentist appointment, to work on creative projects.

What is the significance of the 'Minute Mindset' in the context of the book?

The 'Minute Mindset' emphasizes the value of every single minute and encourages making the most out of small pockets of time rather than waiting for larger blocks of time to be productive.

How does the 'Lily Pad Method' relate to goal achievement?

The 'Lily Pad Method' suggests that one doesn't need to start at the beginning or finish at the end of a project. Instead, it allows for jumping around and working on different parts of a project based on mood or energy levels, making progress in a non-linear way.

What are 'Horizon Goals' as opposed to SMART goals?

Horizon Goals are general, vague, directional goals that are set like a destination on the horizon. They are less specific and more flexible than SMART goals, allowing for adaptability and resilience in the face of life's uncertainties.

What is the 'Piano Precedent' and what does it caution against?

The 'Piano Precedent' is a caution against making overly meticulous 5-year plans, as unforeseen events (likened to the universe dropping a piano on you) can disrupt them. It encourages flexibility and adaptability in planning.

What advice would a 100-year-old version of oneself give according to the script?

The advice from a 100-year-old version of oneself would likely prioritize long-term happiness and meaningful experiences over short-term productivity or work, such as playing with a child instead of continuing to work.

What is the purpose of the 'Purposeful Approach' to productivity mentioned in the script?

The 'Purposeful Approach' to productivity is about maximizing efficiency in work or chores to free up more time and energy for the things that truly matter in life, such as relationships, health, and personal interests.

What are 'Soft Goals' and why are they important according to the author?

Soft Goals are personal objectives that may not appear productive by traditional standards but are intentional and meaningful to the individual. They are important because they bring a sense of satisfaction, meaning, and fulfillment.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Embracing Imperfect Productivity with 'Someday is Today'

The speaker introduces 'Someday is Today' by Matthew Dicks, a book that offers practical advice for achieving goals, inspired by the author's near-death experiences. The book emphasizes the importance of seizing the moment and not waiting for the perfect environment to be productive. The 'parking lot practice' is highlighted as a strategy to utilize any available time, even if it's just a few minutes, to work towards one's goals. The speaker shares personal anecdotes and historical examples to illustrate the point that productivity does not have to be glamorous or perfect to be effective.

05:01

⏱ The Minute Mindset: Valuing Every Moment

This section discusses the importance of utilizing even the smallest increments of time, such as minutes, to make progress. The speaker shares a story from the book about writing during the delay caused by someone's tardiness, emphasizing the value of not wasting any moment. The 'minute mindset' encourages creative individuals to maximize the use of their time, even in short bursts, to steadily work towards their goals, whether it's writing, studying, or any other endeavor.

10:01

🌿 The Lily Pad Method: Non-linear Progress Towards Goals

The speaker introduces the 'lily pad method,' a non-linear approach to goal achievement where one doesn't necessarily start at the beginning or end but can jump around to different tasks. This method is particularly useful for large projects that can seem overwhelming. By breaking down goals into smaller tasks and tackling them based on mood or energy levels, one can make significant progress without feeling overwhelmed. The speaker also mentions an interview with a writer who works on multiple books simultaneously, illustrating the effectiveness of this approach.

15:02

🎯 Horizon Goals: Setting Directional Goals for Flexibility

The concept of 'Horizon goals' is introduced as an alternative to traditional SMART goals, which can sometimes be too rigid or set towards outcomes outside of one's control. Horizon goals are broad, directional goals that provide flexibility and resilience in the face of life's uncertainties. The speaker explains that these goals serve as a general destination without the pressure of specificity, allowing for various paths to achieve them, thus reducing the risk of demotivation.

🎹 The Piano Precedent: Avoiding Rigid Life Planning

This section warns against the pitfalls of making overly detailed 5-year plans, which can be disrupted by unforeseen events. The 'piano precedent' metaphor illustrates that while planning is essential, it should be done with the understanding that life can change rapidly. The speaker suggests finding a balance between having a vision and being adaptable to fate's twists and turns, advocating for a stoic approach to life planning.

👴 The 100-Year-Old Plan: Long-Term Perspective on Decisions

The speaker discusses the practice of imagining one's older self to gain perspective on current decisions, a method referred to as the '100-year-old plan.' By considering what advice one's future self would give, it encourages prioritizing what truly matters over immediate urgencies. The speaker shares personal examples and strategies for implementing this mindset, such as journaling or coaching sessions with one's future self to guide present actions.

🚀 The Purposeful Approach: Balancing Productivity with Meaning

The final section emphasizes the importance of aligning productivity with one's purpose and what truly brings meaning and satisfaction. The speaker challenges the traditional view of productivity as solely work-related and encourages the pursuit of 'soft goals' that may not be productive by conventional standards but are deeply meaningful to the individual. The goal is to maximize efficiency in necessary tasks to create more time and space for activities that contribute to a fulfilling life.

📘 Summary of Productivity Insights: A Comprehensive Framework

The speaker concludes by referencing a previous video that summarizes insights from 107 productivity books, offering a nine-step framework for viewers to improve their productivity. The speaker invites interested viewers to check out the video for a comprehensive approach to doing more of what matters to them, and signs off with a friendly goodbye.

Keywords

💡Productivity

Productivity refers to the efficiency with which an individual or system performs tasks or produces goods and services. In the context of the video, productivity is not just about work or economic output; it's about using time efficiently to create space for activities that truly matter to an individual. The script illustrates this by suggesting that true productivity can happen in any environment and doesn't need to look 'pretty', as exemplified by the author writing in a parking lot.

💡Actionable Tips

Actionable tips are practical pieces of advice that viewers can directly apply to their lives. The video's theme revolves around providing seven such tips from the book 'Someday is Today' to help viewers achieve more in life. Each tip is a strategy for overcoming obstacles and making progress towards personal goals.

💡Parkinson's Law

Parkinson's Law is the adage that 'work expands to fill the time available for its completion.' The video indirectly references this concept when discussing how thinking in blocks of hours can lead to wasted time, suggesting that being more mindful of how we use smaller increments of time can increase productivity.

💡Perfectionism

Perfectionism is the pursuit of flawlessness and setting extremely high standards for oneself, which can often lead to procrastination or failure to complete tasks. The video challenges the notion that one must wait for the perfect environment or conditions to be productive, using the 'parking lot practice' as an example of overcoming perfectionistic tendencies.

💡Regret

Regret is a feeling of sadness or disappointment over something that one wished or should have done. The author of the book, Matthew, mentions regret as a driving force that emerged from his near-death experiences, which led him to reconsider his life's direction and ultimately achieve more.

💡Horizon Goals

Horizon goals are broad, directional objectives that provide a sense of purpose without the pressure of specific, measurable targets. The video explains that setting horizon goals can be less demotivating than SMART goals because they allow for flexibility and resilience in the face of life's unpredictability.

💡Lily Pad Method

The Lily Pad Method is an approach to tackling large projects by viewing tasks as lily pads in a pond, allowing one to 'leap frog' between tasks based on mood or energy levels. This method is introduced in the video as a way to make progress on large goals without feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of the task.

💡Minute Mindset

The minute mindset emphasizes the value of every minute and encourages using even the smallest increments of time productively. The video shares a story about writing during the 7 minutes a person was late to highlight how even brief periods can be utilized for meaningful work.

💡100-Year-Old Plan

The 100-Year-Old Plan is a perspective-taking exercise where one imagines the advice their future self would give them. In the video, this concept is used to encourage making decisions that prioritize long-term happiness and well-being over short-term gains.

💡Soft Goals

Soft goals are personal objectives that may not traditionally be seen as productive but are intentionally meaningful to the individual. The video suggests that focusing on soft goals can lead to a more fulfilling life by ensuring that time is spent on activities that hold personal significance.

💡Piano Precedent

The Piano Precedent is a metaphor used in the video to illustrate the futility of making rigid 5-year plans that are susceptible to being disrupted by unforeseen events. It suggests that while planning is important, it should be done with an understanding of life's unpredictability.

💡Purposeful Approach

A purposeful approach involves doing things with intention and meaning, rather than just for the sake of productivity. The video emphasizes that productivity should serve to maximize time for activities that are truly important and meaningful, rather than just focusing on work or economic output.

Highlights

The book 'Someday is Today' by Matthew Dicks offers practical advice for achieving life goals.

Matthew Dicks survived three near-death experiences, which led to a life reassessment and success as an author and journalist.

Productivity does not require a perfect environment; the 'Parking Lot Practice' encourages seizing any available moment for work.

True productivity is not about aesthetics but effectiveness, even in chaotic conditions.

The 'Minute Mindset' emphasizes the value of every minute and avoiding wasted time.

Utilize small pockets of time, like being a few minutes late, to make progress on personal projects.

The 'Lily Pad Method' suggests non-linear progress towards goals, allowing for flexibility and reduced overwhelm.

Horizon goals are broad, directionally focused objectives that provide flexibility and resilience in goal pursuit.

Avoid rigid 5-year plans that may be disrupted by unforeseen life events.

The '100-Year-Old Plan' encourages making decisions by considering the advice your future self would give.

Maximizing productivity in work or chores can free up time for activities that hold personal meaning and satisfaction.

Soft goals are intentionally meaningful activities that may not align with traditional productivity metrics but contribute to life fulfillment.

The importance of rest and relaxation for sustainable productivity is discussed in the final chapters of the narrator's book 'Feelgood Productivity'.

A 'Year at a Glance' spreadsheet is recommended for better year-long planning and visualization.

The book emphasizes the balance between having a plan and adapting to life's unpredictability.

The narrator's personal experience of growing a YouTube channel while working full-time as a doctor by utilizing small time blocks.

A client's goal to watch the 50 greatest movies as an example of a soft goal that brings personal fulfillment.

The narrator's interest in productivity books and the offer to share insights from 107 books read into a nine-step framework.

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