In June 2021, I was feeling a bit stuck in my professional life, and needed help cutting through the noise (which is sometimes hard for an overstimulated ADHD brain). My then-coach encouraged me to do a visioning exercise called “My Perfect Day.” The purpose is to help reveal your goals by allowing you to dream of what an ideal day for you looks like.
The rules were simple. I was to go for a long walk to clear my head, and then sit down with my journal and write everything I imagined a perfect day would look like from morning until night.
I wasn’t supposed to fix spelling or grammar, or try to rationalize whatever I wrote. The only stipulations were that I needed to focus on the not-too-distant future, make it about me, and be specific about what I was seeing, hearing, and feeling.
Here’s what I wrote.
My Perfect Day
I wake up to the sound of water.
We live near the ocean, and every morning I wake up to the sound of waves. Our town is big enough to be busy, but small enough to be home-y. The area around our small house is quiet and peaceful.
I start my day with a workout at home. Because of the mild climate, my home gym space is partially outside, and the fresh morning air feels great. After my workout, my husband and I have breakfast and coffee on our porch which overlooks the water. Breakfast includes fruit and some bread that my husband made the day before. We chat about what we have on for the day, the weather, and the water. Our dog, a big brown poodle-mix, joins us on the porch and lays down at our feet.
After breakfast, I head to my home office at the back of the house. It’s a bright, clean space with lots of plants. My desk faces a big window and has two big external monitors, which helps me keep up with my jobs and projects. I’m a KM expert consultant who specializes in advising businesses on solving various knowledge management problems. My current client is a climate justice organization that wants to form regional communities of practice to encourage staff connections and learning. After a few hours of work on that project, I eat lunch in the sun, walk the dog, and then transition to the second part of my day.
My blog has become so popular that I’m working on turning it into a book. I do a few hours of writing, and then I have a call with a different kind of client. I’m also a coach, and have been working with a woman who just moved to a new country in the midst of her eating disorder recovery. She shares with me that she’s found a supportive gym buddy, which is something we’d agreed on the last time we spoke. I also talk her through some strategies for going grocery shopping in a new place. It makes me feel good to help someone this way. We schedule another check-in for next week.
I close my laptop and it’s time for dinner. Since we’re meeting up with friends, my husband and I take the dog for a long walk before heading to the restaurant on our light blue scooter. After dinner, we end the day the same way we started it – sitting on our porch with our dog, listening to the waves.
Reflecting on my Perfect Day
What stands out to me is that it not only shows goals in my professional life (I’m a consultant and a part-time coach) but also my personal life (to live someplace near water, to have a dog, etc.). It’s also interesting what things don’t show up. Children, for example, don’t feature at all.
I love this exercise because while it describes an ideal, it’s still meant to be achievable. It gives you a kind of “North Star” that can inform or guide your decisions.
I often revisit this Perfect Day, since it helps me keep perspective. And over a year later, I honestly still wouldn’t change much about it.
What would be your Perfect Day?
Some of you may already be living your Perfect Day (please share if you are!). Others may think no such thing exists, it’s “too late” for you, or that it’s a pointless exercise.
However, I encourage you to get a journal (here are my thought on how to get into journaling, if you’re interested) and give it a try. I don’t believe anyone is too old or too entrenched in their life to envision a Perfect Day. In fact, it can be really enlightening to see how it differs from your current circumstances.
Our Perfect Days can change and evolve as we do. Doing an exercise like this once a year can help you identify and then focus on your life goals.
Much more valuable than making New Year’s resolutions every year, IMHO.
