What's Good Today?
What's Good Today?
A simple question can shift your mind and lift your mood.
A glimpse behind the scenes. This started as a message about focusing your energy by answering the title question and making a list of “What’s good today?” Somehow the path took a detour. I trust such moments because I’m convinced the words come through me, not from me: If they’re being sent, then someone needs to read them. So here they are…
“Forget yesterday — it has already forgotten you. Don't sweat tomorrow — you haven't even met. Instead, open your eyes and your heart to a truly precious gift - today.”
― Steve Maraboli
Confession: Depression has been a fact of life for me since my teens. It lands. It lingers. It leaves.
The D-Monster sucks.
Period. Full stop.
What used to really bug me was never knowing when it would show up. I still don’t, but over time becoming aware of the initial signs of its onset has helped me adopt practices to help me avoid the depths I used to experience.
Today is one of those days.
From the moment my eyes opened, it was clear the D-Monster was alert, alive, and about to attack. No rhyme or reason. No percipient event. Just morass of hard to explain or harder to define feelings.
Dragging myself out of bed and heading to the kitchen to begin my day, I sensed if I didn’t address the feeling quickly, this was NOT going to be a good day. From past experiences, I knew there was a good chance tomorrow and the next might even be tougher.
My mind immediately turned to my go-to steps for fighting the D-Monster — listening to music on a random drive to nowhere, taking a long bike ride and pushing my limits with a few high-intensity intervals, reading a positive book, watching one of my saved YouTube videos curated for days like this, or going to my journal to try and sort things out.
So after making a cup of my favorite hot tea, I headed to my writing desk to take action in an effort to ward off the D-Monster. Investing time in this 5-Step process moves the D-Monster out of the house to wander the yard until either giving up or sneaking back in.
Step #1 — Meditate for 15-Minutes. Open the Insight Timer app on my phone, put my earbuds in, and do one of my favorite guided meditations. The D-Monster knows I know it’s here and fights hard to divert my attention.
Step #2 — Reset My Mind. How about a little Les Brown to reframe things? Open YouTube, go to the saved video list for moments like this, select, and hit play. The D-Monster is still here, but it’s looking at the door.
Step #3 — Start Focus Music. Music feeds my soul and helps me remove distractions. Years ago I discovered a tool called Focus-At-Will and it dramatically improved my ability to stay focused. I set the timer for 33 minutes and when the bell dings, I get up and walk around for 5-10 minutes, then return and press play again. The D-Monster might be looking back as it heads toward the door.
Step #4 — Journal My Daily Questions. When the feelings of depression first started impacting me in high school, I started writing about them in an old 3-ring binder filled with lined notebook paper. That’s been my go-to path for processing things ever since. I use these questions each day to keep me on track:
What did I learn yesterday? Being a professor at heart I’m driven to find the lessons in life. Writing about this reconnects me with my core gift.
What am I grateful for today? Making a daily list of at least 10 things I am grateful for each morning has been a game-changer for me (it’s essentially the title question)
What do I want? My mind is driven by ideas and has no Off Switch. It constantly explores new concepts and searches for solutions. This question helps me start to mentally focus on the work ahead for the day. It also keeps me focused on my vision for my work and say no to things that don’t move me toward achieving it.
What will I accomplish today? To-Do Lists used to rule my world, but my tendency (like that of many others) was always to put too many items on the list. So I started answering this question to target less than 3 big outcomes for each day and stopped being distracted by the tasks involved that I used to put on the list.
Who will I connect with today? I added this question about 3 years ago as a way to push my introverted self to connect with one specific person each day by text, email, phone. No objective other than to briefly connect with someone just for the sake of saying hello.
The D-Monster is shrinking. It’s not left the property, but is at least outside and not in my face anymore.
Step #5 — Do My Work. With my morning routine complete, my attention turns to the work I’ve committed to for the day, aka the commitment that was reinforced in journaling the 4th question above. Quick processing of e-mail, maybe a short social media check-in, and then dive into the creation of whatever is coming through my fingertips or across my lips today — which was this post before anything else! On a day like this when I did the work to push it away, this step can send the D-Monster away (for today at least). And it is on its way.
If this all resonates with you, I know what’s happening right now. Those doubting voices in your head are telling you “it’s too much work,” “it won’t work for you,” or some other bit of nonsense to try and stop you from taking action.
Please don’t listen.
Do This ACTION CHALLENGE Instead…
Let’s keep it simple. Do this one thing today, tomorrow, the next day, and the next day and the next for 10 consecutive days — Within one hour of rising in the morning, make a list of 3 things for which you’re grateful. I know it will change your thinking and help you remember “What’s good today?”
P.S. None of the links above is an affiliate link. They’re simply there to help you learn more if whatever I mentioned is of interest.