Someday is Today is a book written by Matthew Dicks, a man who has survived three near-death experiences, including a harrowing car crash and being held at gunpoint at just 22 years old.
These life-changing events forced him to reevaluate his priorities and transform his life from being broke and living in his car, to becoming a bestselling author and award-winning journalist.
Next to Atomic Habits, this may be one of the most influential books in my life to date because the tips are not only practical and easy to follow, they literally changed my life and my approach to achieving goals.
Everyone dreams of achieving extraordinary things. However, most of us end up being mediocre because we see our goals as abstract and distant — things that might happen someday, but not right now.
This mindset makes us delay taking action toward our goals, and so, we never reach them.
Here are 7 Actionable Ways to Do More of What You Want in Life:
1. At the start of each day, always ask yourself what you want to do today and why.
I have been a longtime advocate of taking things slow and living life at your own pace.
But as a caveat, if I choose to do nothing today, it is because this is what I planned to do and not just because I have nothing to do with my time.
Out of habit and at every start of the day, I always ask myself- “What is that one thing that I want to accomplish today”?
And it doesn’t always have to be a life-altering “I will save the world today” plan, but I always want to have an idea about what a perfect day will look like for me.
On most days, it can be as simple as “ I will do the groceries today and write a paragraph on my blog.”
So no matter what happens, as long as I did the groceries and wrote on my blog, I know I have done something productive with my day today.
This daily exercise is simple but truly powerful because I know I am living my life according to my purpose and not just being carried away by some current that I have no control over.
When I end my day and before I fall asleep, I would evaluate and mentally tell myself, “I had a great day today. I completed the project, I did yoga, took care of my body, took care of the pets and wrote on my blog. I even learned a new French word. So yes! Today, I am some kind of awesome!”
Now, if your plan is to watch all the episodes of Queen of Tears on Netflix today, that is a goal too, for as long as you intentionally plan on doing this, because it genuinely makes you happy.
But if you thoughtlessly opened Facebook and scrolled for an hour watching how other people live their lives, eat afterward, sleep, wake up and do this all over again the next day, then you may feel aimless at some point, like your life has no purpose.
Just asking yourself the simple question every start of the day - “What do I want today?”- can make a powerful impact in your life.
2. The most important step that anyone can take is just the next one.
It is good to have a general idea of what the big picture will look like.
But you don’t need to have everything figured out right away.
You just need to know what that next step is.
And as long as you’re not wedded to the pace of your progress or the destination, as long as you’re creating movement, then you’re one step closer to your goal everyday.
Trust your instinct.
A lot of opportunities can come your way just by taking small simple steps.
3. Intrinsic goals vs. Extrinsic goals
Like everyone else, I have been setting goals at the start of the year.
I set time for meditation everyday and have gained clarity of what is truly important to me.
The problem was, I was setting goals that I did not have any control over.
So I would say things like “I'm going to earn two million this year. But this goal is dependent on so many factors outside of my control.
Instead, I can say, I will write copy for my clients as an added service and earn extra every month. Writing copy is within my control.
So now, the way that I set goals is… I’m going to do a thing, and I’m
going to bring it to a point where I can release it to the world, and what
the world does with it is beyond my control.
So, it’s very important to set goals that are not dependent on the
whims of other people.
Because when that happens, we fail for reasons we have no control over.
This leads to disappointment and then we lose interest.
4. The 5-minute Rule
When I find myself procrastinating or just feeling lazy to do the things I said I would do, I tell myself I’m just going to do it for 5 minutes. And then I can stop if I don’t feel like moving forward.
I start writing on my blog, for example, just for 5 minutes initially.
And just by starting, momentum picks up and soon enough, I am writing for 30 minutes and have written an entire paragraph.
Or, sometimes I feel lazy and do not feel like doing yoga. I mentally negotiate with my inner self, that I’m just going to do arm exercises for 5 minutes with no pressure to do more if I don’t feel like it.
And most of the time, I end up doing my entire 30 minute routine, just because I said I will only do it for 5 minutes.
When we start moving, certain parts of the brain send signals that affect how we feel. When we finally feel good that we have started, it sends a signal back to the brain that we like the idea of moving forward and so we do more.
Of all the productivity hacks out there, the 5 minute rule has worked the most for me.
5. Every act or effort to be productive is anchored in a dream.
You can be super productive at the office or in the work that you do. But why do it?
Sometimes, it makes sense to stop and pause, just to ask yourself why you’re even bothering.
Do you like what you’re doing? Are you doing this and that because it makes you happy to do it?
I once had a dream of traveling the world and being able to do this while working remotely.
I tried all sorts of things to achieve this dream, tried selling physical products online, transitioned to selling services and eventually traveled the world while working remotely.
Now, to someone who doesn't care about traveling, sleeping at airport lounges, working from the laptop and moving from place to place might seem exhausting.
What seems inconvenient to others is exciting to me because this is part of being a digital nomad, and this is my dream.
Procrastination is not just about feeling lazy.
It has a lot to do with whether you find meaning in the work that you’re doing or not.
6. No one remembers what you did or what you wore.
There’s an enormous belief out there, that everyone is looking at everyone.
The idea that if you’re in a meeting and you say the wrong thing, everyone will forever remember that thing.
But the truth is, no one pays as much attention to you as you think they
do.
And when you release that worry and that concern, you can become
enormously happy and more productive,
Because suddenly, all the things that you’re doing to maintain an image,
once all of those things fall away, you find yourself suddenly free.
In the last holiday party you attended, do you remember what anyone
else was wearing? Probably not.
So, do you think anyone else can remember what you were wearing, if
you can’t remember what anyone else was wearing?
And so, it is possible to move through life in a way that you don’t have to
put your makeup on everyday.
If you let go of fear, take steps, allow a few mistakes along the way, you are more likely to be one step closer to your dream everyday than if you decided not to do anything at all.
By taking small steps each day and embracing imperfection, we can overcome our fear of failure and achieve great things over time.
7. The Lily Pad Method
You may have been told that the absolute way to get to what you want is to start from point A, then go to B and C.
But Matthew says, this does not always have to be the case.
You don’t always have to start with step one.
Just start with any step of the process, if this is the only thing you can do now, Start doing something to create movement and see where that takes you.
Even if you’re unsure, you are at least creating momentum.
Momentum is like magic and can set things in motion, but only works when you actually start doing something.
Rather than viewing your goals as a linear sequence, consider them as lily pads in a pond. You can jump from one task to another, depending on your mood and energy.
This flexible approach can help you make progress on your various goals without feeling overwhelmed.
In conclusion, understanding that procrastination is not always a character flaw but a neurobiological tug-of-war or even an emotional one inside us, can be empowering.
At the heart of things, only you can define what’s important to you.
And if you act everyday on things that you consider important, it is the true measure of productivity.
So really, more than all the tips and tricks that can be written to overcome procrastination, the most important question that you should be answering is “What do I want and what is important to me right now?”
If this is clear to you, procrastination will not even be an issue.
You will always gravitate towards that which is important to you.