Don Kowalewski
Writer. Ad Sales and Marketing. Social Media Content Creator. Aeropress Coffee. Makes the best salsa in the world.
A New Thing Every Day
I bought a book about a year ago – Achieve Anything in Just One Year: Be Inspired Daily to Live Your Dreams and Accomplish Your Goals. I read the first 12 chapters and then put it down. Just add me to that statistic that only a small percentage of people actually follow all the way through with any sort of self-help, weight-loss, or Ponzi scheme or program.
It’s time to pick it up again.
If I remember the basic premise, it’s going to take me a full 365 days to read it. The author (Jason Harvey) asks that you only read one chapter each day and do the assignment. That’s it.
Well, you ask, what good is that? Actually, it’s more than “good” …it’s great! It’s brilliant. And I hope I’m remembering it right. But think about it …we all make big proclamations and grand announcements about what we’re going to change and how we’re going to get better and we often do it on January 1st and make a big spectacle about it. This exercise is more self-serving than it is self-bettering (if “self bettering” is a phrase …and if it isn’t, I’m going to trademark it).
Think about it. What if you just changed one thing about yourself each day? And does it really matter when you start? In 365 days, you’d have changed 365 things about yourself. Whoa! When you look at it that way, that’s life-changing. The book, for the record, doesn’t actually suggest you “change” something every day. It’s about “taking action” every day.
Now think about this. Imagine if you were an A+ student and read the book and said, “I’m going to apply this to my work life and home life.” If you read this book and take action at work and at home, now you’re going to take over 700 actions to improve your life and “achieve anything.”
Again … whoa! But I’m a go-getter. I’m going to apply it to (a) my work life, (b) my personal life as it relates to my family, home, and friends, and (c) my new life.
What’s my “new life?” It’s not as drastic as you think …I’m not talking about becoming Batman or quitting my job and buying a boat in Key West and beginning a life as a snorkel instructor. I define (or, that is, I’m working on defining) my “new life” as the life I’m going to have where I perfectly balance my career, my family, and my hobbies and dreams while simultaneously learning how to sleep well at night, eat right, lose my beer-gut, and add years to my life. It’s part physical health and part mental-health.
I stared this little “achieve anything” concept on Monday. Anyone notice anything (other than the two straight days of new pants)? Stick around. Keep watching. You just might see something amazing and I hope to watch you do something amazing, too.
Follow me at @donkowalewski if you want to know what I’m doing every day.
Don Kowalewski 