How do you measure a great day?

I tackle the measuring the days of my life in a simple way. Not by my yearly ratings or annual review talk from a half stranger, but from the desire to have a better day than the last. To have impacted people positively, to have made a difference, slept well and fed myself, and to have achieved something that I can say was processing positively upwards from being half-decent by the end of the day. That is a yardstick that I feel comfortable with now that life has evolved so quickly in the last couple of years.

It is a simple framework, and it helps me get through the challenges of the upside and the ecstasy of the downsides in daily life. My short goal setting and long term planning are wrapped around maintaining habits and building new, productive, creative habits onto that firm base. In the immediate measures, the day to day reflection, is always about incremental improvements.

On a day to day review, as I journal and reflect, my structure is what I played out above. Was today better than yesterday? Was I better today than I was yesterday, as a man, a friend and a father? Did I look after myself – because a dead me is no use to anyone – and did I sleep well with no fear for the coming day?

My review of today ticked all of the boxes above and then some. It also had sunflowers in the day, which will forever remind me of my father. That memory prompt was a real added bonus for a fantastic day. I am blessed to have great people in my life and have the opportunity to share great moments and be able to help others. When I write out my journal entry for my ‘week in review, ‘ I will reflect and be thankful for what I have and shower my gratitude entry with everything and everyone that is positively impacting on my life.

I will never, though, step back from helping others grasp the message that the world does not have to be this cruel to the masses. If we all stopped, looked around us to identify who is benefiting from the inflicted global misery, the anger in the world would be directed to the rightful recipients. One day the people will get it, and there will be mechanical pitchforks involved, and it will not be pretty. But it will be necessary.

When that connection happens, when people push back and say enough is enough. When they scream from the rooftops, even things out, or there will be consequences, when the voices of the masses are heard…

I know my friends and family will be on the right side of the conflicts because, well, you know. They have been vaccinated, they wear a mask and follow the rules, not out of selfishness but out of respect for others.

And to bring it full circle, I ask myself, how do I measure each day by using a straightforward sentence that captures what I mean?

My answer to that question is always the same.

Did I show respect for myself and others?