3335: [Part 2] One Surprisingly Simple Rule that Will Change Your Life by Kendra Wright with Marc and Angel

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: This is Optimal Living Daily, One Surprisingly Simple Rule that Will Change Your Life Part 2 by Kendra Wright with Marc and Angel.com

[00:00:09] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm Justin Malik.

[00:00:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Happy Friday. Welcome to the old podcast, the OLD Podcast, Optimal Living Daily, where I read to you like a big ongoing audiobook from many different authors.

[00:00:21] [SPEAKER_00]: And today being a continuation from yesterday, so I'd recommend listening to yesterday's episode first.

[00:00:25] [SPEAKER_00]: But if you're all caught up, let's get right to Part 2 and continue optimizing your life.

[00:00:35] [SPEAKER_00]: One Surprisingly Simple Rule that Will Change Your Life Part 2 by Kendra Wright with Marc and Angel.com

[00:00:43] [SPEAKER_00]: What I've found and other people living with less regret have confirmed for me is this.

[00:00:49] [SPEAKER_00]: If something important isn't on the calendar, it doesn't happen.

[00:00:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, we have to earn a paycheck and go to the dentist and shop for groceries and do various forms of busywork.

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_00]: But not at the total expense of getting to the end of our lives and wondering where the heck it went.

[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Collecting experiences, adventures, and face time with amazing people is at least, if not more important than most of our other tasks and obligations.

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_00]: So what do we do?

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Plan personal time off the clock with the same level of intentionality that we use for our professional lives.

[00:01:27] [SPEAKER_00]: If we don't, chance will lead us to choose comfort, doing nothing, every single time.

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable is the one hard thing we have to do to live a life we're excited and happy to look back on.

[00:01:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Hear me now, but believe me later.

[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Until your personal priorities have dates in your day planner, they will tumble to the bottom of your infinitely expanding to-do list.

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_00]: The part of this story you almost didn't hear was how I wanted to bail on Ella that night.

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_00]: As great as my intentions were, they were doing a pretty pitiful job of getting me out the door when the weather was inconvenient and I was exhausted.

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_00]: By my own failure to set boundaries in my workload, I clocked a grueling 10 hours that day.

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Plus, a friend who was supposed to tag along for the adventure bailed.

[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_00]: My motivation meter was sitting heavy on zilch. Nada. Nothing. No gas in the tank.

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_00]: But this was no longer on my maybe-I'll-get-to-it list that evening like it had been for several years.

[00:02:33] [SPEAKER_00]: It was on my calendar. I had committed.

[00:02:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I had finally learned to carve out time in my day so it would be about more than earning a paycheck and running around.

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_00]: And laying down my badge of busyness so I can live a life I'll be proud to look back on, I realized, can start small, one day at a time.

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_00]: So I walked down the halls of that nursing home a year and a half ago.

[00:02:56] [SPEAKER_00]: And do you want to know what I remember most about the evening I knocked on door 202?

[00:03:01] [SPEAKER_00]: If you said that it wasn't the deadlines I miraculously hit or how I felt when I didn't want to leave my warm house and venture into the cold, you're smart and I like you.

[00:03:12] [SPEAKER_00]: What I do remember is slowing down long enough to create a memory worth remembering for the rest of my life.

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Ella.

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_00]: I remember who I had to become to face the task of walking up to her door all by myself.

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_00]: I remember sweating through my mittens not knowing what or who I would find on the other side.

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_00]: I remember crisscrossing my balmy fingers and cold toes hoping someone would be grateful I was there instead of wondering if I was a wacko.

[00:03:42] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'll never forget the way Ella hugged me goodbye, long and hard, like a friend she loved dearly and wasn't sure when she would see again.

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Although my task list had been impressively long that day, I completed the most important item.

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Slow down to create a moment that I would remember.

[00:04:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Man, life has never been the same since.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_00]: How to quit living to work so you can work to live.

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_00]: I've certainly remembered a lot more from my late 20s than my early 20s simply because I started making appointments to actually show up and live.

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_00]: If we are more than our work and the demands of the world, and we are, why doesn't more than that get scheduled on our calendar?

[00:04:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Imagine a list of 100 things you want to do or experience, little and large.

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_00]: How many of your goals, dreams, and desires actually have dates on your day planner?

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_00]: If we aren't actively working towards slashing items off that list, then why the heck are we working so darn hard anyway?

[00:04:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Now I live by one simple rule.

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Schedule something exciting on the calendar every week, preferably something fresh and different that allows me to share a smile with others.

[00:04:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Because most memories worth remembering don't happen by accident.

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_00]: We know our ideas to pay it forward will make us feel good.

[00:05:04] [SPEAKER_00]: We know planning an unforgettable date night with our partner versus just dusting off the Netflix queue will make us feel alive.

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_00]: We know putting our phones down to be present and enjoy a playful pillow fight with our little ones will make us smile.

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_00]: So why don't we do those things?

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Simple, we're too busy trying to be successful or whatever.

[00:05:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Nobody who works themselves to death wins.

[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_00]: I promise you are more than your job.

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_00]: You're more than your errands and meetings and your mortgage.

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_00]: You're more than other people's priorities for you.

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: You are more than 24-7 busyness.

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_00]: So make room on your calendar for more than just the things that keep you busy.

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Take one thing off your someday list of personal priorities and put it on your calendar this week.

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't have to be large to make an impact.

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Small is the perfect place to start when you're ready to start showing your calendar who's boss.

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Block off time to make it home from work at a reasonable hour and surprise your significant other with a slow dance and twirl in the living room.

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Build a blanket fort with your kids.

[00:06:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Flick off all the lights and navigate the house with only flashlights and curiosity.

[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_00]: If you're single, ask a friend you trust to set you up on a blind date with the most creative, interesting, light-hearted single person they know.

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Walk into a nursing home and help someone who can do nothing for you.

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Game of Thrones isn't going anywhere, I promise.

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Become a professional experience collector.

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Consider that your life is a credits and debits system.

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_00]: All the experiences, adventures, and memories you collect will put deposits into your happiness account.

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_00]: When you get to the end and it's not as easy to venture into the world or try new things, you'll need a lot of memories to draw credit against.

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_00]: You don't get brownie points in life for winning at working yourself to death.

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Just because it's normal to drift through your days without intentionality doesn't make it okay.

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Every breath you take is killing you.

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Are you making decisions today that your future self will thank you for?

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Remember, the happiest person in the nursing home wins.

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: You just listened to part 2 of the post titled,

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_00]: One Surprisingly Simple Rule That Would Change Your Life by Kendra Wright with MarkAndAngel.com

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:07:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you again to Kendra.

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a little section in there that I think bears repeating.

[00:07:39] [SPEAKER_00]: She said,

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Imagine a list of 100 things you want to do or experience, little and large.

[00:07:45] [SPEAKER_00]: How many of your goals, dreams, and desires actually have dates on your day planner?

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_00]: If we aren't actively working towards slashing items off that list, then why the heck are we working so darn hard anyway?

[00:07:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Now I live by one simple rule.

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Schedule something exciting on the calendar every week, preferably something fresh and different, that allows me to share a smile with others.

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_00]: I thought that was a powerful section.

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_00]: What are we working so hard for in the first place?

[00:08:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Do we really want those things that we say we want?

[00:08:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Is it really a bigger house and a nicer car, or will we feel pretty much back to baseline once we get those things?

[00:08:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And what about travel?

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Is that on the calendar?

[00:08:30] [SPEAKER_00]: I think these things are great to think about, and over and over again since we're constantly changing.

[00:08:35] [SPEAKER_00]: It's easy to make some wants more permanent in our minds but never question them, only to realize much later that we missed out on opportunities because we're too busy trying to make money to afford something we don't even truly want or need.

[00:08:50] [SPEAKER_00]: So lots to think about with this article.

[00:08:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Big thanks to Kendra.

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for being here and coming back to listen.

[00:08:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Have a great start to your weekend, and I'll be back tomorrow as usual.

[00:08:59] [SPEAKER_00]: So I'll see you there, where your optimal life awaits.