We live in a world where most people are so busy being busy, they don’t have any time to think. What the true heroes do. Mandela, 27 years in prison, 18 years on Robben Island. Part of what made Mandela Mandela is the opportunity in solitude to reflect. Well, we don’t do that anymore.
Very few people say, “Oh, I got up this morning.””What did you do?” “Oh, I reflected.” “What did you do?” “Oh, I spent an hour in solitude.”
But solitude is one of the great traits of genius level performers. They spend a lot of time alone. So now by building this in, 66 days until you hardwire it to the point of what the researchers call automaticity, every single day you now have this morning routine or habit. And the second thing you do from 5:20 to 5:40, you reflect. That could look like prayer. I pray. I meditate. I love writing in a journal during the second 20 minute pocket of reflection. I just drink coffee, which is a great cognitive enhancer, and I write. I do blessing lists almost every day because I need to.The world is negative. You’ve got to bulletproof your interior core. You’ve got to fireproof your mighty mission by coming back to your journal while your family and your loved and your… the world is asleep, and writing.”Here’s what I’m grateful for.”
“Here’s my dream.” “Here are my deliverables.” “Here’s my big five for life.””Here’s what I want to stand for today.” Okay, and there’s a lot of great research from positive psychologists saying, “Knowing your story and writing out who you want to be literally locks in that commitment that allows your behavior to change.”