What making a great day means is that you are responsible for making it happen through your proactive your contribution. That you are making things happen through your attitude and actions. What having a great day implies is hoping that the day will be enjoyable. Hope being the key word meaning wanting something to happen or waiting for things to happen. I can hope that the weather will be clear tomorrow so the outdoor party I plan to have can be enjoyed. Me hoping for this, has no affect the on the weather. That I am relying on things out of my control that will dictate how I feel and experience the day.
Is that what we want to base our day and even our lives, of hoping things go a certain way. Leaving things to chance. Stating this, what might seem like a helpful phrase is removing the power we all have. It is expecting that things will come together because someone else or something says so and if they doesn’t happen it is because the forces dictated it. That the work and preparation are not what makes the difference. What this leads to is less belief in ourselves that makes us hesitant where full effort is not put forth. At the mercy that others will the clear path for you.
When you decide to make a great day, you do the things within your control, in your power to give yourself the ability for that great day to happen. It is not something that is expected alone to happen but something you positioned yourself for. There is still the possibility that the day does not turn out well, but you are setting yourself up for future better days. The thing about making a great day is you have less energy to focus on the expectation of it because you are too tired from actually doing things about it.
When you do everything you can for a certain objective you gain a greater sense of peace with whatever happens. It still will hurt if you come up short of what you are working towards, but you can better see all the things that were enjoyed along the way. So, if you did not have a great day even though you worked to make it happen, remind yourself it is not a lost cause. Just because others were in a bad mood or lousy things happened does not mean it was done because of what you did. Sometimes these things occur to remind us of when things do go well to stop and relish them
Is starts with the preparation
Getting in the habit of making the day great starts with preparing for it the days, weeks, months in advance. Sometimes we find ourselves enjoying the day because of the things we did in the past. That the people who are polite to you, willing to help are because you did the same to them. Or having more time available to do what you want because you have found ways to be more efficient be avoiding things that waste time and incorporated a schedule to help you stay on task. Simply wanting these or similar things requires you to make them happen.
Yes, there are many things outside of our control that throw a wrench into what we set up for, but those are things we should not worry or focus on because we are unable to affect them. We might be able to minimize their impact, but largely there are things right in front of us that depend directly on our actions. Taking on this perspective gives you greater intrigue of the future because you’ll be more likely to reject the things that you are not happy with. Where if the day you experienced was brutal, you can set your mind to make it better going forward. Without this approach there is a greater chance of just accepting things that occur, where it feels like what difference does it make what I do so I might as well rollover and accept things. Giving in to this is dangerous because it weakens that fighting spirit that we all have.
A helpful habit to adopt are to tell the people you care about how much you value them for being in your life. This is uplifting on both sides because it is actively acknowledging the significance of the relationship. Where it sparks a large amount of energy so you can operate with greater power. Layer that by showing how much they mean to you through your actions, if you live with them you pick up after yourself, keeping things neat and organized. If it’s friends you spend time with, help where you can instead of burdening them with your own problems. This reinforces the words you say that make the days and even weeks great.
Get in the right mood
When we are in a better mood, we tend to handle ourselves a whole lot better than if we are feeling down. Do things that get you in a good mood, like meditation, reading, exercising, indulging in something that makes you smile or laugh, or being around uplifting people. This can significantly change your outlook and have a better chance of making the day great. Your mind and body become relaxed so you are less defensive and more receptive to being adaptable.
When in that defensive state we tend to be stiff, only willing to accept things well if they meet our expectations, so are more prone to missing simple and obvious solutions to what is being faced. Where if having a great day means if you only get to eat at your favorite restaurant such as a certain pizza place and you go only to find out that it is closed for repairs. Naturally, disappointment will be experienced but having your mind only set on a certain outcome will keep you in that state. Where the solution is to try another pizza place or another type of food.
In being adaptable we can move past a certain set of expectations to find other things that work, where creativity is able to flow smoother so we can ride the wave that comes instead of trying to fight it and make it bend to our will. In the same context of expecting to eat at your favorite pizza place only for it to be closed, being able to see what other options are available can help you satisfy your hunger. Maybe you find a Greek restaurant that might interest you and you try a gyro pita wrap only for you to have found a new enjoyable food.
Being receptive to different possibilities and solutions is where you have the chance of being happily surprised. Sometimes the hard expectations that we place of ourselves make us miss out on the things that we have not considered. These stopping points that we come across are just an opportunity to think about other ways to do things. When we can be open to more than how things should go, we can make so many more days great.
Check yourself
To help ensure you are doing what you can to make your day great, start by checking yourself to stay honest. What this means is checking to see if you’re looking for excuses that will stop you from making the day great, waiting for handouts or a break to get you going, and asking yourself what you will do to make the day great. This series of questions help you find out where your focus is and will give you an indication if you are willing to do your part or hoping things come together.
Sometimes we do not realize we are the biggest threat to ourselves because we do not see the blind spots that hold us back or we choose not to acknowledge where we are lacking because it can hurt our confidence. By checking in and being honest with ourselves, we can move past the limiting things that we think are there or might be. Things like anticipating that the day will be difficult does not mean it will be a disaster, because if you think this way it fuels panic that will affect you from handling the day well.
In making situations bigger than they are we lead ourselves to feel that way. Where your thinking already determines how you will experience future situations. This could be where you have a long day of work that needs to be completed such as homework, household chores, work assignments, or a day full of meetings, whatever it may be. Where that negative side wants to come out and say I dread facing what is ahead, this sets up a fleeing mentality where full effort is not going to be given so the probability of bracing for impact makes fear more prominent.
When fear is the reason for why you do anything, progress will never be made. If you find yourself thinking in this manner, find what would relieve the pressure to make it somewhat enjoyable. So even knowing you are in for a long day, throw something in there to make the in between somewhat pleasurable such eating something delicious, finding something that brings a smile to your face, listening to a feel-good song, whatever it may be. This softens those expectations so you can enjoy parts of the day.
Having this check in with ourselves makes us more accountable and better able to get ourselves on track, especially when we are in a funk. We will all experience some level of being out of sorts, out of rhythm and it will be important to recognize when it is occurring and why it is. Many times, from the first-person point of view that we operate with we have a difficult time seeing the rut we find ourselves because it may have become routine. Where things start to slowly tamper off and the day to day slight changes has not been noticed in the short-term until one day it stands out.
It's about initiative
Ultimately what makes the day great comes down to initiative, where the independence that you have is utilized to go about how you see fit. That resourcefulness and ability to take charge for yourself is the very core for why you experience the day in which you do. Not happy with how your day is going, then you can do something about it going forward. It might not turn around right away as you intend it to, but your actions will determine how the day unfolds.
Yes, certain things are out of your hands, but you always have control over your attitude and how you choose to respond to the situation you’re in. Where unfortunate things happen such as getting in an accident, the car breaking down or getting sick at an inopportune time, it would be easy to question why did this happen to me and why now. These things happen not out of spite trying to ruin your day, but they just happen.
The easy thing would be to complain and find blame for why it occurred but that requires very little energy to do so. If this happens it is more likely to keep one wallowing in self-pity, carving sympathy, needing validation, taking things too seriously, making one feel like there is no potential. While letting out the occasional time to unload what is worrisome it does no good to stay in that state. The harder but better thing to do is to find a solution for the situation you are in. It does require more energy, but the upside is so much greater.
If we stop to think about things that affect how well we enjoy our day, it might include others acknowledging us in a positive manner which is not a bad thing but that should not be our focus to appease others to make us feel good. Throw that out the window and create those enjoyable moments yourself that are independent from others. Exercising this responsibly helps you manage days more effectively. Let’s remember to be respectful of others so we are not belligerent to them but we no longer conform who we are just so others do not reprimand us.
Final thoughts
Ask yourself what would making the day great be for you. What it involve getting enough sleep and jumping out of bed moving to everything with enthusiasm? Would it be enjoying your morning by having breakfast with those you most care about? Would it be knocking out all, most or some of things you have on your priority list so you know that progress that you are making? Whatever it is, the more making your day great is dependent on you, the better chance you have of enjoying it.
The more you take this approach the more great days you will have because you are making it happen instead of waiting for it. Just know that for things to turn out well, it does not have to be an all or nothing approach where those expectations that you have of things playing out does not have to be 100% accurate, maybe it is only 70% or 50% of you worked to but it is better than nothing. Find the pleasure in that success rate.
We will all have bad days and that is just a part of the cycle that we go through. Even when you make every effort for the day to be great, it may not feel that way on that day but eventually it will. Don’t be fooled that the things you did will not make a difference because they will. This is an opportunity to strengthen that discipline that you have developed where you can delay gratification for later on. This brings you greater patience and consistency in how you handle yourself. Be the dictator of how well you enjoy the days which form your life and not let other dictate that for you. Make the day great instead of having one. It’s entirely up to you.
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