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7 Alternative Ways to Evaluate Your Life Every Day

As regular readers know, I’m all about setting goals and working toward big projects over time. When you have a big goal, especially one with a clear end point, it’s easy to know when you’ve achieved it. But most big goals take time, and—as I’ve been learning—our lives consist of more than just a series of work-oriented projects that occupy our time.

No, to truly define success, we need to think of both these long-term goals and the actions we take every day. We also need to ensure our lives are in proper order. The challenge lies in the middle: how do we accomplish all of this?

Therefore, it may be more helpful to create an alternative method of evaluating ourselves as we go along. Here are seven different ideas to consider.

5549123_dd3e6c2b3f_z 1. At the end of the day, ask yourself, “Did today matter?”

Sure, you could spend a long time thinking back on your to-do list and reviewing your calendar. And what were all those emails about? But when you ask yourself this question, chances are you’ll know the answer intuitively.

Did today matter? If so, great. Do more things like it tomorrow. Can't remember anything in particular that made a difference? Well, better change it up.

Before you hit the ground running, take a few moments in meditation or thoughtfulness to decide what you’d like to see happen by the end of the day. Again, be sure to prioritize: it would be great to make a ton of progress on everything, but you probably won’t. What's most important? What is realistic to achieve?

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Travel

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Why I Keep Returning to My Least Favorite Hotel in London

Sheraton-Heathrow1 Many years back, I checked into the Sheraton Heathrow after winning a bid on Priceline. It was incredibly cheap—something like $30-40 for the night, as I recall.

At the time I was still new to the world of branded hotels. A few times a year, I might stay in a Starwood or Hilton property. I spent the rest of the nights in hostels, guesthouses, or on the couches of kind hosts. Arriving at the Sheraton Heathrow for the first time, I remember thinking, huh, this hotel is a little weird—but hey, it’s a hotel!

Everything about it was dismal, from the carpeting in the public guest floor areas to the tiny, unclean rooms, right on down to the attitude of the staff, who didn’t seem particularly pleased to be working there.

As I traveled more and more, I returned to the Sheraton Heathrow a couple times a year. Each time I had more experience in staying at other hotels, and finally I came to the realization: it's not me—this place is just really bad.

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A Reader’s Suggestions for Adderall Alternatives: CILTEP & Bromantane

I’m still getting a ton of emails about my decision to try the prescription drug Adderall to help with focus. I'm currently more than a month into the experiment, and so far I'm still pretty happy with it.

After I posted some comments from a reader’s long-term experience with it, I heard of a couple alternatives that I thought I’d pass along for those who are interested.

Here are some more anonymous comments from a different reader:

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Travel

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Achievement Unlocked: 2 Million American Airlines Miles

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For 17 hours on a Round-the-World trip, I flew on the longest currently operating American Airlines flight, from Dallas to Hong Kong. It’s 8,000 or so flight miles, and I ended the flight a millionaire.

Well, sort of—this flight helped me achieve a longstanding goal of earning 2 million AA flight miles.

Until a couple of years ago, you could obtain “Million Miler” status with American through any kind of miles added to your account, including miles from credit card signups, bank deposits, dining bonuses, online shopping bonuses, and pretty much anywhere under the sun.

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Life

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“Acceptance Isn’t Agreement”: A Lesson from Chris Brogan

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Normally I’m not an auditory learner and have a hard time paying attention to lectures or podcasts. In the case of the “Brave New Year” program by Chris Brogan (not an affiliate link; I purchased it for regular price), however, I was able to go through the whole thing.

I particularly like what Chris had to say about the subject of acceptance. Here’s an excerpt:

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Profiles

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25 Journeys, 1,000 Miles Each : Dave Cornthwaite’s Quest

This is a quest case study. (Read others or nominate yourself.)

Dave2 Dave Cornthwaite's quest has been called "One of the most ambitious adventures of the 21st century," and in the process of his journey he has broken nine world records. Here's his story:

Introduce yourself and your quest.

A decade ago I spent two weeks learning how to skateboard, and promptly quit my graphic design job to spend the next year skateboarding further than anyone else had ever skated. I traversed the length of Britain (as a warm up) and then skated Australia.

Now, I’m working on what I call Expedition1000: 25 journeys of 1,000 miles or more, each using a different form of non-motorized transport.

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Travel

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Travel Disasters and Misadventures Are Good for Us

Earlier this year, as I was wrapping up the writing for The Happiness of Pursuit, I commissioned an illustration from Mike Rohde to commemorate a few of my more spectacular travel disasters and misadventures:

Travel-Path-Timeline-FINAL

[View or Download as a PDF] All of these experiences, even the negative ones, were helpful in building confidence to continue the journey.

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Et Cetera

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How the Password You Select Can Help You Achieve Your Goals

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From a long article about the history of passwords, I thought this story was especially fun:

For some people, these rituals are motivational. Fiona Moriarty, a competitive runner, told me that she often used “16:59” — her target time for the 5,000 meters in track. Mauricio Estrella, a designer who emailed me from Shanghai, described how his passwords function like homemade versions of popular apps like Narrato or 1 Second Everyday, which automatically provide its user with a daily reminder to pause and reflect momentarily on personal ambitions or values.

To help quell his anger at his ex-wife soon after their divorce, Estrella had reset his password to “Forgive@h3r."

“It worked,” he said. Because his office computer demanded that he change his password every 30 days, he moved on to other goals: “Quit@smoking4ever” (successful); “Save4trip@thailand” (successful); “Eat2@day” (“it never worked, I’m still fat,” Estrella wrote); “Facetime2mom@sunday” (“it worked,” he said, “I’ve started talking with my mom every week now”)

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Profiles

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“Because of Traveling, We Know Ourselves”: On the Road with Jim and Rhonda Delemeter

This is a traveler case study. (Read others or nominate yourself).

Jim and Rhonda, long-term travelers, aren't afraid to "jump into the void." Here's their story.

“Jim-and-Rhonda-Delemeter"

Tell us about yourselves. What inspired you to leave home and travel?

Back in 2007 we sold our house and backpacked around the world for 14 months, which made us hungry for something more. In spite of having really great lives in the USA, we wanted to open our minds to other influences.

The more you travel, the more you realize that the way you do something isn’t necessarily the "right" way. Even, such as in places like India, when we simply don't always understand their way, we are at least able to stand back and say, "Okay, this is perhaps not the way we would have done things, but that's alright.”

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Travel

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Memories of Johannesburg Airport, 2006 to 2015

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Yesterday I walked off the jetway into the transit area of Johannesburg’s international airport and had a flashback. I’d been here so many times... yet I always remember coming here years ago, way back in 2006 for the first time.

Back then I was beginning a new way of life. I had ended my four-year stint on a hospital ship in West Africa. I was going to a new home in Seattle—eventually. But first I had a side trip: I had to pick up a new country!

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Et Cetera

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6 Discoveries from Near and Far: Volume XXVIII

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Things I found on long walks in foreign cities, or perhaps when someone posted them on Twitter.

  • Routines of Famous Creative People (Interactive Version) -- How different artists and writers worked, partied, and sometimes even slept

  • An Insanely Simple 3 Step Guide For Killing Procrastination -- How to schedule your most important work—and ensure that it actually happens

  • Not Dead Yet: How Some Video Stores Are Still Thriving -- Blockbuster’s long gone, but a few independent video stores have taken a different approach

  • Roberto Saviano on the Fear of Assassination -- An Italian writer has been living under armed guard for eight years

  • Why Diners Are More Important Than Ever -- Includes the 8 characteristics of how you know you’re at a diner

  • When It Comes to Sunk Costs, Are Children and Animals More Rational than Adults? -- Some research suggests that adults have it all wrong

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    Life

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    A Reader’s Experience of Taking Adderall To Help With Focus

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    When I decided to undertake a trial run of Adderall, a prescription drug that has both helpful and harmful uses, I also decided to share the story with our community. I figured if I’m struggling with something, I’m probably not the only one:

    A Reader's Experience

    Hey Chris! We haven’t talked in a while, but I read this post and wanted to provide an experience from someone who’s been doing this for a while. Here’s the short version:

    • I've been prescribed Adderall for the past 3 years or so. I started taking it around age 27

    • I'd experimented with it (as well as Concerta & Vyvanse) before during college, getting some from friends

    • Looking back at my formal schooling years I could see it might have been very helpful then...

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