While we're all busy building a better future let's not forget about poor little old today. Today is our best friend but we push it aside to pay all our attention to the future but when will be become wealthy? Today? No. When will we become financially free? Today? No. When will we be [insert your goal here]? Today? No. Today is all we really have. In a way I believe we die every night and are reborn every day to live and grow again so what can we do to give some love to today?
I call it the Shotglass Method and no (perhaps sadly) it has nothing to do with alcohol.
The Shot Glass Method
(The Real Secret to Daily Fulfilment)
OK, so you’ve got a great life, living on a 2X income and the bank is starting to fill up with your savings…now what? Tim Ferriss (in his excellent book The 4-Hour Work Week1) raised an excellent point about the purpose of setting and achieving goals, because apparently according to people he polled, that’s what made life “great.” I’d like to further explore this idea but first, here’s what Timothy said…
Tim make an excellent point and given me food for thought. Is the answer to a great life to just do exciting things all the time? I think I would find it a bit exhausting to be excited all the time and I’m sure the message here could be to find joy in the daily excitement of life, so I’m going to make it a more complete rule by adding two more elements – satisfaction and fascination. But how often do we need to feel excited, satisfied or fascinated? This is a great question. I believe we live daily. Today is what matters most. Sure, tomorrow is important but today is urgent, and “urgency trumps importance”.
If you can spend just a small part of your day doing something exciting, satisfying or fascinating, you’re living as full a life as you ever possibly could.
We need excitement, satisfaction or fascination daily. Further, I think that the key to having a great life is 2X income and/or doing something exciting, satisfying or fascinating. But why do we need daily excitement, satisfaction or fascination? I believe these three elements are like vitamins. Just as vitamins are essential to maintain good health; excitement and satisfaction are essential to maintain general happiness but you have to keep taking vitamins just like you have to find excitement and/or satisfaction daily.
Imagine a small shot glass with “The Good Life” printed on it like a logo. All you need to do is fill your shot glass with one shot of either excitement, satisfaction or fascination daily to feel like you’re getting the most out of life. You might have two or more shots of excitement in one day, and we often do, but I believe all you’ll ever really need to feel “full” is one. There’s no need to spend all day on a constant high of excitement, satisfaction or fascination. Just one “shot” of any element will be enough.
I believe we should measure our lives by how much we do, not by how long we live or how much we have, and a “shot glass” a day of something exciting, satisfying or fascinating is enough for us to feel like we’re leading as full a life as we can each day. Let’s put it to the test and see if it explains some (previously) puzzling human behaviour.
Does it explain why some people don’t feel the need to search for ways to make money constantly? Yes, it does, because they’re probably getting their little shot of excitement or satisfaction in other ways. Let’s look at some people and see if they live (or lived) their lives using their own form of the shot glass principle.
Mother Theresa; did she live her life drinking from the shot glass of satisfaction or excitement? Probably a bit of both, like all people, but I’d guess for her it was mostly about the satisfaction of helping people. What about a skydiver or an athlete? I’d guess mostly excitement with some satisfaction at the end. What about teachers? Most teachers work for the passion of teaching. What about scientests, they may not feel excited every day or satisfied (as they seek the answers to the universe) but might they feel a sense of fascination in what they're slowly discovering? You bet ya.
Why do “rich people” still teach? Could the Shot glass theory also explain why some “rich people” stop to help and teach others? Do you think just because they have lots of money that they don’t need a shot glass of excitement or satisfaction every day just like everyone else? They get it from teaching and helping people. Money has very little to do with why they teach. Sadly we know this because teachers are (for the most part) poorly paid. They obviously enjoy sharing and teaching and probably will forever. It’s inherent in who they are.
Some small thinkers wonder (sometimes out loud), “If someone is so rich, why would they sell me a course or book on making money? Surely they’d just be off enjoying their riches and not worrying about me – right?” This kind of thinking makes them doubt that money making guides have any value, so they miss out on the opportunity to gain knowledge from people who are willing to teach them. If you think of this from a shot-glass perspective, you’ll see it makes perfect sense that someone would stop their "partying" (roll eyes at what some people think rich people do all day) and teach (no matter how “rich” or “poor” they are). They get a deep sense of satisfaction and possibly some excitement as well as some extra income. It makes perfect sense.
When you achieve 2X (and I believe you will quite soon), you’re not going to just sit at home and watch TV all day, every day, forever. You might for a while, but eventually you’ll set a new direction for yourself and head off again, all excited about your new project. Why? Because the enjoyment of excitement and the fulfilment of satisfaction are almost drug-like in their power to drive us toward our goals.
We all need to drink a “shot glass” of excitement or satisfaction or fascination every day in order to feel good about our lives, no matter how much money we have, or even if having large piles of money isn’t important to us. Even if it’s just doing a good deed or making an anonymous contribution, or reading, watching or listening to something that has you truly fascinated it will fill you up. Are you starting to get the picture? You can start living like that right now, can’t you? It’s all you’ll need to feel like you’ve lived a good life that day, as you lay your head on your pillow at night.
For example, I’m involved in internet and information marketing and there are many short courses on ways to make money by successfully marketing goods and services online. Many of these short reports and courses can be read, understood and even acted upon in one day, but too often we hear of people who don’t follow through on every single course they buy. The Shot Glass Theory explains this behaviour perfectly.
Let’s say a person with a winning attitude decides to educate themselves and they buy a short course on how to make money. If you’re an entrepreneur like me you’ll know what I mean. We would obviously get excited that day (filling our shot glass with excitement) but the next day we might not follow through, often resulting in unnecessary feelings of inadequacy… “Why can’t I follow through?”we think.
What’s happening here? There’s a conflict. How can something be so great one day and be totally abandoned the next? How does the “Shot Glass Theory” help us understand this common behaviour? Consider this; when we buy the exciting new money-making course that night, are we excited? Do we find the information fascinating? Probably but let's say yes. Let’s agree that our shot glass was filled (with excitement) and consumed that night, but what about the next day?
Given that we need a fresh shot glass of excitement, satisfaction or fascination each day, can you imagine anything that might come along in our life that next day that might fill the shot glass with something else exciting, satisfying or fascinating that’s NOT related to the course we bought last night? Easily – right? Does this mean we aren’t committed? Of course not; it just means we live life on a daily basis like every other being on the planet. What was important yesterday might not be the most important thing today and that’s OK. Has this modern life been reduced to a series of accomplishments as the only measure of quality?
I believe that’s a flawed way to live and I’ll discuss goal-setting another time, but can you see why it’s perfectly valid for them to have bought the course (it filled them with excitement for a day), and that it’s also perfectly reasonable and understandable why they didn’t follow through with it the next day? Something else might have happened the next day that filled their “excitement or fascination Shot glass”. I believe each day is a universe unto itself and each day requires a fresh dose of these three elements and that’s all it requires to live a great life. This is why it doesn’t really matter how much you achieve or when you achieve it. It really only matters that you live as full a life as you can every day.
Do you know for sure that you’ll wake up each morning? Do you have the same control over your life and reactions when you sleep as when you’re conscious? No. Lots of people die in their sleep. Lots of people die every day. You might die tomorrow. So live for today and worry about tomorrow… tomorrow.
I think striving to fill your daily shot glass with some excitement, satisfaction or fascination is enough of a life goal for anyone. Any further growth, excitement, satisfaction or fascination for that day (two exciting or satisfying things might happen in one day) is just a “cherry on top” and makes life even more interesting – but it’s not essential for that feeling of fulfilment. That’s why some people are very happy with their lives just the way they are. Do you know anyone who’s seemingly enjoying their life but is not frantically doing everything they can to become a “millionaire”? I’m sure you do – in fact that describes most of us doesn’t it? As long as we get a daily dose of these three essential elements, then (rest assured) we’re living a full life.
There’s no need to achieve mighty things every day to feel fulfilled. There is satisfaction in moving toward your goals but relying on the achievement of goals can be dangerous to daily satisfaction and will only rarely feed daily excitement, so I propose we consider re-assessing the agonising and uncomfortable importance we attach to setting and achieving goals as the only measure of success and give some love to poor little old today because it loves you and gives you life - love it back. It has much to offer.
That's what I reckon anyway.
I call it the Shotglass Method and no (perhaps sadly) it has nothing to do with alcohol.
The Shot Glass Method
(The Real Secret to Daily Fulfilment)
OK, so you’ve got a great life, living on a 2X income and the bank is starting to fill up with your savings…now what? Tim Ferriss (in his excellent book The 4-Hour Work Week1) raised an excellent point about the purpose of setting and achieving goals, because apparently according to people he polled, that’s what made life “great.” I’d like to further explore this idea but first, here’s what Timothy said…
Tim make an excellent point and given me food for thought. Is the answer to a great life to just do exciting things all the time? I think I would find it a bit exhausting to be excited all the time and I’m sure the message here could be to find joy in the daily excitement of life, so I’m going to make it a more complete rule by adding two more elements – satisfaction and fascination. But how often do we need to feel excited, satisfied or fascinated? This is a great question. I believe we live daily. Today is what matters most. Sure, tomorrow is important but today is urgent, and “urgency trumps importance”.
If you can spend just a small part of your day doing something exciting, satisfying or fascinating, you’re living as full a life as you ever possibly could.
We need excitement, satisfaction or fascination daily. Further, I think that the key to having a great life is 2X income and/or doing something exciting, satisfying or fascinating. But why do we need daily excitement, satisfaction or fascination? I believe these three elements are like vitamins. Just as vitamins are essential to maintain good health; excitement and satisfaction are essential to maintain general happiness but you have to keep taking vitamins just like you have to find excitement and/or satisfaction daily.
Imagine a small shot glass with “The Good Life” printed on it like a logo. All you need to do is fill your shot glass with one shot of either excitement, satisfaction or fascination daily to feel like you’re getting the most out of life. You might have two or more shots of excitement in one day, and we often do, but I believe all you’ll ever really need to feel “full” is one. There’s no need to spend all day on a constant high of excitement, satisfaction or fascination. Just one “shot” of any element will be enough.
I believe we should measure our lives by how much we do, not by how long we live or how much we have, and a “shot glass” a day of something exciting, satisfying or fascinating is enough for us to feel like we’re leading as full a life as we can each day. Let’s put it to the test and see if it explains some (previously) puzzling human behaviour.
Does it explain why some people don’t feel the need to search for ways to make money constantly? Yes, it does, because they’re probably getting their little shot of excitement or satisfaction in other ways. Let’s look at some people and see if they live (or lived) their lives using their own form of the shot glass principle.
Mother Theresa; did she live her life drinking from the shot glass of satisfaction or excitement? Probably a bit of both, like all people, but I’d guess for her it was mostly about the satisfaction of helping people. What about a skydiver or an athlete? I’d guess mostly excitement with some satisfaction at the end. What about teachers? Most teachers work for the passion of teaching. What about scientests, they may not feel excited every day or satisfied (as they seek the answers to the universe) but might they feel a sense of fascination in what they're slowly discovering? You bet ya.
Why do “rich people” still teach? Could the Shot glass theory also explain why some “rich people” stop to help and teach others? Do you think just because they have lots of money that they don’t need a shot glass of excitement or satisfaction every day just like everyone else? They get it from teaching and helping people. Money has very little to do with why they teach. Sadly we know this because teachers are (for the most part) poorly paid. They obviously enjoy sharing and teaching and probably will forever. It’s inherent in who they are.
Some small thinkers wonder (sometimes out loud), “If someone is so rich, why would they sell me a course or book on making money? Surely they’d just be off enjoying their riches and not worrying about me – right?” This kind of thinking makes them doubt that money making guides have any value, so they miss out on the opportunity to gain knowledge from people who are willing to teach them. If you think of this from a shot-glass perspective, you’ll see it makes perfect sense that someone would stop their "partying" (roll eyes at what some people think rich people do all day) and teach (no matter how “rich” or “poor” they are). They get a deep sense of satisfaction and possibly some excitement as well as some extra income. It makes perfect sense.
Teachers like to teach. Helpers like to help.
It’s what they do. Money rarely changes that.
It’s what they do. Money rarely changes that.
When you achieve 2X (and I believe you will quite soon), you’re not going to just sit at home and watch TV all day, every day, forever. You might for a while, but eventually you’ll set a new direction for yourself and head off again, all excited about your new project. Why? Because the enjoyment of excitement and the fulfilment of satisfaction are almost drug-like in their power to drive us toward our goals.
We all need to drink a “shot glass” of excitement or satisfaction or fascination every day in order to feel good about our lives, no matter how much money we have, or even if having large piles of money isn’t important to us. Even if it’s just doing a good deed or making an anonymous contribution, or reading, watching or listening to something that has you truly fascinated it will fill you up. Are you starting to get the picture? You can start living like that right now, can’t you? It’s all you’ll need to feel like you’ve lived a good life that day, as you lay your head on your pillow at night.
For example, I’m involved in internet and information marketing and there are many short courses on ways to make money by successfully marketing goods and services online. Many of these short reports and courses can be read, understood and even acted upon in one day, but too often we hear of people who don’t follow through on every single course they buy. The Shot Glass Theory explains this behaviour perfectly.
Let’s say a person with a winning attitude decides to educate themselves and they buy a short course on how to make money. If you’re an entrepreneur like me you’ll know what I mean. We would obviously get excited that day (filling our shot glass with excitement) but the next day we might not follow through, often resulting in unnecessary feelings of inadequacy… “Why can’t I follow through?”we think.
What’s happening here? There’s a conflict. How can something be so great one day and be totally abandoned the next? How does the “Shot Glass Theory” help us understand this common behaviour? Consider this; when we buy the exciting new money-making course that night, are we excited? Do we find the information fascinating? Probably but let's say yes. Let’s agree that our shot glass was filled (with excitement) and consumed that night, but what about the next day?
Given that we need a fresh shot glass of excitement, satisfaction or fascination each day, can you imagine anything that might come along in our life that next day that might fill the shot glass with something else exciting, satisfying or fascinating that’s NOT related to the course we bought last night? Easily – right? Does this mean we aren’t committed? Of course not; it just means we live life on a daily basis like every other being on the planet. What was important yesterday might not be the most important thing today and that’s OK. Has this modern life been reduced to a series of accomplishments as the only measure of quality?
I believe that’s a flawed way to live and I’ll discuss goal-setting another time, but can you see why it’s perfectly valid for them to have bought the course (it filled them with excitement for a day), and that it’s also perfectly reasonable and understandable why they didn’t follow through with it the next day? Something else might have happened the next day that filled their “excitement or fascination Shot glass”. I believe each day is a universe unto itself and each day requires a fresh dose of these three elements and that’s all it requires to live a great life. This is why it doesn’t really matter how much you achieve or when you achieve it. It really only matters that you live as full a life as you can every day.
Do you know for sure that you’ll wake up each morning? Do you have the same control over your life and reactions when you sleep as when you’re conscious? No. Lots of people die in their sleep. Lots of people die every day. You might die tomorrow. So live for today and worry about tomorrow… tomorrow.
I think striving to fill your daily shot glass with some excitement, satisfaction or fascination is enough of a life goal for anyone. Any further growth, excitement, satisfaction or fascination for that day (two exciting or satisfying things might happen in one day) is just a “cherry on top” and makes life even more interesting – but it’s not essential for that feeling of fulfilment. That’s why some people are very happy with their lives just the way they are. Do you know anyone who’s seemingly enjoying their life but is not frantically doing everything they can to become a “millionaire”? I’m sure you do – in fact that describes most of us doesn’t it? As long as we get a daily dose of these three essential elements, then (rest assured) we’re living a full life.
There’s no need to achieve mighty things every day to feel fulfilled. There is satisfaction in moving toward your goals but relying on the achievement of goals can be dangerous to daily satisfaction and will only rarely feed daily excitement, so I propose we consider re-assessing the agonising and uncomfortable importance we attach to setting and achieving goals as the only measure of success and give some love to poor little old today because it loves you and gives you life - love it back. It has much to offer.
That's what I reckon anyway.
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