In this blog post, I want to show you my reponse for the exercise which I call “The Story Of Me”. You can write yours too, it’s a fun and helpful exercise. Helps get things in perspective.
Write a fictional story about how a character in your position changes his life around by implementing specific actions.
(present state)
Mr. S is studying at university and kinda pulling through with courses and assignments just like his peers. He wants to be ahead of everyone, and spend more time working on what he believes in; but just doesn’t too it. His mind is cluttered because of all the noise around him. This is the story about how he completely turns around his life to become the best at what he does with small (and seemingly inconsequential actions).
(small steps)
One morning, Mr. S decided to put small processes and actions in place to get a little better everyday. Little did he know that this was one of the biggest decisions he has taken and that this would completely turn around his life. He decided to (i) have a morning routine (apart from chores, he had the following on his list: have green tea, drinking lots of water, meditate, stretch, having a healthy milkshake while planning the day and solving a small puzzle), (ii) he started Project Focus to go internet free 12 hours a day and minimize distractions 24 hours a day, (iii) he started thinking more clearly and working on things with clarity (maintaining a worksheet to track), (iv) he took short naps whenever he was feeling low to quickly refresh and (v) he exercised consistently on more than 90% of the days.
(progress)
The first few days were quite hard, and he wasn’t seeing any changes to his life while he did these. He started wondering if it’s all worth it, if this would even make a notable difference, if he needs to give up. He decided, let me stick with it for a little longer, what’s the worst that could happen? It’s been two weeks, he does sees that his body is starting to show better shape and he sees that his work days are much more productive. He decides, let me stick with this for a little longer. In a month, the changes get more notable, his friends start to wonder what he’s been doing; he was looking more confident, he body was in shape, he was thinking clearly about ideas, wasn’t struggling to meet with the deadlines and was always smiling. In three months, he blow past most of his peers, he peers start to attribute all of his progress to talent, they did not see the work that he has been putting in everyday. In an year, he is a completely different person, he’s in amazing shape, he’s able to read and understand complex topics quickly, he’s moved onto an upgraded peers group of smart intellectuals, he’s having intensive debates with his supervisor (who is quite impressed with his knowledge), he’s crazy good and thinking out of the box and problem solving, he’s very organised and become a role model for most of his peers.
(sticking for a little longer)
Next morning, he realizes how much progress he’s made, should I take a break and relax a bit? Nah, he says. Let me stick with this a little longer, what’s the worst that could happen.
