How will you be today?
Pam DeFrere, Coach, Bookmaker, and Creative
This week’s The Deep Yes episode is in conversation with the irrepressible and delightful Pam DeFrere. Pam is in her seventh decade of enthusiastic learning and growth and gave us a window into how she has actively shaped her mindset.
Pam has strong daily routines – things she does every day that set the scene for a meaningful, joyful and healthful life. Doing the same things at the same time, in the same way every day, is a great hack for reducing friction in our lives and making the good choice the easy choice. It reduces the number of decisions you need to make, and means you don’t have to use up your willpower on those habitual every-day actions.
It’s the same reason Steve Jobs wore the same outfit every day – reducing daily decisions saves our thinking power and reduces cognitive friction.
Pam has utilised daily journalling for decades. She described three different journalling practices:
· Free writing to get perspective on thoughts and feelings
· Intention setting – HOW do I want to be today?
· Priority setting – WHAT is most important to me, to DO today?
These practices, in combination with the work that she has done over the years to identify her key VALUES, help Pam to actively curate a values-led life.
I tried Pam’s Intention Setting this morning in my journal. HOW I want to be today included: Calm, Open, Focused, Accountable, and Humble.
Almost as soon as I walked through the door at work today, I had an opportunity to practice being calm, open and humble in the face of an unexpected change. Having these qualities front-of-mind helped me turn what could have been a frustrating moment into an opportunity to connect, adapt, and move forward with greater shared understanding.
I’m going to continue to work with this question – HOW do I want to be today – in my daily journalling practice.
What’s your journalling practice? Would you like to be part of a journalling club to build a daily journalling practice? Let me know 😊.
