Kai... we're actually mapping it out already! :) thanks for letting me catch up on life! :)
Two weeks ago, I asked you to make your Joy List. (And man, I had fun reading your Joy Lists! Awesome.)
Today, I’ll be asking you to take the next step: Make Joy Appointments.
Writing your Joy List is only the start. Unless you make Joy Appointments, nothing much will happen. It will be like everyone’s list of New Year’s resolutions. We know what happens to that.
If you need to be reminded, look at the expensive exercise equipment lying somewhere in your house, collecting dust. Did you know that 97% of all exercise equipment end up this way?
Friends, here are the 5 Steps to filling your life with more joy.
Step #1: Write your Joy List
If you haven’t made your Joy List yet, I urge you to do it now. Define what makes you happy. Define what you love. Define what makes you peaceful, whole, fulfilled, excited, and happy. (Please read my previous article, “What Is Your Joy List?”)
Step #2: Choose one item in your Joy List
Don’t try to do them all of them at the same time—or you’ll get overwhelmed. Start with one item first! Check what you feel is the most important activity that gives you the most joy. It’s an activity that you want more of in your life. It could be playing time with your kids, or having solo time with God, or curling up on the couch for some reading time. The choice is yours.
Step #3: Make a Joy Appointment in your weekly or monthly calendar
Invest in your joy! Write this activity in your calendar as a regular item in your week. For example, when I got married 10 years go, I wanted to date the greatest girl of my galaxy once a week. And so for the past 10 years, I’ve been faithful to this promise. How? Easy. I put it on a specific day and time of the week. So I don’t forget. It’s that simple. (I won’t tell you what day that is. Here’s the reason why: I get hundreds of invitations to speak every month. And I don’t want people to tell me, “Bo, we picked this day because we know it’s your date night with your wife. Just this once, please speak to our group?” The answer is still No.) Unless I’m out of the country or World War III breaks out, I won’t miss my date night with my wife. She’s my joy.
Step #4: Choose a second Joy and make another Joy Appointment
When the first activity you chose is already consistent—like you’ve done it for three times already—go back to your Joy List. Check a second item that’s important to you. Repeat: This is something you want to have more in your life. Make this a Joy Appointment too. Regularize it in your weekly or monthly calendar. Make it immovable.
Step #5: Repeat the Process
Get a third item from your Joy List. And a fourth. And a fifth. Believe me, after three to six months, you won’t recognize yourself. You want to pinch yourself and say, “Is this me? Is this my life? Gosh, I’m filled with so much joy!”
Remember: If you don’t determine what you’ll do in your week, others will do that for you. The TV producers would want you to watch TV. The food advertisers would want you to keep eating their food. The video game makers would want you to keep playing their games.
Define your joy.
And do it.
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Okay, you’re turn. In the comments section below, write down the one thing in your Joy List that you’ll make a Joy Appointment. Write down the day, date, and time you’ll make it happen!
May your dreams come true,
Bo Sanchez