Give Your Best Energy to Your Most Important Challenges
A few weeks ago, I shared an article on the MIQ Journal Practice.
The gist of this practice is simple:
- Before ending the day, write down your MIQ, or Most Important Question. This is the #1 question that, if answered, would most positively impact your life.
- Do everything you can to get an amazing night of sleep. (Hint hint: A Simple Checklist for Better Sleep.)
- When you wake up in the morning—and your mind is sharp and uncluttered by the many tasks of the day—do some free-writing journaling on what you want as it relates to your MIQ.
(Head over here to read the full article.)
At the time, this practice was working super well for me. I was cutting through some of my most vexing challenges like a hot knife through butter.
When you face your biggest challenges head-on, morning after morning, it feels amazing. You feel stronger, more powerful, and more capable of creating the best life you possibly can.
But then… I stopped doing the practice. 🤦♂️
Probably had something to do with COVID-19, changing schedules, and a project with a team in Europe that required 7 AM video calls.
And soon enough, I had forgotten about the practice entirely.
Which is how it often goes with habits.
We start off strong. Loving it! Getting in the groove and feeling like a million bucks.
But then, y’know, life happens. Something comes outta nowhere and knocks us off-course. And then it’s like we have amnesia, forgetting how amazing the practice made us feel. So we stop doing it.
That is… until we remember again!
Which is what happened to me this past week. I remembered how beneficial the MIQ Journal can be for me. And after recommitting to it for a few days, I’m feeling my mojo again.
When I’m doing my MIQ journal every day, it’s like I’m saying “Bring it on, world! I’m so committed to my growth, and showing up powerfully in my life, that I’m going to give my BEST energy and attention to the #1 most important question or challenge of my day, every single day.”
The alternative is to subtly avoid our biggest challenges. (Which I was doing for the last few weeks without realizing it.) Or maybe not avoid them entirely, but give half-assed energy to them.
Which, needless to say, doesn’t feel good. And we don’t make much progress. Which also doesn’t feel good.
So…
Let’s use this reminder as an opportunity to:
- Clarify our most important challenges and face them head-on with or best energy. Day after day.
- Reconnect with one of the practices that help us show up at our best. Because frankly, we’re dealing with some challenging times. And the world needs us—all of us—at our best. (Which doesn’t need to be a big thing. It might just mean being a little bit better than the day before. Being a little more loving, curious, grateful, courageous, energized, etc. day after day, goes a long way.)
For me, the practice I’m recommitting to is the MIQ journal.
What is it for you? What’s the #1 practice that, if recommitted to, is likely to make the biggest positive contribution to your life, and the lives of those around you?
Let’s recommit today. And tomorrow. And the next day.
And if you’re feeling 🤷♂️about what the answer is for you…use the MIQ Journal tomorrow to consider what the most important practice is to re-integrate into your life.
Let’s do this!
Patrick