Summary of "How to Change Your Life"
Summary of Key Wellness Strategies, Self-Care Techniques, and Productivity Tips from "How to Change Your Life"
1. The Think Day Method
- Inspired by Bill Gates’ "Think Week" practice, the Think Day condenses deep reflection and strategic thinking into about 4 hours.
- Key idea: Take time away from your routine, ideally in a new environment, to reflect, journal, and make important life decisions.
- Changing your life is about making decisions that alter your life’s trajectory positively.
- Being outside your normal context helps break subconscious patterns and promotes clearer, more objective thinking.
2. Wheel of Life Exercise
- Divide life into 10 categories:
- Health: Physical, Mental, Spiritual
- Work: Mission, Money, Growth
- Relationships: Family, Friends, Romantic
- Joy (added as a 10th category)
- Rate satisfaction in each category from 1 (worst) to 10 (best).
- Use the ratings to identify areas needing improvement and set focused action points.
3. Fear-Setting Exercise (Tim Ferriss Inspired)
- Ask yourself: “What would I do if I knew I couldn’t fail?”
- Identify fears holding you back from making decisions or taking action.
- Define the worst-case scenario in detail and assess:
- Is it really permanent or as bad as imagined?
- How likely is it to happen?
- What steps could you take to repair or mitigate the damage?
- Writing fears down externalizes them, making them manageable problems rather than overwhelming mental blocks.
- Helps dismantle the fear of failure, a major barrier to change.
4. Journaling Prompts for Reflection
- Examples of prompts to explore during Think Day or personal reflection:
- What would you do if money were no object?
- What would you like people to say at your funeral? Are you living aligned with that?
- If you repeat this week’s actions for 10 years, where will you be?
- What activities energize or drain you? How can you do more of the former and less of the latter?
- What is your biggest bottleneck to achieving your next goal?
- How much do your goals reflect your own desires vs. others’ expectations?
- What “backpack” (old fears, grudges, identities) are you carrying that no longer serves you?
5. Action Planning and Accountability
- Document decisions clearly:
- Format: “Before today I was... But as of today I have decided... Therefore, my action points are...”
- Create specific, tangible action items for each decision.
- Schedule a follow-up review (e.g., one week later) in your calendar to check progress and reassess.
- Turning intentions into calendar events increases the likelihood of follow-through.
6. Additional Productivity Tips
- Tackle important tasks first thing in the morning to avoid low energy or distractions later.
- For social goals, setting recurring events (e.g., weekly brunch) helps maintain connections.
- Use journaling or voice apps (like Voice Pal) to capture thoughts when writing isn’t convenient.
- Experiment with AI and learning platforms (e.g., Brilliant) to develop deeper understanding and problem-solving skills.
Presenters / Sources
- Ali Abdaal (main presenter)
- Sahil Bloom (author of "Five Types of Wealth," source of Think Day concept)
- Bill Gates (inspiration for Think Week)
- Tim Ferriss (creator of Fear-Setting Exercise)
- Dicky Bush (source of bottleneck journaling prompt)
- Keith Cunningham (author of "The Road Less Stupid," source of “backpack” metaphor)
- Brilliant.org (sponsor and recommended learning platform)
Category
Wellness and Self-Improvement
