985. How To End Your Day

In this episode, I break down why the way you end your day determines how you begin the next one.

Most frustration isn’t from today—it’s from days we never properly finished and keep rolling over.

That rollover is what makes you wake up reactive, irritated, and stuck before the day even starts.

I share a simple end-of-day practice to clear your head, shut the day down cleanly, and prime your mind for tomorrow.

If you’re tired of starting your mornings behind, this episode will help you reset the cycle.

Transcript

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Alright, 3, 2, 1. Let's get it. I wanna read to you, I've been really digging Austen Cleone's book, keep Going. And it's one that I, I've read years ago, but you know, and I think that's what's important, like just 'cause you read a book doesn't mean that you shouldn't go back to it from time to time. And I was trying to find a book to read for random reading and I've just been kind of hovering on this book and I wanna read to you. What he writes about finishing each day, and I titled this episode, how to End the Day, because I think sometimes part of our frustration in life is because we don't properly end the day, and so we just end up rolling days over. And what you're really rolling over is regrets, frustrations, and I think each day. I guess there, there, there's a reason why today is called present for a reason. It's a gift. It's a gift of life and what you do with it and how the best you can and the best way you can, that's the only thing you can do. So let me read to you this section about finishing the day. Each one of his chapters are probably due, they're probably three or four pages long, so they're not very long at all. So let me read to you what he writes. He said Not every day is gonna turn out the way that you want it to. All routines and to-do lists are aspirational. You can have these aspirations of whatever's on your list. You can aspire to do these things, but not every day is gonna go as planned. Some days he cites Jerry Garcia's, uh, mantra is some days, man, you're, you're, you're diving for pearls and you end up with clams. He said the important thing to do is to make it to the end of the day no matter what. Make it to the end of the day no matter what, no matter how bad it gets. See it through to the end so you can get to tomorrow. He says, some days you have to just get rid of the day as well as you can. What I find is interesting is he said, get rid of the days. There are days, man, it's just your day in the barrel. There are days, man, it's just not gonna go your way and get rid of the day as well As you can notice he didn't say, get rid of the day as fast as you can. Get rid of the day as well as you can when you get rid of the day as fast as you can. Well, you can do that at any time. You could chalk that up at 10 o'clock in the morning and start day drinking and say, well, that's a, that's a wrap. Not gonna happen. It's just not my day. No, you get rid of the day as well as you can, meaning that you finish the day no matter how bad it gets, no matter how much hell the ball doesn't bounce your way. Whatever the case may be, get through to the end of the day. Your purpose is to get to tomorrow. That's the thing. And then here's, here's how you end the day. And this is, this is the point I wanna make. The chapter before is about making lists and what I love about this, I've always thought of lists as like to-do list, but then sometimes that becomes kind of condemnation. His lists are fun. You can make lists all throughout the day. About anything you want to, how to make a billion dollars, how to be a CEO, how to make the podcast run better. Things I learned from this podcast. Like whatever things that you, they could be to-do lists, they could be to learn lists, they could be book lists. They're your lists, it doesn't matter. So make a list. But here's how to end the day, and this is what I'm gonna start, uh, working on. When the sun goes down and you look back on the day, go easy on yourself. I call that progressive grace. So go easy on yourself, and so when you get to the end of the day, instead of just beating yourself up. And condemning yourself.'cause you know, there's just things, A, it got hellish. B, you know it, it didn't go your way, whatever the case may be. Did you get to the end of the day? Did you get rid of the day on some of those days? It's your day in the barrel. Barrel. Did you get rid of the day as well as you could? Meaning that you finished it? Damn it, I finished it. I may have skidded across the finish line. I may have crawled to nine o'clock at night, but damn it, I made it. Some days, man, that's what you gotta do. I just gotta get to the end of the day. That's it. Just get through it. At the end of the day, he says this, number one, you have a little self-forgiveness, isolate it, car arises, done. You can't get those hours back. Okay? And then he says, make a list. Make a list of everything that you did. Well, what were your accomplishments? What were the things that you learned? But also make a list. Of the things that you wanna work on tomorrow, and then put your head on the pillow and let your subconscious do the work. See, a lot of times, man, we don't. We don't, this is why I'm a big fan of writing because you gotta empty your mind to clarify your thoughts. Sometimes, man, when we just get constipated in our thoughts, because we got all these things just bottled up and we got these big bobbleheads full, that's constipated of just bs. So he says, make a list of your, what were your wins? There were things that even if it went hellish, there are things that you did well. Find your do wells. Okay? What things did you do? Well, make a list of those things. What things did you accomplish? Make a list of those things. Don't criticize them. Don't think it's just not worth it. Okay? Hell, if you swept the hallway today, then fine. That's a win. Whatever, it's, it's your list, remember. And then secondly, make a list of the things that you wanna work on tomorrow. What are the things that you want to get done tomorrow is what he says, but what are the things that you wanna work on? See, now what you're doing is instead of waking up in the morning, you're not reacting to the day, you're actually priming your mind and you're going to sleep and you're subconscious will do the rest. So when you wake up in the morning, you're not waking up with bedhead, deadhead, pissed off at yet. Yesterday you have a little self forgiveness. You cart, you, you, you actually cauterized it. You made a list of things that you did. Well, that's a, that's a, that's a form of gratitude. What's that? Don't care how, how, if it's three things, if it's five things, if, if it's 15 things, it doesn't matter. What did you do? Well. And then what are the things I wanna work on tomorrow? You just do that and you end the day and you end the day properly. So that way when you wake up the next day, you're ready. You're primed. Let's go rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat. And that's, man, how you're going to make progress and you don't have these rollovers. Look, I think. As I was, as I was writing this this morning and reflecting on this, I don't think you're supposed to be a hundred percent accomplished every single day. I don't, and I think because if you won every single day, if it all came out perfectly, if there was no struggle, if there was no frustration, when would you learn? You wouldn't. You'd actually get worse. So it's the lack of time that you improve your efficiencies. It's the frustrations. That deepen your resolve and your commitment and your resilience. It, it's, it's the things, man, like some days you just, I think sometimes, man, if you're just not wanting to quit, then you ain't pushing hard enough. So it, it's those days, man, where you're frustrating, you don't get it all done. Okay. At the end of the day, you get through the day as best you can. You make a list of those things that you did well. You make a list of the things that you wanna work on tomorrow, and you go to bed and you let your subconscious do the work, and then you get after it tomorrow. All right? That's what I want you to work on today. That's what I'm gonna be working on. All right, let's get outta here. Keep it simple. Keep it moving. Never settle. Stay tough. Peace.