Mental Models: The Daily Checklist & Non-Zero days
Two mental models that you can apply to set up your Daily System that take you to your goals
TLDR
In this article we will talk about 2 mental models:
- Non-zero days (a zero-day is a day when you do nothing to progress toward your goals)
- List of Virtues by Benjamin Franklin (a daily checklist for the Values/Guiding Principles and Behaviours to live them)
In the end, you will find instructions on how to integrate them and design your own daily system.
1. First mental model: Non-zero days
If you want to read the long article about the concept of non-zero days HERE is a good resource. I will give you a condensed version:
A zero day is a day when you do nothing to progress toward your goals.
What does this mean for you?
There are 4 rules within this mental model that you should follow.
1. No more zero days.
No more zeros on your calendar. Even if you wasted all day and you have 2 min before midnight. Write 1 sentence. Read 1 page. Do 1 push-up. If you are in the beginning starting this, it’s not about the effort. It is about consistency.
2. Have a moment in your day to feel grateful.
This practice is given to combat negative self-talk. We say a lot of “thank you’s” to others. How often do we thank ourselves? Allocate 5 min in your day to feel grateful to the three you’s: the past you, the present you, and the future you.
- Thank the Past You. For endurance, perseverance, hard work, surviving, getting to where you are today, and learning the lessons. The Past You is your Teacher.
- Thank the Present You. For working hard, exerting effort, investing time, and building the Future You. The Present You is your Competition.
- Thank the Future You, who is already that which you want to become. The Future You is your Mentor.
3. Forgive yourself.
“Forgiveness is not what you give to others. It is what you gift to yourself.”
If there are things for you to let go of, let go. If there are things to process, write. The ultimate goal is to get to the mental state of absolute clarity and grounding yourself in the present moment. In that state, the past no longer interests you. You don’t live there anymore. You are Here & Now. Focused on building your Future.
4. Define your MVD — Minimum Viable Day.
A Minimum Viable Day is about what you do even when all day you feel like a cow turd.
Imagine you are sick. Tired. Low energy. Not motivated to run through the day.
What activities/practices/rituals/habits should exist within your day for you not to feel like absolute shit by the end of it?
The simplest MVD is Exercise & Read.
Why does this work?
- Exercise. You go through the physical pain of the exercise. Your body releases endorphins. Endorphins are basically painkillers — you literally synthesize the drugs within your body. You get high. You feel better. Plus, you feel better from knowing that you’ve done something to “strengthen the vessel”.
- Read. Reading is mind-expansion. You are not thinking the old thoughts from yesterday. You have new content of the mind. New content leads to new ideas. New ideas lead to the new implementation. New behavior leads to building new habits. Habits build up the New Identity.
This concept of MVD is a good entry point for the next mental model.
2. The Daily Checklist.
The Daily Checklist is your own adaptation of Benjamin Franklin’s list of 13 virtues.
He created that list to follow and practice on a daily basis as it helped him to build his version of a meaningful life.
Here is what it looks like:
- TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
- SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
- ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
- RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
- FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
- INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employ’d in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
- SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
- JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
- MODERATION. Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
- CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.
- TRANQUILLITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
- CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.
- HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.
Here is what he wrote about his own virtue-acquisition philosophy:
“My intention being to acquire the habitude of all these virtues, I judg’d it would be well not to distract my attention by attempting the whole at once, but to fix it on one of them at a time; and, when I should be master of that, then to proceed to another, and so on, till I should have gone thro’ the thirteen; and, as the previous acquisition of some might facilitate the acquisition of certain others, I arrang’d them with that view, as they stand above. Temperance first, as it tends to procure that coolness and clearness of head, which is so necessary where constant vigilance was to be kept up, and guard maintained against the unremitting attraction of ancient habits, and the force of perpetual temptations. This being acquir’d and establish’d, Silence would be more easy; and my desire being to gain knowledge at the same time that I improv’d in virtue, and considering that in conversation it was obtain’d rather by the use of the ears than of the tongue, and therefore wishing to break a habit I was getting into of prattling, punning, and joking, which only made me acceptable to trifling company, I gave Silence the second place.”
Questions for you:
- What are the virtues you want to acquire?
- How can you integrate them into your Daily System?
So here are some thoughts on the matter.
How to integrate these two models into your Daily System.
Here is one way how you can use these two concepts in your day-to-day:
- Gain Clarity on your Goals. Understand what you want to achieve in life in 1 year. The long-term vision is great but 1-year timeframe is both short enough to be practical and long enough to undergo true transformation. Use this framework to write your SMART goals: By {deadline}, I will {action} so that {expected outcome}. (E.g. By Oct 2023, I will save 10k $ so that I have a nest egg to invest in the future).
- Translate those Goals into Systems. Your Daily System is what you do every day to get close to your goal. Example: I spend at least 2 hours writing every day to build my knowledge base to which I can refer. What are the high-impact activities that you need to do every day to progress toward your vision of your Future Self?
- Gain Clarity on your Values. Do this Values Exercise. Identify your Values. Use your Values the same way Benjamin Franklin used his 13 Virtues. He translated his Virtues into Guiding Principles that grounded him in his truth. Do the same with your Values. Translate them into actual practices/activities/habits/rituals and integrate them into your day. (Example: Value — Health. 30 min block for exercise. Value — Power. Practice Communication Skills with a coach for 60 min a week).
- Use your Google Calendar to block the activities on your Daily Checklist or use Canva.com to design your own Daily System if you prefer pen & paper.
Example:
On the calendar (digital or paper):
- Write down your Values, so that you have them in front of you
- Capture your Daily Checklist — write all the activities to live your Values
- Live every single day like a little life. You wake up = you are born. You live through the day. You die when you when you go to bed and fall asleep. The next day, you are reborn to live a new mini-life again.
Final thoughts
So this is it. A very straightforward framework.
- Purpose >>> Goals >>> Systems
- Values >>> Guiding Principles >>> Daily Checklist
- No more zero days
Hope this helps. Feel free to share all the creative ways you have discovered to apply these mental models in your life.
