What’s Keeping You From 100%?
We’ve all had those days, haven’t we? Those tough days, emotional days, draining days — the days where, for whatever reason, we just don’t feel 100%.
Over time such days can take their toll. Even the positive aspect of rebounding back from those days can cause a dizzying sense of emotional nausea when the hi’s and low’s seem to come so swiftly, one after another.
Life is sure to deal us many days when we feel less than 100%, but our goal for leadership and personal health should be to drive toward consistency as much as possible. This empowers us to maintain consistent investment, leadership, and growth in all areas of our lives from personal to professional. So let’s set aside a moment to take stock of where we are today.
What’s Your Percentage?
What percentage are you operating at today? 50%, 80%, maybe even 95%?
If you kept track of this for an entire week, what would your average be? Maybe it would look something like this:
Monday = 75%
Tuesday = 80%
Wednesday = 60%
Thursday = 45%
Friday = 85%
Saturday = 90%
Sunday = 90%
Of course, everyone’s ranking will be different, but that’s not the issue. The issue is your personal ranking and where you find your percentages lagging and peaking. Even the simple act of charting days like this might help point out where some of your regular pain points show up.
What keeps you below 100%? Is it something in your daily, weekly, or monthly routine? Is it a consistent obligation, or is it the inherent lack of consistent duties or routines that seems to throw you off?
Maybe it’s certain relationships whose interactions stress you out, or the monthly reconciliation of bank statements and expense reports.
What’s Keeping You From 100%?
Think through each day from last week and assign a percentage to them representing how alive, purposeful, and empowered you felt in handling life’s challenges, dealing with the daily tasks, and finding joy amidst it all. Don’t worry about being idealistic or projecting how you think you should feel — guilt (“I should be happier”) and pride (“I’ve got everything under control, no problems here”) have no place in the genuine effort to stimulate personal growth and a healthy, balanced life.
If I were trying to lose weight or feel better about myself and yet had a few donuts or candy bars a day, do you think I would be at 100%? Obviously not. Those two ventures into junk food land would bring my health % down by whatever degree it negatively affects me. Similarly, the same thing happens in our everyday life.
For instance:
- When we choose to worry instead of trust or take action.
- When we choose to harbor resentment versus reconciliation.
- When our confidence is found in other people’s perception of us instead of the conviction. of who we know we are as unique individuals.
- When we allow the junk of the world to infect our heart and mindset.
Find the Patterns & Make A Change
Thousands of distractions and negative stimuli assail us every day attempting to take our “100%” hostage. Yet when we highlight those percentage-stealers we make it a bit easier to turn things around. In fact, even more so than external circumstances, the things we ourselves choose to do with our day generally become the things that bring us up to 100% or steal the joy and peace that could have been ours. That’s why we talk so much about intentional vs. accidental living, and embracing the things that are life-giving versus life-draining.
So make a list of your daily percentages. At the end of each day write your percentage for the past 24-hours, then list why your percentage was lower than 100%. If it’s over 100%, by all means, write that down too!
Where are your margin points? What derailed you from 100% today? Look beyond the surface for cause and effect, emotional triggers, and recurring patterns.
Once you recognize the trends you can make the right adjustments and start living life fully charged.
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