ThinkWeek #3 — Day 1

This is the first day of my third Bill-Gates-inspired “Think Week”.

What’s a “ThinkWeek”?

Have a Google around, but in short — “it’s a week dedicated to personal development”. Gates would lock himself away from everyone, for a week, twice a year.

Gate’s has evolved his ThinkWeeks over time, I think now he likely focuses on the amazing work the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are doing. In the past, it’s been Microsoft etc.

Cool, what do YOU do?

For me, I am a newbie. It will continue to evolve:

• Get near sea and blue skies — they really just get me into a great headspace.
• Take a stack of books — aiming to crush at least 5.
• Download meditation sessions to my phone — I use Headspace.

… and that’s pretty much it.

I intentionally have no formal “agenda”. Maybe setting a couple of high level goals or “themes”.

This week, I’ve set out to:

Re-ignite my “passion”.
I’ve been feeling a little “lost” with professional life recently. I want to get back to feeling pumped about getting out of bed in the morning to crush work.

Share more.
Last year I had good intentions of writing up things, that never happened. The weeks are also quite intensive, so taking time out at end of the day to let the brain cool down and consolidate also seems, useful!

Summary

As my first “goal” was to get “my fire back”, I wanted to start strong with “Find Your Why” by Simon Sinek. I’ve read the companion book “Start With Why” on a previous ThinkWeek, and found it really thought-provoking, but finding it hard to “get going”.

It seems that Simon and his team have tuned into my thoughts and given me the much-needed manual.

I’ve spent the day on an emotional, revealing and supercharged rocket to planet “purpose” and I couldn’t be happier! (Also quite tired, but that’s all good!)

Simon at el have created an amazing tool. It’s very action-orientated, and well laid out to just “get going”. Simply “taking the tasks/questions” and running with them into some quality headspace time.

In fact, I’ve found this is a perfect opener to this ThinkWeek.

Outcomes

After hours in my head, writing notes, getting emotional and writing some more — I’m closing the day with:

A first draft of my “Why”.
It took hours of thought, and seven iterations. It’s not “right” yet, but it’s way closer than anything I’ve put down in the past.

To proudly inspire with my actions and progress against pain
So that we can all suffer less and find our freedom.

It needs more love, and it will get some. Truth is, I’m finding it hard. Digging into this is creating an emotional whirlwind for me, and it’s tiring. Worth it though, I feel myself getting excited when I say it. It evokes imagery that makes me want to get involved.

Building a nice list of “How’s”.
These are the actions that bring you “Why” to life. If your “Why” was to “motivate people” then a “How” could be “give talks that create positive, immediate action”.

This is still in very formative stages, so not much to share here yet. I’m actually thinking I over-loaded my “Why” (version 8, here we come) — so I might distill that and put more into the “How’s”.

Ruthless book reading!
At previous ThinkWeeks, I found myself reading “start to finish” and persevering with “dry” chapters. I’ve switched up the game a bit, I am now reviewing what’s on the table of contents — and going straight for the good stuff. This week is about inspiring thought, not being a perfectionist with “finishing books”.

Better schedule.
I checked when sunrise was, and made sure I was up at least one hour before. I’m also making sure I get to bed earlier to support that. ThinkWeeks are mentally draining, and plenty of sleep is required!

More, better food and exercise.
I’ve stocked up on more things like nuts and fruits, and making sure I take regular exercise breaks to get blood flowing again.

Stopping.
While I’ve “upped the game”, I’ve also make sure I take breaks to help consolidate throughout the day. It might be to do a short meditation, watch the world go by, enjoy the view or simply wash the dishes.

In closing, I feel a great start to the week!

How about you? Have you considered taking a ThinkWeek?