At the end of every day, I do a journaling exercise I call My Daily Recap. It’s a shorter version of my annual review process; a way to distill the highlights from the day.
It’s part gratitude practice, part celebrating wins, and part integration of lessons learned. All of these play important functions in facilitating awareness and growth.
But it’s the very first part of My Daily Recap that is actually most significant. I call it the Magic Moment.
The Magic Moment is one or two moments from my day that are highlights. These are the things that made me laugh, or feel awe, or feel fulfilled.
Magic Moments aren’t about gratitude or successes — although they often do relate to things I’m grateful for, or reflect wins. They aren’t about integrating learning — although I often learn a lot from them.
They are simply the moments that are worth remembering. The highs from the day that had nothing to do with my purpose or my work.
When I started this practice, it was about recording a moment that made me feel good. Now in practice for over 9 years, I’ve learned a secret about them.
The magic moments are where I look to find what gives life meaning. When I look back at all the magic moments, the themes I find tell me the direction I need to steer my life. They tell me what matters most to me — more than the gratitude practice, the wins I record each day, or even the lessons learned.
How to Make Your Own Magic Moment
Knowing that I am going to record a magic moment reminds me to look out for them each day. Sometimes I don’t have to look for them; they just happen. Other times, I seize an opportunity to create those moments.
What do those moments look like? Here are some recent examples:
On a vacation with my whole family, I saw my niece playing in the waves. I decided to join her and let her teach me the game she made up. We spent 20 minutes jumping in the waves together.
The next morning my young nephew was up early, and I invited him to do yoga with me. I spent 20 minutes teaching him some simple yoga.
I woke up early and went to the beach to catch the sunrise.
You Make Your Own Magic
You get to define what a magic moment means to you. These are the moments you will remember. They are the moments that will define your life.
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