In an interview for our Holistic Coaching Summit, Todd Herman shared that his mission in life is to create as many “smiling pillows” as possible.
His logic is that how content and fulfilled we feel just before we drift off is probably the most important metric for how well we’ve lived that day.
Since, I’ve been thinking about my own recipe for a smiling pillow, and landed on 8 P’s.
Note: this is just what works for me. You’ll need to figure out your own “ingredients”, but I hope what follows can provide some inspiration:
1.) Presence — connecting with something bigger than myself, e.g. meditation, prayer, or time in nature.
2.) Philosophical perspective — cultivating a point of view that helps me to see the day’s events through an elevated lens. E.g. contemplating mortality, considering the fact we’re currently on an organic spaceship revolving around an exploding fireball, and so on. Content from people like Alan Watts, Eckhart Tolle, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Anthony de Mello can help with this.
3.) Priority Progress — 1-3 hours of deep, focused work on whatever the most important project is.
4.) People — investing in at least one relationship.
5.) Procrastinator — ticking off a task I’ve been avoiding that’s been gathering cobwebs on my to do list.
6.) Parts work — checking in with the different parts of my inner system that make up the whole.
7.) Play — an activity I do for its own sake with no future outcome in mind—purely for the enjoyment I get from the process of doing it.
8.) Physical activity — some form of movement that gets me out of my head and into my body.
What about you?
Is there anything not included above that leads to a smiling pillow for you?
