The 72 Hour Rule

I imagine you care about your future. A wish we all share is we want a life filled with meaning, good health, quality experiences, and strong relationships. And we’re willing to make sacrifices today in order to have it in the future.

But I want to present a perspective shift about our future. Often we think about what our lives will look like years down the road and see that as the future we’re preparing for and investing in. But what if I told you that next week, tomorrow, and an hour from now are equally that very future you’ve been thinking so much about?

With that in mind, I want to bring up one of Brendon Burchard’s philosophies called the 72 Hour Rule. He says that how we feel in the present moment is dictated by what we’ve chosen to do in the last 72 hours. These are the health choices we’ve made in our diet, exercise, and sleep. The strain and stress we’ve experienced from work and life. The pride we feel from how we’ve been showing up for ourselves and our loved ones.

How we feel is so important because it dictates what we have to offer the present moment. Good and energized days lead to higher quality encounters and more productive work. Low energy, lazy, lethargic days create resistance that makes it hard to pick up momentum.

But whether you’re thinking about the distant future a decade from now or the immediate future a day from today, the only thing we have control over is the present moment. So it’s important that we consider how our choices right now are setting us up for the future we want to have.

72 hours is 3 full days, and I’d think that all of us have something going on in the next 3 days that we’d like to be our very best for. What that means is that we can’t cut corners in the present because then it compromises our ability to have everything we need for the near future. 

That’s where having good habits, self-discipline, and a healthy lifestyle all come in. The more consistently we can make healthy choices, the better we can set ourselves up for success.

So I’d challenge you to think about this - What’s the one thing you know you should be doing that you’re struggling to do consistently? Because if you revamp that, you’ve found a high-leverage way to increase your energy and quality of life.

Should you feel inspired to implement this new ‘best you’ lifestyle in 21 days, click here!

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