What if you could live your best 100 days over again exactly as they'd happened? Knowing which days you'd select and why can tell you a lot about your values and your life.

1. 100
GREAT
DAYS

2. What others are saying . . .
“Your 100 [great] days idea and determining patterns of
what contributes to those best days … has made me realize
that I need to make some fundamental changes in my life
to increase the number of days that could be possible
candidates for that ‘best of’ list.”
“I’ve had a pretty good life so far and lived over 15,000 days
– why was it so hard to come up with 100 great ones?”
“This is such an intriguing concept. I compared it to my
husband’s list and it was eye-opening, to say the least.”

3. What’s this all about . . . ?
1) Concept
2) Purposes
3) Guidelines
4) Tips
5) Analysis
6) Next Steps
7) Conclusion

4. Concept . . .
Given that . . .
The average person lives +/- 25,000 days.
What if . . . ?
Just before your last breath, the powers that be
allowed you to relive 100 great days of your life again
exactly as each one had happened.
List and analyze . . .
When you have a chance during the next week or two,
start a list of great days in your life and add to it as
you think of them. Then use the questions provided in
this presentation to help determine how successful
your life has been in the past and what you might
want to focus on to make it better in the future.

5. Purposes . . .
This is a fun and easy way to evaluate your life —
especially compared to rigorous self-assessment
tests, tedious workshops, and expensive retreats.
Take an enjoyable trip down memory lane and
gain insights into what you value most and what
sort of life you’ve lived. Identify patterns that
might help you improve your future!

6. Guidelines . . .
> If you can’t list 100 great days, that’s okay. Just
list as many as you can.
> A “day” can span two calendar days but
not more than 24 consecutive hours.
> You don’t have to name the specific day.
Identifying the day as one within a general
period (e.g., “One of the days I spent on the
wilderness hike last summer.”) is usually sufficient.
> There is no need to rank the 100 days in any
particular order except by approximate year.

7. Tips . . .
> The more details (e.g., where, who was
involved, etc.) you can remember about the
day the better. If you can’t remember much,
perhaps it wasn’t one of the best after all.
> Old photographs, videos, journals, diaries,
scrapbooks, etc. are effective ways to jog your
memory.
> It is very important that you select your great
days BEFORE you view the rest of this
presentation. Doing otherwise might skew
the results.

8. Analysis . . .
Add 10 columns to the left of your Great Days list and based
on the predominate ingredients for each day, categorize
each day as follows:
Column Heading: PEOPLE
Column Heading: YEAR
Indicate actual names or group
Indicate the year the day occurred
Column Heading: FOCUS Column Heading: PLACES
Indicate “Self,” “Others” or “Both” Indicate actual names
Column Heading: RESOURCES Column Heading: ORGANIZATIONS
Indicate “$” or “Intangibles” Indicate actual names
Column Heading: SPONTANEITY Column Heading: ACTIVITIES
Indicate “Plan” or “No plan” Indicate type of activity
Column Heading: TASK Column Heading: EVENTS
Indicate “Work” or “Leisure” Indicate type of event

9. Analysis . . .
Although most of the days are left out of this abbreviated
example, the chart above still gives you an idea of what
your chart might look like.

10. Analysis . . .
Look at your Great Days and ask yourself the
following questions:
A) Did you have a difficult time coming up with more
than a handful of great days? If so, you might need to
make some significant changes in your life. The
questions on the next few slides can help you
determine where to focus.
B) Are there a high number of days within a short span
of years – or a particular season of the year? If so,
what was it about that time span or that season that
might have caused such a high frequency? Is there
anything you should do to reproduce those or similar
conditions again?

11. Analysis . . .
C) Did most of your days tend to be centered around
your desires or did they involve you giving to others?
If you’re happy with your Great Days, you will want to
maintain the ratio of “self” days to “others” days. If
you’re not happy, it might be because you’ve had too
many of one or the other.

12. Analysis . . .
D) Was money or significant material possessions an
essential element in most of your Great Days?
If you’re happy with your
Great Days, you will want to
maintain the ratio of “money”
days to “intangibles” days.
If you’re not happy, it might
be because you’ve had too
many of one or the other.

13. Analysis . . .
E) Do certain people, places, organizations, or specific
events or activities keep showing up regularly in
your list of Great Days?
Depending on your level of satisfaction with your
Great Days, you may want to consider reconnecting
with key people, relocating to a particular place, or
becoming more active in certain organizations.

14. Analysis . . .
F) Would you say most of your Great Days revolved
around a work-like activity or a leisure related one?
If you’re happy with your Great Days, you will want to
maintain the ratio of “work” days to “leisure” days. If
you’re not happy, or had trouble coming up with days,
it might be because there’s too much “work” in your life.

15. Analysis . . .
F) Were most of your Great Days meticulously planned
or were they primarily spontaneous?
It’s surprising how many of our best moments are
courtesy of serendipity. Meticulous planning creates
expectations that are seldom truly met. You might
want to try “going with the
flow” more often to see if
such a strategy improves
and/or adds to your
number of Great Days.

16. Next Steps . . .
> Make changes! Strive to reproduce at least
some of the patterns that helped produce
your Great Days.
> List your worst 25 days – if you can stand it.
An analysis of the patterns within your list will
confirm what you don’t like and may help you
avoid negative places, people, and
circumstances in the future.

17. Conclusion . . .
Too often we race through the days, months, and
years so quickly that we don’t stop to analyze our
lives until it’s too late.
Companies and organizations of all types periodically
set aside time for assessing their successes and
failures. This allows them to regroup, refocus, and
rededicate themselves to more productive futures. If
it’s a good strategy for them, it’s an even better one
for us!
Created by Kevin Struck, Terra Media, LLC June 2009