The seven · 02 / 07

The question

Am I in control of what drives me — do I know when to push and when to recover?

Every Sunday, Inner Health gets a number from 1 to 7, the same as the other six. The scale is the same for all seven:

1

Abandoned. Not in the plan at all.

3

Maintenance. Showing up, going through motions, no intention behind it.

5

In it. Deliberate effort, visible progress, a plan being run.

7

Fully lived. Lived at full intent. You would put this quarter on the record.

Protect the brain. Train the mind. Master yourself.

Protect the brain: sleep, food, sunlight, movement, what you put into your body — give it the conditions it needs to work. Train the mind: perspective, gratitude, reflection, what you let into your attention; you do not have to believe, react to, or act on every thought you have. Master yourself: know when to push, when to recover, what deserves your attention, and what to let go.

The goal is not to become less driven. It is to be more in control of what drives you.

Goals people set here

Ideas, not assignments. Each one names a number or a date, so you will know whether you did it.

• Ten minutes of meditation every weekday, before email.
• No work email after 7pm, at least five nights a week.
• One full day a month with the phone switched off.
• Average seven and a half hours of sleep, checked every week.
• Write three pages every morning, unedited and unread.
• See a therapist twice a month, booked a quarter ahead.

Things worth doing once

From the fifty-two actions — one a week, the same for everybody, chosen and never assigned. These are the Inner Health ones.

• Turn off every notification you did not chooseGo through them app by app. Keep people and the calendar. Everything else can wait until you open it.
• Choose when you read the newsOne time of day, one or two sources, then done. Take the news apps off your phone.
• Write a list for a hard dayFive things that help when a day goes wrong: a walk, a person, a song. Written while you are calm, for when you are not.
• Keep one place for what you readOne note or notebook for the lines worth keeping, with the title above them. Read it back once a year.
• Write big decisions down before you make themWhat you know, what you expect, how you feel. Read the page again in six months and see what held.
• Keep one quiet hour a weekNo phone, no podcast, no list. A walk, a bath, a chair by a window.
• Find a therapist before you need oneA name and a number near you, saved where you will find them. The hard part is done before the hard week arrives.