Elevating Your Life: The 'Best Year Yet' Mindset

In the latest episode of Before Breakfast, host Laura Vanderkam introduces a powerful, simple psychological shift that can transform how we approach our daily lives: adopting the mantra of "best year yet." While many goal-setting strategies focus on rigid structures, this approach focuses on intentionality and the optimization of our time.

The Philosophy of Optimization

Laura challenges listeners to consider why they shouldn't view the upcoming year as their finest. With 8,760 hours in a year, she argues that most people leave significant room for improvement. By viewing the year through the lens of being the "best year yet," we move away from passive existence toward active optimization. Even when there are no major life-altering events, focusing on elevating day-to-day life can maximize the "sum total of happiness."

Integrating the Mindset into Planning

To make this shift effective, the podcast suggests integrating the "best year yet" rubric into various layers of life planning:

• Long-term Planning: When scheduling vacations or summer plans, ask yourself what a "best year yet" would look like. This might mean "going out on a limb" to rent a beach house with friends you truly enjoy or finally signing up for that "pottery class" you have been delaying.
• Weekly Planning: This is where "real-time decisions get made." By applying this mindset to your weekly calendar, you might choose to reach out to a colleague for coffee or take the initiative to "draft an agenda" to improve a tedious staff meeting, effectively making your work life less "awful."

Shifting Perspectives in Real-Time

The power of this mantra is most evident in the mundane or frustrating moments of life. Laura suggests that even when you are "stuck in traffic on a dreary commute," you can choose to shift your mindset. By using the "best year yet" rubric, you can transform a negative moment into an opportunity to "listen to your favorite album" or "call someone you love."

A Realistic Approach to Optimism

Laura acknowledges that life is unpredictable. She notes that "tragedy happens" and "things fall apart," and in those moments, one should not force a false sense of positivity. However, for those years that would otherwise be "ho-hum" or merely "okay," this mindset acts as a catalyst. It serves as a tool to take life from "great to awesome" by setting the expectation that we are the active architects of our daily experiences.

Ultimately, the "best year yet" is not a prediction of the future, but a commitment to how we inhabit our present. By consciously choosing to elevate our daily actions, we increase the probability that the year will, indeed, be our best one yet.