In this solo monologue, Matt argues that a gratitude list can serve as a practical blueprint for designing the life you want. He explains that people have already described their "perfect day" through conversations, journaling, vision boards, or mental rehearsal, and that these descriptions reveal the activities, environments, and feelings that bring presence and happiness. Matt encourages viewers to extract those elements—early mornings, creative work, reading, good food, outdoor activities, social time—and intentionally incorporate pieces of them into everyday life. He stresses the importance of being fully present, using gratitude as a signal of what truly matters, and building routines, habits, and rehearsals that make perfect‑day moments repeatable. He acknowledges that not every day can be flawless, but suggests incremental improvements, such as adding a walk, a journal entry, or a favorite coffee, to make each day more aligned with one’s values. The video concludes with a promotional plug for the Analog Action course, offering a discount and a free Leuchtturm1917 bullet journal to help viewers design and plan their perfect days.
Chapters
Hey, quick question. What if your gratitude list is actually a blueprint for the life that you want to live? Think about it. You've described your perfect day hundreds of times without even realizing it. Maybe you've described it to a friend, you thought about it driving to work, you've written about it in your journal, you've taken notes about this, you've maybe even done a vision board. You can probably even picture an actual perfect day in in your life where everything just kind of came together. A day like that for me is one where I can get up early, where I can do some creative work. Maybe that's writing or recording a video. It's writing some things down in my journal. It's reading the Bible. It's having good food. It's having a good hazy IPA from my favorite brewery. It is being outside with friends. It's going on a hike. It's playing a sport. These are the kind of things that make a perfect day for me. And when you live one of these days, it doesn't feel like a fantasy. It feels like something that you could and probably should be intentional about doing more often. So what we're going to do in this video is use those examples and elements of a perfect day to shape all the days that are to come. And even more than the things you get to do or the food you get to eat, One thing that stands out to me when I think about these perfect days is presence, is that I feel fully present and alive in the moment. I'm not wishing I was anywhere else doing anything else but with the people that I'm living this day with in the space that I get to live it in. So on this Thanksgiving weekend, when you're thinking about things that you're grateful for, I want you to know that gratitude isn't just a list. It's a signal. It's a way of you telling yourself, maybe just subconsciously, these are the things that matter to you. These are the things that make you excited and help you feel present and happiest in the life that you're living. So what I want you to realize is that you don't have to wonder what your perfect day is. You just have to look back on what you have written about and thought about and talked to people about and identify those elements and start to be intentional about adding them to each and every day. Now you may say to yourself, and it is a good thing to wonder, like, well, Matt, you don't do that every day. That's true, I don't do that every day. But when I have the opportunity, whether it's a weekend or a holiday, or even just a part of a day where I can have that sort of day, really being intentional and communicating with family and friends, like, hey, this is, this is what I want to do. And the thing that you need to realize is like, when you can get excited about something, and you can you can bring other people into your excitement, they're going to get excited about it too. I don't want you to overthink this or think, well, I don't want to, I don't want to impose on other people. People like to have things set up for them. And people also like to be around people who are excited about things. And so you'll find the people that enjoy the same sort of things that you do. The other thing that I want you to keep in mind is even if you can't do like the full perfect day, What can you do that are pieces of a perfect day? For me, it's getting outside, it's exercising, it's having good food, it's time with, it's time with my family. And I do enjoy the work that I get to do. So a lot of time, a lot of days, I'm just thinking about which, which piece or part of the day am I spending the most time on? On the weekends, I get to really expand on that family time. During the week, I get to really expand on my creative time. And this all happens because like, I think a big part of is that I've been journaling for so long, I've been writing down my goals, I've been setting a clear vision for what I want in my life. And that's something we're going to talk about in another video. So keep an eye out for it. But these are elements of a perfect day. And I don't get to combine all of them every single day. But I can look and say like, hey, what would make today a little bit more perfect? Let's go outside, let's exercise a little bit, let's eat a good meal. And those are things that make like every single day meaningful and make it something that I feel really excited to live. I want you to keep in mind that gratitude is about more than just writing down what you're thankful for. It's about actually living what you're thankful for every single day. So every day when you have even just a piece of that perfect day, it could be on a walk, it could be writing in your journal, it could be your favorite cup of coffee, could be anything. I want you to realize that there is a moment there that is perfect for you. And it's something that you can keep adding in to your day to make it more perfect and something that you feel like present in and grounded and excited to be a part of. And here's the part that will make all this more repeatable for you. I want you to think about and really ask yourself, am I creating routines and habits and making decisions in my life that make the perfect day happen more often. A quick little shout out for something that can help you design and plan your perfect day and have those perfect days more often, you got to check out Analog Action. I'm running a Black Friday Cyber Monday promo. You can save $100 on Analog Action and even more. This is just for a limited number of buyers, a free bullet journal. Like, this is the Leuchtturm1917 bullet journal. You can save $100 on Analog Action and I will send you a black bullet journal just like this one. Fantastic. It's my favorite. It's the thing that I recommend, the thing that you see. You'll get that included, no additional cost, with your purchase of the Analog Action Course. So as we go into the end of 2025, I want you to think about more than just reviewing. I also want you to think about and be intentional about rehearsing, rehearsing your perfect days to find bits and pieces of these elements and intentions that you have and combine them little by little, piece everything together until you start having those perfect days more often. And keep in mind that not every day is going to be perfect. That's just part of being human. But you can start to be grateful and use your gratitude list as a blueprint for identifying the elements of each day that help you feel more present and help the day feel more perfect. If you watch this channel and you follow along, you are already well on your way to knowing what matters for you. Now it's just up to you to design a system and a life that helps you live it every single day. Thanks for watching.