Review by Myra Salzer
This is not a book I would have sought for myself. Enough of those self-help (a.k.a. self-righteous) books! What does Craig Ballantyne know about my days anyway? But, alas, the book was given to me by Joe Polish, the founder of my mastermind group, Genius Network, and I found myself opening it just to see what was inside. The next thing I knew, I was reading every page. Joe also gave all of us in this group The Perfect Day Formula Kit, which includes all the calendars and forms for implementing the suggestions in this book. Yes, Joe is very generous!
The easy-to-digest material is mostly stuff we know. It’s about ignoring time wasters and focusing your time on accomplishing your mission. It’s simple and obvious, and yet, I catch myself not honoring my own purpose every day. Rather than feeling like I’m being talked down to or told not to do this, that, and the other, Ballantyne provides easy-to-implement slight adjustments we can make, resulting in a more purposeful day. Ballantyne acknowledges that no one is going to make 100% of every day productive and fruitful. But he does give the reader permission to have a healthy, balanced life (and not necessarily all work and no play) in order to fulfill their personal mission. For example, Ballantyne quits his workday at 4:00 p.m. in order to spend time with his young children. He cherishes having dinner together every night as a family.
Another little tweak is that he doesn’t eat – or drink alcohol – three hours before going to bed. This enables him to get a good night’s sleep, which is important for an overall balanced life. He has discovered that his most productive time comes first thing in the morning before others wake up. As a result, he wakes up at 4:00 a.m. He doesn’t suggest that everybody do that, but rather we explore for ourselves when we are most productive and protect that time for the most important activities.
I appreciate that his definition of balance is not confined to financial or business success. It also includes health, social, and personal enrichment goals. Ballantyne is the creator of the “Turbulence Training Certification” program, and you can tell by the way he wrote this book that he would also be an inspiring personal trainer.
For me, I’ve decided to make a few lifestyle tweaks of my own as a result. I am going to set the alarm for 5:30 each morning, 15 minutes earlier than before. More importantly, I will make it a point to prepare to go to sleep in a more calming ritual than my habitual former “checking emails as the last thing of the day” routine. Finally, I promised myself to be in bed before 10:00 p.m. These small tweaks alone could be transformative.
I anticipate many “perfect days” in my future, and I hope the same for you.
The Perfect Day Formula is available in hardcover, audiobook, and as a Kindle download – you can order your copy from Amazon.