Full transcript here 👋

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. This is your life. This is your chance. Listen.

The word for today is upstream. Have you ever noticed the ripple effects that occur when there’s a change in your routine? Maybe you’ve slept in (like I did this morning) and then you find that the rest of your day’s activities are all bumping into each other because of that one upstream change. In his book, Upstream, Dan Heath discusses all of the ways that humans are prone to downstream thinking. In the oversleeping example, we’re tempted to solve the problem by rushing through the day’s activities. Success, right? Heath argues that true success comes from addressing the upstream issue, which for me, was staying up too late.

Today’s concrete challenge is to identify and write down one upstream intervention in your life. This might require some concerted thought to trace your downstream problems up to their source. Keep it super simple, though. Some examples are overweight = focus on foods, tired = focus on bedtime, don’t like your job = focus on interviewing.

Use the next few minutes of this podcast to write your personal upstream intervention . I’ll keep the music playing while you do, and don’t miss the soundtrack at the end of this episode.

Before you go, repeat the following soundtrack, “I am the kind of person who looks upstream for solutions.”

Let me know if this made a difference in your day by leaving a comment in your podcast app or at concrete.win/today.

Check back tomorrow for a new challenge. Until then.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/today/donations