Exploring Your “Ideal Day(s)”
A couple of weeks ago, I watched a recorded webinar featuring a life coaching program and an exercise called the Ideal Day. The speaker shared how she and her family regularly use this practice to identify what truly satisfies them and intentionally create more fulfilling experiences.
Exploring your ideal day is a powerful reflective process that can help clarify your values, priorities, and sources of happiness. In this blog, we’ll explore:
Why the Ideal Day exercise works
10 different exercises to help you design your ideal day
Stories of individuals who have tried this approach and what they discovered
Let’s dive in!
The Ideal Day exercise works because it taps into multiple psychological and cognitive mechanisms that help clarify values, align actions with desires, and create motivation. Here’s why it’s effective:
1. Clarifies Values and Priorities
When you envision your ideal day, you’re forced to identify what truly matters to you—whether it’s meaningful work, deep relationships, or personal growth. This helps you separate external expectations from internal desires.
2. Engages the Brain's Reticular Activating System (RAS)
The RAS filters information and directs attention to things that align with your focus. By visualizing your ideal day, your brain starts to notice opportunities and patterns that move you toward that vision.
3. Reduces Decision Fatigue
Many people struggle with prioritization. When you clearly define what an ideal day looks like, it becomes easier to structure your time in a way that supports it, reducing the mental load of constant decision-making.
4. Creates Emotional Engagement and Motivation
Vividly imagining an ideal day generates emotions like excitement, peace, or satisfaction. This emotional connection strengthens motivation and makes it easier to take action.
5. Uncovers Gaps Between Reality and Desires
By comparing your current routine with your ideal day, you can identify mismatches—things that drain your energy or distract from your goals—allowing you to make intentional adjustments.
6. Supports Habit Formation and Goal-Setting
Once you know what an ideal day looks like, you can break it down into habits and routines. Small, daily changes compound over time, moving you closer to that vision.
7. Increases a Sense of Control
Many people feel stuck in reactive mode, responding to life instead of shaping it. The Ideal Day exercise helps shift focus from what’s happening to you to what you create for yourself.
8. Activates Visualization and Law of Attraction Principles
While not magic, visualization primes your subconscious mind to align behaviors with your vision, increasing the likelihood of taking aligned actions.
Here are some exercises to guide you:
Sit in a quiet place and close your eyes.
Imagine waking up in the morning. Where are you? What do you see, hear, and feel?
Visualize your entire day, from morning to night, in as much detail as possible. Consider:
Who are you with?
What activities are you doing?
How are you feeling throughout the day?
What is the pace of your day—relaxed, busy, or balanced?
Write down what you imagined.
2. Reflect on Your Best Days
Think about days in your past when you felt particularly happy or fulfilled.
What made those days special?
What activities, people, or feelings stood out?
Write down the common elements and use them as a foundation for designing your ideal day.
Answer the following questions in a journal:
What time do I wake up on my ideal day?
How do I feel when I wake up?
What activities fill my morning, afternoon, and evening?
How much time do I spend alone vs. with others?
What am I eating or drinking throughout the day?
What do I accomplish, and how do I relax?
How do I feel as I go to bed?
4. The Perfect Balance Wheel
Create a pie chart with sections for different areas of life (e.g., work, relationships, hobbies, health, learning, relaxation, etc.).
Assign how much time you'd spend on each during your ideal day.
Reflect on whether this balance aligns with your current life or if changes are needed.
6. Role-Model Analysis
Think of someone you admire. What do you think their ideal day looks like?
Consider how their routines or priorities might inspire your vision of an ideal day.
7. Mood Mapping
List emotions or states of being you'd like to feel on your ideal day (e.g., calm, energized, productive, connected).
Map out activities or routines that evoke those emotions in you.
8. Time Blocking
Create a hypothetical schedule for your ideal day.
Use hourly time blocks to plan your day in detail. Include:
Work or creative time
Social interactions
Rest and relaxation
Physical activity
Time for hobbies or learning
Meals and downtime
9. Constraints Exercise
Imagine you had only one day left to live. What would you do and why? Now imagine you have unlimited resources (time, money, energy) for a day. What would you do and why? Compare the two to identify your core values.
10. Feedback from Others
Ask a trusted friend or partner:
"What do you think makes me happiest?"
"What do you think I value most in my daily life?" Use their insights to inform your ideal day vision.
Once you've envisioned your ideal day, try living it out (or as close as possible) for one day. Reflect on what felt right, what didn’t, and what you’d adjust.
One of my clients shared with me what her ideal day looks like:
“I say ‘days’ because I couldn’t possibly fit all of my favourite activities into one day; not without exhausting myself. I am definitely an introvert in that I need to pace myself to be truly content.
I am a morning person, definitely. My ideal time to wake up in the morning is about 630 or 7 am after a restful night with at least 7 hours of continuous sleep. Something I strive for but find very difficult to achieve these days.
I look forward to starting my day with a hot black coffee while reading the morning news and taking in the morning activities outside. I imagine what activities went on throughout the night, and enjoy the quiet moments of the early hours.
My first hour of the day is best when it’s quiet, sitting with my own thoughts with a relaxed body and mind. This quiet moment gives me a foundation for energy for the day, a true introvert thing. However, my best days are when I can also incorporate some quiet time midday, to refresh and re-energize. This could be a small nap, or reading a few chapters of a book.
Activities that fill my heart fall into the umbrellas of; creativity and learning, physical activity, work, and social relationships. My best days would not be to try to incorporate something from each umbrella into one day…..that would be too much for me. If I can have my day filled with activities from two umbrellas, I am one happy camper…. Variety fills my heart, so a perfect week might mean that I have the ability to fill my days with a mix of all four umbrellas of activities with a balance of being alone and with others (being alone probably 30% of the time, 70% with others). With belly-to-toes laughter and serious thoughtful discussions sprinkled in throughout the week.
I used to like to plan my day…. Make sure I had order and achieved what I was hoping. Now, my best days are when I don’t have to plan and I can decide in the moment what inspires me. I guess that’s the beauty of retirement and getting to choose your work.
My favourite time of the year is late spring/early summer when temperatures are mildly warm and the vegetation is blooming with new growth. I love warm sun, with cool breezes. This inspires me to eat healthy meals with less meat and more fresh vegetables and fruits. There’s something about the warmth of the season that makes me crave the bounty from the gardens.
So, my perfect days, definitely includes the mild, warmer seasons, variety of activities, being with others and taking time to fill my cup.”
What does your ideal day(s) look like?
If you are having difficulty envisioning your ideal day there might be multiple layers to why:
You have multiple ideas of what an ideal day looks like – This could mean that different parts of you are pulling in different directions. Maybe your ideal workday looks different from your ideal vacation day. Or perhaps some days, you crave adventure, while other days, you want deep connection or solitude.
You’re unsure what an ideal day looks like – If you’re in a transitional phase, it makes sense that your vision might be unclear. You might not yet know what would truly fulfill you, or you might be used to prioritizing external demands over personal desires.
Fear of impossibility – Sometimes, we avoid imagining what we truly want because we’re afraid we won’t be able to make it a reality. This can be triggered by self-doubt, limitations (financial, time, obligations), or past disappointments.
Possible Ways to Move Forward
Embrace multiple ideal days – Instead of trying to pick one perfect day, explore different versions: an ideal weekday, an ideal weekend, an ideal solo day, an ideal day with loved ones.
Break it down into small pieces – Instead of defining an entire day, start with “What does an ideal morning look like?” or “How do I want to feel at the end of the day?”
Use prompts to guide reflection – Questions like What moments have made me feel most alive? or If time and money weren’t a factor, how would I spend my time? can help surface hidden desires.
Make it about feelings, not logistics – Instead of focusing on how to make it happen, focus on how you want to feel. Do you want to feel energized, peaceful, accomplished, connected?
Give yourself permission to dream – Even if it seems out of reach, allow yourself to explore it without judgment. Sometimes, the first step is just acknowledging what you truly want.
Envisioning an “ideal” day encourages you to tap into your deepest needs and desires and may show you that elements of your current days are “ideal” for you. If you already know what an ideal day looks like for you, share it below in the comments section. If not, are there any of the above exercises that appeal to you. It might take a few tries to get started, but once you tap into who you are, creativity abounds. Connect with me for a free consultation, if you want some support in envisioning your “ideal day”. Below are additional resources that might be helpful. Happy Dreaming!!!
Additional Resources:
The Art of Making Memories: How to Create and Remember Happy Moments by Meik Wiking
This book offers practical exercises and reflections on creating joyful and fulfilling moments, which can help you envision your ideal day.
Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
A guide based on a Stanford course that uses design-thinking principles to help you create a meaningful life, including exercises for envisioning your ideal day.
A simple and intuitive journaling app that can help you write out your reflections on your ideal day.
A user-friendly app with guided prompts to help you explore your thoughts and goals.
A website featuring interviews with people about their routines. It’s inspiring for crafting your own ideal day.
The Happiness Lab (Hosted by Dr. Laurie Santos)
o Episodes cover topics on creating happiness and living more fulfilling days, with practical tips and science-based insights
o Short episodes summarizing self-help and productivity content, perfect for gathering ideas on daily routines and balance.
