An Ideal Day – Impossible?

In the last post, I mentioned an exercise that helped shape my approach to lifestyle design: describing your ideal day.

I remember exactly where I did it.

I was on a cross-country flight—upgraded to first class, sunlight pouring in, with just enough space and quiet to think clearly. I decided to map it out.

First, I listed everything I wanted in a day. Then I time-blocked it.

Eight hours for sleep. One hour for personal care. Two hours for meals.

That left eleven hours.

I started with one hour of reading and writing, then an hour of exercise. Two hours for a hike or bike ride with family. One hour for music practice.

Six hours left.

I added two hours in the evening for connection—family, relationships. Two more hours to work on a project I was excited about at the time—what I called a “Spa for the Mind,” inspired by places like Esalen.

That left… two hours.

Two hours for work. For making money.

I remember pausing. Huh.

In my ideal day, paid work barely existed.

At the time, this felt almost absurd. My real life looked nothing like this. If anything, the exercise made me anxious. It highlighted the gap between where I was and how I wanted to live.

But it also revealed something important.

Around that same time, I had asked one of my coaching mentors how many clients he could realistically support. He said about ten. After doing this exercise, that made perfect sense.

So I assigned those final two hours to building a small coaching practice.

Still, the bigger realization lingered: this life required more than better scheduling.

It required freedom.

Not just flexibility—but full control over my time.

I had already been thinking about taking three months off to bike across the U.S. Now it became clearer: I didn’t just need a break from work—I needed a different relationship to work.

Within a couple of years, I found a framework that changed everything: a path to financial independence, where your investments cover your living expenses.

That was the missing piece.

Maybe your ideal day feels unrealistic, too.

But it’s not a fantasy—it’s a signal.

How are you spending your time now?

And what would need to change to live closer to your ideal day?