The Perfect Day Formula: How to Own the Day and Control Your Life

by Craig Ballantyne

Most people are stuck. Every day we seem to just go through the motions, following our usual routine without ever stopping and thinking why we do what we do, or what we'd rather be doing instead. But sometimes, we have that one day - that Perfect Day - where everything just clicks. We feel great. We are unstoppable. And at the end of it we think, "Why can't every day be like this?" "Everybody wants to live the perfect life but fail to understand you do that by designing and living the perfect day, day after day. This book shows you exactly what you have to do to create that day." - Larry Winget, author of Grow a Pair "Like his site Early to Rise, Craig's book relies on ancient wisdom and classic thinkers - including my favorite, the Stoics - to help you organize your day and run your life." - Ryan Holiday, author of The Obstacle Is the Way

Genres: Self Help, Personal Development, Nonfiction, Productivity, Business, Personal Growth, Audiobook

135 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 2, 2016

Reviews

[Kris Muir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personally, for maybe 3-5 years, I have experimented with hacking my day, managing my energy (instead of time), and trying to build "the perfect day." One of my key insights after reflecting on my 2015 year was that I find the most satisfaction in the challenges and rewards that stem from the rituals of my daily grind rather than the fleeting happiness of the grand moments of celebration. I don't like "time management" theories too much but I can appreciate approaches that challenge assumptions about how we conceive of how we spend our days. Coupled with the fact that I had read the author's work over the years in fitness publications and the Early to Rise business newsletter, I was drawn to this book. The book can be "preachy" at times, selling you on pure inspiration and a bias toward action. But, I give it a 4/5 because it is rooted in Stoic thought, it is a quick read and it provides some concise ideas for "approaching" the perfect day. For example, I appreciate the clarity of the premise to (1) control your mornings (2) conquer your afternoons and (3) concentrate on what matters most in the evenings. Ballantyne says "success is simple once you accept how hard it is." I buy into his idea of success only possible from a kind of daily grind in which you pride yourself on the routine of doing both what you love and what is necessary to align with your values. Another key insight: create a list of daily rules for yourself of things you will do and things you will not do. Also, if you have trouble sleeping at night, consider the 10-3-2-1-0 rule. 10 hours before bedtime, stop consuming caffeine (so far = sleep afternoons for me). 3 hours before bed, no alcohol or heavy food. 2 hours, no work (have a shutdown ritual). 1 hour, no screens/TV/phones. 0 = number of times you will hit the snooze button if you follow this plan. Last insight: create a goal that you want to achieve in the next 90 days, now create 3 process goals that will help you achieve that goal. Don't create year-long goals. Create 3-month goals. Less is more. Most importantly, align what you value with how you use your resources (time/energy/money). As Stoic philosopher Epictetus said, "to live a life of virtues, match up your thoughts, words, and deeds."

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very short book recommended to me. Nice quick inspirational read.

It goes beyond the perfect day and in to having a perfect lie.

Wake up early
Create a vision
Write your rules - such as never have more than 2 drinks, healthy eating, exercising
Write a not to do list (about not wasting time on the net)
Set the your goals
Focus on your priorities
Wind down plenty of them before bed and go to sleep at a sensible time

10 hours before bed –No more caffeine.
3 hours before bed –No more food or alcohol.
2 hours before bed –No more work.
1 hour before bed –No more screen time (turn off all phones, TVs and computers).
0 –The number of times you will hit the snooze button in the morning.

The best to-do list sticks to a handful of very specific, actionable, and non-conflicting items. Schedule your number one priority first. Attack it immediately in the morning. Start there and you will win your morning hours and you will own your day.

Your script also requires you to set start and end times for all tasks, phone calls, and meetings. This prevents time vampires from sucking your schedule dry.

[Mario Tomic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice short book on how to organize your day. I enjoyed the ideas on structure vs. flexibility and the advantages of having a routine. It certainly goes hand in hand with the research I've seen on productivity as well as personal experience. Overall, it's an easy book to read or listen to. The ended features a lot of cliches which you've probably heard more than 100 times if you love to read personal development books. I would imagine that for most people that section would be a nice reminder of the basic concepts of personal achievement and success. :)

[Alisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay. It had many practical things in it, but it was also very repetitive. The entire last chapter was him trying to get me to register for one of his exclusive seminars... uh no. In defense though, I did learn a lot and will definitely write down and implement many of his suggestions. They just make good sense.

[Eric Mayle · Rating 2 out of 5]

The price was right (it was free).

Let me save you some time: decide what you want out of life, make a plan to get there, set your alarm clock, execute on your plan. Something something stoicism, something something My Proven System, et voila!

There. Saved you a little time. But not a ton. The wasted page space (1-inch margins, full-page ads FOR THIS BOOK, and full double-line breaks instead of tabbing new paragraphs) would make the laziest of high schoolers blush.

The information is all good. Obvious, but good. Giving it two stars because something in here may be exactly what you need to hear. And the 154 pages really does read more like 45 or so.

If you can nab it for free (you can... there’s like seven ads in the book where he will send it to you if you pay shipping), it’s worth a perusal. But it didn’t live up to its blurbs for me.

[Jure Brkinjač · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had the privilege to learn from Craig for the past 6 years and his lessons eventually had a big impact on my life. I'll admit, at first I was hesitant. How can creating rules and structure for your life translate into having more freedom? It sounds counterintuitive, but when you think about it again, this is really the only way to be productive and proactive, as opposed to drifting and reactive. I.e. Implementing clear rules, routines, and goals will free up your mental highway and enhance your decision making.

I can't emphasize this enough. Once you have a roadmap for your life, every decision what to do when you reach a crossroads is easy.

I'm glad Craig put these invaluable lessons in this easy-to-digest format. Do yourself a favor -- whether you're looking to become more productive to increase your wealth, improve your health, or any other aspect of your life, pick up this little gem of a book.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

While it is really simple in theory, there are some good reminders in here. You’ve got to have a vision and goals for your life, otherwise life will to you and not for you.

[Sarai Mitnick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good reminder for me on the importance of morning routines, establishing rules you commit to live by, and setting short term (90 day) goals. There’s nothing revolutionary here, but it definitely helped me to consider how I structure my life.

[Rachel Enochs · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was expecting more from this book & was left disappointed. Not much original material and cliché after cliché that sounded more like an infomercial from a motivational speaker (and he tries multiple times to sell you his "system" and coaching services throughout the book...so prepare yourself to be bombarded with sales pitches) when this really could have been a short blog post. I can save you some time and share the main points with you: 1) wake up super early and don't hit snooze; 2) decide on your goals and life vision; 3) prepare a plan; 4) set a deadline for your plan; 5) execute on your plan...Voilà! You are now healthy, wealthy and with your soulmate/love of your life because you followed this formula. The end.

[Dannii Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this is formulated more for someone who works in an office setting, I found lots of useful information to take away and implement into my own life. Not the perfect self-improvement book for me but after reading a slew of these, penned in the same vein, I more come to them for the motivational aspect of what they can deliver, rather than looking for anything innovative that I haven't read before.

[Dave McAuley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This productivity book is just over 150 pages and is an excellent guide to gaining more control and structure to your life. Gives thought provoking exercises and clear, actionable steps toward "owning your day"

[Vasilis d1af Apostolou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Provides a clear path of action for structuring your day for increased productivity and satisfaction. It was a quick read. Probably will read this again and complete all the exercises.

[Beth Borzone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick easy read. Useful ideas on how to develop good habits and routines to help you accomplish your goals.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good advice, but not a lot of original material. You've probably heard 90% of this material before, but it's Craig's spin on it. He's a likable guy.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing life changing but some good reminders and tips on getting the most out of each day. And it's a quick read.

[Angelica · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you feel like you're just waking up and going through the motions of your day feeling like you are getting nowhere, then you may want to check out this book. The author starts with many ideas to get your morning started off right. Too often, I hit the snooze button, barely get breakfast and then run off to work hoping to get there in time. Like many other people, I tend to be more reactive with my mornings instead of taking charge of them. In the Morning section, he discusses the idea of Rules for Living, aligning it with your goals both for your life and day. After attacking the morning, the author discusses the chaos of the afternoon and ways to avoid it. Finally the author examines goal setting in the last section of the book. He presents ideas a person should consider when setting goals and how to break them down into digestible pieces. The philosophy of Epictetus is cited throughout the book especially in the morning section. One of my favorite quotes cited in this book from Ben Franklin- "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." While I can't plan every possible detail in my life; I can definitely plan to have a better day with the tools presented in this book.

[Briana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, practical advice. Excited to implement the information in this book in my own life.

[Honoree · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contains lots of advice I’d heard before and repetition is always welcome. Also enjoyed several gems and nuggets of distinction that will stay with me for a long time. Well done, recommend.

[Tatiana Varela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple steps anyone can do if its truly willing to see an improvement on the day to day life

[Vindya V · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my self development era and this is one of the MANY self help books I’ve read this year. The author has a clear and compelling message to give, and I have personally found it is very useful.

[Reba · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been following Craig Ballantyne on social media for a while now, and have purchased his workout videos for Turbulence Training and Home Workout Revolution, and his other book The Great Cardio Myth. So of course I had to get this book too!

Before I started reading the book I had already started putting some of his suggestions into practice for myself. Craig, and other life/business/health coaches that teach at IIN or that I've talked to all say the same thing. Get up early, do YOUR THING for an hour, then go about your day. I have a "day job", that takes a lot of my time lately, I'm also starting my own health coaching business, and I'm taking part-time classes. That hour that I have first thing in the morning is my time to do things that I need to do for my business, which is still in its infancy. My "day job" requires me to work a lot of overtime, and takes time away from my evenings that I could be building my business, so now I have that hour in the morning to work on it. I normally wake up around 5 naturally anyway (the benefits of a paleo lifestyle!) but I used to lounge in bed; or horror and nightmares! even used to get up and watch an episode of something on Hulu or Netflix! I wasted that whole hour or more before I would start getting ready for work.

I've also structured the rest of my day so that I always have time to read, and always have time to check my emails. I commute to work by bus, and it's only about 20 minutes, so in the morning I read a book, and on the way home I check my personal and business emails, because there's no time while I'm at my day job to be able to waste *their* time on my personal business.

I'm a work in progress, it takes time to change bad habits into good ones. But I really appreciated Craig's Perfect Day Formula, I think it could work for pretty much everybody who is prone to procrastination and laying in. Even if you can't use every single suggestion in the book, there are things we can all do that are better uses of our time than binging on Netflix or laying in bed hitting snooze 6 or 7 times every morning. If you're too tired to get up when the alarm goes off, then go to bed earlier! Seriously, you'll get so much more done. If you hit snooze every morning and lay in even just an extra 5 minutes, over the course of a year you've wasted 3 DAYS! What could you do with that "extra" 3 days?

[Rich · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just recently read the Miracle Morning and maybe that's why I gave a two star review for this. The book has some good information. Alot of common things with the Miracle Morning. I would say it could be written a bit better. It seems like this is just a compilation of a bunch of articles more than an actual book.

This is a pretty quick read though, with a lot of good actionable items and takeaways that you can quickly digest. The key things are to control, conquer, and concentrate on the day.

Control begins in the morning, doing your most important task when you first wake up and setting yourself up for success the night before.

Conquer focuses on his 5 Pillars of Success - Planning and Preparation, Professional Accountability, Social Support, Incentive and the Big Deadline

Concentrate is determining what matters to your life - creating your vision and living that vision out by setting goals. There are 4 areas we should develop - health, wealth, social self, and personal enrichment. Each goal should have three progress goals that can be measured. Share these goals with others and you can achieve them!

[Adis Sokolovic · Rating 2 out of 5]

The whole book was a quick read, and that's the only positive thing about it.
It was really repetitive, and it constantly felt like the author was desperately trying to make the book as long as it can be.
Everything in the book could have been said in around 20 pages or even less.

This book might be good for someone who is completely new to "self-help" books and new to habits/productiveness type of books. When it comes to me, I barely found anything that I can implement in my life.
The first 1/5 of the "The Perfect Day Formula" sounded(I was also listening to audio while reading) as a never-ending television ad.

Craig was constantly trying to make this also like some sort of a "motivation book" but It barely motivated me to do anything.
Just before reading this book I've read the "Atomic Habits" by James Clear and comparing Craig's work to what James wrote is like comparing Harry Potter books to some of my writings.

Overall rating 2.5/5.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a ton of new ground here, but I don't mind that. Reminders never hurt. A couple of stand out ideas include making a set of rules for yourself (e.g. I never have more than two drinks, I write 500 words every day) and making a not-to-do list, which is an interesting concept. Very quick read. Worth picking up.

[Rebecca Petrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really quick read. There is nothing revolutionary about this book. It's a lot of common sense and good reminders, but the author puts it together in an engaging way. It's like when your parents tell you something a billion times and you brush it off, but when your friend tells you the same thing, suddenly it clicks.

[Sebastian Albertsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and straight to the point. No unnecessary babbling. Though I already knew almost everything, the information now common knowledge, I needed to hear it again. Something about being told by someone else gets you into action sometimes. I love how simple yet effective this book is. I highlighted pretty much every page (lol).

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, only beginning really talked about Perfect Day

A lot of this was fairly standard advice. I really wanted something that focused in on nitty, gritty of setting up perfect day. A few useful tips though.

[DeLaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book exponentially increased my productivity rate. Not just in business, but in my hobbies and with my relationships as well. I learned that structure is freedom, what that truly means, and how to build a life structure in order to have more freedom.

Must read. Must do.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and easy steps to follow. Most of it is common sense but always a good reminder and outline for creating success. The blueprint is clearly laid out as long as you commit. Quick easy read for those looking for self improvement book.

[Sagar Biradar · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I have read till now

It's a must read book for anyone distracted and confused about their life. Gives a perfect roadmap on planning out the days for the future.