Today I want to share a tool that can help you set yourself up for a successful day. I learned about it from Hugh Jackman.

Hugh is a well-known musical theater performer, artist, and singer (who holds the Guinness World Record for “longest career as a live-action Marvel superhero”). He talked about the practice he uses on a recent episode of The Tim Ferriss podcast. Here’s how it works:

Write the ending first.

In the morning, pretend you’ve gotten to the end of the day and write down the day’s events in past tense, like they’ve already happened.

You can start with the prompt, “Today was a great day because…”

Write down what made it a great day, what you did, who you talked to, how you felt. Write down what your ideal day would be like, but don’t use the words “I hope I can,” or “I will” or “I plan to” or “Maybe,” or “If I have time,” or any of those qualifying phrases we use when planning the day ahead.

Write it down like it already happened.

Hugh explains:

“I do a daily design every day. I create as if in the past tense of what the day had been. Dreams can be crazy. It can be wild.”

At the end of the day, he gives himself a score. “I score it out of 10. I keep myself accountable to what I was trying to manifest or make happen.”

The smallest amount of intention can help you make subtle shifts and tweaks throughout your day.

Try it and see what happens for you.

What would future you say about the day you just had? What are some of your wildest dreams about what you can make happen and achieve? Pretend—in your mind and in your writing—that they’ve already happened. Then get on with your day.

Let me know how it works for you!

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