We all have the same 24 hours yet we all use it differently. There are some things we all want to accomplish in a given day but how much and often depends on the individual. This is what I call the daily minimum.

The results everyone get are different. How much, depends on the person’s level of habitual conditioning. How much they’re used to putting in. It’s the amount we consider to be just enough and anything less than that is a failure, the daily minimum.

This concept is about looking objectively what we accomplish in a given day and whether or not it’s enough.

Some people tend to stagnate in life. They have no goals or purpose towards which to be working. Instead of actualizing their truest potential they become drifters. Their existence is made up of only dwelling wherever they are whilst not actually being there. Like ghosts, they tread the physical plane with their empty husks.

Others have a calling, something that they’re constantly developing and pursuing. It’s about chasing their dreams and fulfillment. The act itself brings enjoyment as they manifest their greatness. Every day is an opportunity to squeeze the juice out of life and not settle for anything less than what they’re capable of. These people are not drifters, but self-empowered beings.

Where life happens.

Paradoxically, life does not happen in safe vicinities or pleasure, but in the uncharted territories governed by fear and discomfort where all the action takes place. In an environment which forces us to adapt and grow is where we feel most alive. A cozy dwelling with all the comfort is enjoyable, but only for a short period of time. The heart yearns for adventure and action through which we deleneate and define us. After grinding our teeth and pushing ourselves through the dirt is when we will be fulfilled. Figuratevly speaking, when we’re expanding, increasing in complexity, improving, growing.

Therefore, whatever we might like to think, it’s during the periods of expansion and exertion where life is truly lived. During the process of furthering our comfort, and changing for the better, are we augmenting our being. This is the greatest feeling one can have. To rise above adversity and exceed oneself.

Life isn’t to be enjoyed and drifted through. It’s to be pursued and experienced. That’s what contributes to living, to be constantly working towards something and once achieved, to do it again. It might seem like a vicious and pathological cycle, which it to an extent is, but at the same time that’s the truth. Like in a circle, our existence goes through various ups and downs. It’s a continuous act of balancing and maintaining. Expanding, recouperating, rehabilitation, departing once again and repeating it over and over again.

What’s your daily minimum like?

What I want you to consider is how much effort are you putting into your activities? Are you really living in the frontiers of life, where all the worthwhile action happens, that truly matters, or are you but a mere drifter, who haunts the plains, doing things that have no purpose?

The daily minimum is the amount of effort we put in at a given day, how much squeezing do we do. The juice is the results we get, which isn’t that important afterall. It’s about the act of putting in as much as we can. What we get in return is already pure profit.

In order to stay on track with our pursuits and within the borderlands of life we need to be constantly asking questions from ourself. What do I want to accomplish? What needs to be done? Am I doing it? Why not? Can I do it better? How much more can I give? What’s my potential like? Have I reached it? What am I willing to sacrifice?

The answers to all of them contribute to our daily minimum. They also make us either stay in a safe and enjoyable environment or in the vanguard, in the frontlines of life. Our activities put us into one side of the spectrum or the other. The degree of how much depends on our level of conditioning and willingness to endure.

In between the daily minimum aswell as the maximum.

Of course, there needs to be balance in life. We can’t expect to fall into extremes and become neurotic. However, what we unconsciously will always tend to do is to dwell in comfort for too long. If our daily minimum is too small then we will only tip our toe into the cold water without getting wet.

WE NEED TO PLUNGE IN. It’s scary and uncomfortable, but as anyone can tell, afterwards it feels amazing. Your body will feel more alive than it has ever been. Your minds is in a vicious battle with its internal tricksters and shadows. The cells of your body scream out, not for pain but euphoria. It shocks the nerves and shaking them back into life. Your limbs turn to numb because of the anxiety aswell as the discomfort, yet you feel them as a part of you more than ever before. The polar plunge only symbolize expansion and taking action. The same concept and feelings apply to anything else that contributes to growth.

The higher our daily minimum, the more we’re actually living. The more effort we’re putting in, the more we’re achieving our truest potential. More importantly, our purpose is being carried out that much more. The more we give, the more we get, not because of the desire to receive bestowements of any kind, but for the sake of contributing.

By asking ourselves what’s our daily minimum we receive insight to how much juice are we actually squeezing out of life. Whether or not it should increase or decrease depends on how much more do we think we should and can give.

Of course, like with any binary opposition, there is also the daily maximum. How much can you put in? How far are you able and willing to take this? Having such conversations with ourself enables us to realise whether or not we’re doing what we’re supposed to do and if it’s worthwhile.

The daily minimum as the foundation.

It’s the notion of minimum that enables us to build upon it. It’s the lowest treshold we need to cross in order to consider a day to be accomplished, the least amount of effort we put in and expand.

That is only the starting point. The daily minimum is just that, the daily minimum. It’s not enough for extraordinary growth and results. In reality, we need to be putting in a lot more than that.

We need to realise that the daily minimum contributes to how much we’re actually living during that 24-hour period. Not simply breathing, moving, talking or existing, but expanding and fighting towards thriving over surviving.

We need to be constantly trying to push the daily minimum higher and higher while at the same time trying to maintain balance with everything else. It’s the act of being engaged with life and moving in between the borderlands. We need to be careful not to fall too deep into either of the spectrum and always stay mindful of where we are. Otherwise we would be trapped in the alluring gaze of them both and become either drifters or neurotic.

More importantly, we can’t and shouldn’t be in this state all the time. Expansion is synonymous with exertion and we don’t want to burn out. Moreover, while in the frontiers of advance, there cannot exist anything else other than what’s present. It creates a whole nother realm of reality around what’s relevant while the attention on other things loses its value. Paradoxically, when we’re the most alive are we the least a part of the conscious world.

Working on the daily minimum.

What we need to do first is find out what our daily minimum is like. How much effort are we putting in towards our purpose? How much squeezing do we do?

Then, objective judgements ought to be given. Accept whatever the amount may be. Come to terms, whether or not you’re capable of doing more.

Once this has has been done we can set our daily minimum. This is the least amount of effort we should be putting during the 24-hour period and anything lower than that is unacceptable. It applies to anything we do and want to accomplish. The daily minimum amount of exercise, sleep, reading, meditation, cold thermogenesis, doing something uncomfortable, doing something creative, facing fear, working on goals, whatever it might be.

At first, if the daily minimum is non-existent, then we shouldn’t be frustrated about it. Everyone starts off on unequal grounds and it’s not a race. What’s important, is the fact that we’re actually working on something that contributes to our growth as a person, making us feel that much more alive. Just initiate and begin the journey.

Start putting in the daily minimum effort on the activities of relevance. Set the standard and stick to it for a while. Meditate for at least 15 minutes, move around, start the morning right, read for at least an hour, work on your goals for X amount of time etc.

Don’t spread yourself too thin by making your day full of daily minimums. If you find yourself going from one activity to another just for the sake of crossing it off the list, then you should lessen the amount of things you have to do. Quality exceeds quantity. The daily minimum is a concept to cover the necessary things and get them done just enough. We want to pursue the maximum in the ones of greatest importance. On the secondary tasks we want to achieve more with less time.

Build up on the daily minimum. The most important thing for our purpose, our ONE thing, what our calling is, ought to receive more attention than that. The daily minimum on the secondary tasks allows us to dedicate more time on the things that we love and what contribute the most for our growth. By habitually conditioning ourselves to achieving the daily minimum we adapt and thus need more stimulus. In order to expand we need to keep pushing our boundries. This can be done incredibly easy. By putting in only 1% more effort we accomplish double the amount of results. It’s quite profound and enables us to be always improving on our previous input and never stop.

This is the concept of the daily minimum. How much juice are we squeezing out of life, and how much time do we spend actually living that matters. It’s not about enjoying and dwelling in pleasure, thus becoming drifters, but expanding, growing and becoming a self-empowered being. It’s living purposefully and achieving our truest potential.