The Secret Ritual That Will Supercharge Your Life
A ritual used by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos
In one of his podcast episodes, Cal Newport introduced a Latin phrase, “Festina Lente,” which translates to “making haste slowly.”
It means achieving a balance between urgency and careful deliberation.
Moving quickly but with thoughtfulness to avoid excessive delay.
I didn’t think much about Festina Lente until much later when I came across a fascinating ritual adopted by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos.
In the early 1980s, Bill Gates would often leave his corner office in corporate America and retreat to a cabin in the woods for a week.
As revealed in his documentary on Netflix, Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates, Gates revealed that he worked to the extreme.
“At Microsoft, I worked night and day… I could be so extreme.” Bill said.
However, a gem dropped in the documentary was how Gates could identify ideas that no one else could when “he remained still.”
But remaining still required a unique ritual: a think week. It was in this think week that Gates:
Went to a cozy cabin without internet, phone, or external communication.
Carried a large bag of books, articles, and reports.
Read for up to 15 hours a day.
Stayed there for a week.
These isolated and distraction-free moments were quite effective, as they led to the development of the Internet Explorer and the tablet PC.
Today, Microsoft runs these projects as Microsoft Edge and the Microsoft Surface line of tablet PCs.
Arriving at a resort in Costa Rica was Michael Karnjanaprakorn. He was also scheduled to take a ‘think week’ inspired by Bill Gates.
During his think week, Karnjanaprakorn would
Carry a bag full of articles, books, and essays.
Read them in a non-linear fashion.
Spend his time reflecting and journaling.
Isolate himself from digital distractions.
Karnjanaprakorn would later establish Skillshare, an online learning community.
“It could be the difference between burning yourself out, success, and maximizing your personal happiness and well-being.” Michael said, reflecting on the benefits of taking a think week.
I, too, was inspired by Karnjanaprakorn and Gates to consider taking a think week. However, unlike them, I could only schedule a day, which I referred to as a think day.
For only one day in a month, I zoomed out of my busy schedule.
I took my physical journal and pen.
I went to a resort a few miles from home.
I eliminated all distractions.
I reflected and journaled, guided by a set of prompts.
These prompts are available in our Notion system to ensure you easily reflect deeply during your think days.
Here’s exactly how I use them.
#1 The first step is creating a new journal entry.
#2 I track my mood and moments that made me smile.
The second step is to highlight how I am feeling. what is my current mood? What made me smile?
#3 I note what I am grateful for, my lesson for the day, and thoughts.
The third step is listing 3 things I am grateful for and my lesson for the day, which can be anything from the breakfast table to the workplace.
I also write broad thoughts for the day. Whatever is on my mind.
The beauty of this minimal template is that it automates your journal daily. Every day, there are new prompts to help you reflect.
The canvas is set and awaits your entries.
In addition to daily journaling, I also include weekly reflection on Sundays to really see how my week has been.
I rely on prompts so that I don’t have to stare at the blank screen for too long.
Here’s an entry for this week.
It captures so many broad aspects:
What was the most meaningful moment of the week.
What challenge did I face and how did I handle it?
A lesson learned this week.
How this week’s lesson is helping my life.
My intentions for the next week.
Now, we have integrated the Think Day prompts. 20 prompts categorized under:
Outcome:
Using prompts when journaling or reflecting has been quite helpful.
I am more aware of my emotions daily and reflect weekly on what I need to improve on.
The think day prompts also help me reconfigure my life to assess where I am heading.
You can also leverage the think day prompts to reflect about your own life.
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So true, and yet in this world of super interconnectedness so difficult to achieve. Thank you for the reminder. How do you do it regularly?