I used to believe “live every day as if it were your last.” But if today was my last day, I’d eat cheese fries for eight straight hours and give all my money away. Tomorrow would be painful.

I used to have a big annual goal, which worked great for achieving that goal but wreaked havoc in non-goal areas of my life.

Many people choose a word for the year, in order to focus on the thing they need most in their life. I like that idea, but it never felt right for me.

For 2020, I’ve decided my theme—my five words for the year—will be “A Life in a Day”. It’s my reminder to design my ideal life, and to live it on a day-to-day basis.

If you ask me what is most important in my life, I’d answer with the usual things like family, friends, fun, faith, fitness and of course, finance.

Yet, my high-achieving external-validation-seeking mind in any given day will prioritize work (the finance) and procrastinate the rest. I’ll just run twice as long on the treadmill tomorrow. I’ll have fun when I make the next million dollars. No time to meditate today, but that’s OK.

Unfortunately, I’ve known a lot of family, friends and colleagues who died quite suddenly, and 2019 was no different. And I’m always reminded that life is so so short even in the best of circumstances, and now is the only moment guaranteed.

So, for 2020, I’m going to try to live a perfect balanced life each day. For me it won’t be about quantity. I’m sure some days I’ll only get 20 minutes of exercise in, and other days it might be 90 minutes. Some days I might write for hours, and other days perhaps only for a few minutes. But I think investing some number of minutes in each area of life that I value will lead to higher levels of happiness and resilience.

I’ll let you know how it goes.