One of the most helpful things Stephen Covey talks about in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is the Daily Private Victory. This involves spending time each day sharpening the saw in the physical, spiritual, and mental areas of one’s life. By getting each of those areas in order while in isolation, it becomes possible to then win Daily Public Victories through improved communication and seeing people for who they could potentially be rather than merely who they currently are.
While Covey recommends taking an hour to do this, I usually only spend 15-20 minutes at most, which is generally sufficient to get me on the right track. However, I’ve found that the more time I dedicate to this practice, the better I’m able to navigate the day and be a positive influence to myself and those around me. I think of this as time spent wrestling with my dark side and getting control over it so that it doesn’t control me as I go about my life. By winning that battle early on, I’m in a much better position to live by my values and I can much more effectively resist the temptation to act defensively or aggressively around other people.
Since I’ve been doing this for about a year now, I don’t even remember how I made it through the day before I started this practice. I do know that I was a lot more anxious, aggressive, and frustrated, and I don’t miss that one bit. Even if nobody with whom I regularly interact practices the Daily Private Victory, it still puts me in such a good mindset that I can rise above whatever situation I’m in (if I’m focused on maintaining that state, that is). This is one of the best life hacks I use and I’m glad I started doing it, and I hope you’re encouraged to try it if you haven’t already.