The Program

The Meekend is not a life changing course or program. It’s a cup of water on the sideline as you run that marathon of life.

What is the goal of life? You’ll have to figure that out on your own. Maybe that can be one of the first thought exercises you do on the Meekend.

But whatever marathon you’re running, this is what that cup of water is going to do for you.

  1. build confidence (self-worth, self-belief, whatever you want to call it)
  2. refocus your efforts
  3. rejuvenate

You’re not here to work, and you’re also not here to simply decompress and get away from work. A Meekend, as implied in the catchy name, is about YOU. You are the agent controlling your life and you will be taking the time here to work on that command center.

A good command center, an effective person, that is, needs to know what to do, needs to have abundant belief in his/her ability to accomplish that goal, and have abundant energy to go out and get it.

Let’s have a quick look at each of these three elements.

Confidence

One of the most important factors in the success of humans is their ability to believe things. Specifically baseless, unrealistic things that push us out of bounds and limitations. The statistically successful and impressive people have believed that they were special and even in connection with the divine. These beliefs have released them from the shackles of humanity pushing them to do super human things. It has also led others to also see them as special and worthy of following, and so these individuals have, through their belief in themselves, been able to garner support from many others in their quest to succeed.

This weekend is not here to brainwash you into thinking you are super human, but it will give you every reason to believe in yourself and see yourself as a worthy individual who deserves to get the goals you seek.

You build confidence through self-love and gratitude. You will do exercises to document the great things about you, and to list (ie, bring to the foreground) all the great things and people you have in your life.

Focus

What would Superman be if he had nothing to do? You need goals. Clear ones with a clear reasoning to why you chose them. But yes, this goes hand in hand with the confidence. If you don’t have clear interesting goals, then there is no need for confidence.

This weekend we’ll do exercises to see what you really want in life. I know this often seems like a silly exercise to some, but in reality most people don’t know what makes them happy. They instead know very clearly what makes them unhappy and unfulfilled. So, if it seems silly, we’re still going to do a few exercises just to be sure, and then make sure we write them down so that when, in the times ahead, you get confused or slightly off course, you can have another look to remind yourself of what you’re really doing and why.

Exercises to cut away the clutter and zoom in on what’s really important to you.

Rejuvenate

With a good set of goals and the confidence to get them, you should already feel an extra sense of energy. And when I said you’re not just here to decompress, you are going to take at least a few steps to feel good physically and mentally.

On your Meekend, you should be cut off completely from your work and your family (often, they’re a lot of work too). Now you have room and time for yourself. 

While there is no diet or physical regimen for the Meekend, ideally you don’t consume any alcohol and definitely no drugs. (I guess a glass of wine at night won’t ruin it). Also, try to stay away from junk food. Whatever snacks or sweets you either eat in your normal life or like to treat yourself to on vacation, try to stay away from them here (since this is not your normal life, nor a vacation). 

Bottom line: eat and drink what fills your belly and doesn’t give you a stomach ache. 

Sleep can be considered a form of rejuvenation, but it’s not something to prioritize in your Meekend. If you’re not regularly getting a good night’s sleep in your normal life, then maybe you should add that to the changes you want in your life. But it’s not the focus on the Meekend, so don’t worry about not getting a good night’s sleep here. In strange places in general, you shouldn’t expect a good night sleep. 

Now that we’re clear on the goals, let’s talk exercises. 

But before we do, we need to talk about you. 

The tracks of your life

You are a complicated being and just as your body has various parts, so does your life. I like to think of them as tracks – things that run in parallel and go through time. These tracks are certainly intertwined, but we can look at them separately. 

Just like all cars have tires, motors, chairs, windshields, etc, so do you have the following tracks of your life.

  • Intimate relationship
  • Personal well-being
  • Family & friends
  • Kids
  • Career
  • Money

Success is real. Some people are doing better at some of these things than others and you are doing better at some of these things than the other things.

Your Meekend will focus only on a couple of these.

No, not all people have children. And some people don’t even have jobs. If you don’t have kids or a job, then it would make sense to not focus on these things in your meekend. But… I do want to point out that kids should be a part of your life somehow. Be it kids from another family member or working with kids in your community. They are a pain at times, but they can teach us much about our lives and about ourselves. And working with kids can be very rewarding for you and the kids. Just because you don’t have or want kids doesn’t mean you should scratch this item off the tracks of your life.

And no, not all people have jobs. Some of you stay at home. Some of you have money and don’t need to work. But… if you are a stay at home parent, you certainly are working and contributing to society as much as anyone else. And you can absolutely spend this Meekend taking time to reflect on your efforts. If you are not caring for a family and simply have no work, then you simply need to see that this track of your life needs extra attention. Every human being needs to feel useful and to contribute to the world. How are you going to do this?

And that’s where the exercises come in. 

They are in the notebook. Each Meekend should have it’s own notebook and in it, you choose which tracks to focus on, you do the exercises per track. And you take notes, you make plans, you take those meandering thoughts you have and you clear them up and capture them on paper. Old school.