Someday Is Not a Day in the Week: 10 Hacks to Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life

We published a ChangeThis manifesto from Sam Horn in late 2017 about the ideas found in her new book, Someday Is Not a Day in the Week, as the book itself was still percolating, and we knew the finished product would be coming, well… someday. We're happy to announce that that someday is tomorrow, and that the book drops this week. We're even happier to announce that the good people of St. Martin's Press are providing 20 copies for us to give away. 

There is a brief description of the title's origin story in the aforementioned manifesto, a story Sam expounded upon in a recent post on her website. She has given us her blessing to share that with you here, so without further ado, I'll turn it over to her.

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In 2015, I had just finished an intense two day consult. It was satisfying, but I was so exhausted I didn’t know how I was going to get on the plane home that night.

My son called while I was summoning up the energy to drive to the airport and turn in my rental car. He must have sensed something in my voice because he asked, “Whazzup, Mom?”

I told him how tired I was and he said, “Mom, there’s something about you I don’t understand. You’ve got your own business. You’re your own boss. You’ve created a life where you can do just about anything you want, but you’re not taking advantage of it.”

Out of the mouths of twenty-somethings.

Andrew was right. My sons were grown and out of the house. I was single and healthy. Why was I doing same-old, same-old? As a solopreneur, I could be more adventurous, innovative about how I ran my business. I could operate from anyway. I was free to go.

But you know what? Instead of changing things up and taking advantage of my autonomy, I went right back to S.O.P. and started filling my days with commitments.

It wasn’t until I was driving along the Pacific Coast on my way to give a workshop that I had a “divine intervention.” Yes, I know that sounds woo-woo, but that’s what happened.

As I was driving along, sneaking peeks of the sun diamonds dancing on the ocean, my mind was filled with an idea that wanted to be born. If there’s anything I learned from my 17 years with the Maui Writers Conference, it’s ink it when you think it. So, I pulled over and here’s what poured out. (Really. You can’t make this stuff up.)

“Some people are drawn to fire. I am drawn to water. After all, we are 65 percent water. It is our essence, our lifeblood. All of us, each of us, are bodies of water.

Yet, as Maslow pointed out, water is a fulfilled need. And fulfilled needs tend to get overlooked, taken for granted.

Water wants a voice. Water needs a voice.

So it is … I will set out on my Year by the Water on October 1. (My whaat?!)

I will spend a week by a different body of water—oceans, estuaries, mountain streams. Each week will have a theme. Can we really not step in the same river twice? Does salt water—sea, tears and sweat—cure what ails us? Why can’t we collect all the beautiful shells on the beach?

So, Chesapeake Bay, Marina Del Rey… here I come. I will pull a Charles Kuralt and interview people along the way—surfers, swimmers, sailors. I will swim with dolphins, houseboat on Lake Tahoe, snuba in Maui, sail off the coast of California.

I am clear that I am supposed to set this in motion, I am not supposed to control it.

I am supposed to do the opposite of my always and cooperate with what wants to happen. I am supposed to partner with what unfolds, not plan it.

And so it is.”

I sat there, eyes wide-open, stunned by the out-of-the-blue suddenness of it all.

At the same time, I realized how fortunate I was to have a crystal clear “calling” downloaded to me—with a name and start date no less.

So, I answered that call. Gave away 95% of my belongings and set out on October 1st for my Year by the Water. It was everything I hoped it would be—and more.

The irony is, it ended up not being about the water, it ended up being about the people.

In particular, the people I met along the way who, upon hearing about my travels would gaze off into the distance and say wistfully, “I’m going to do something like that… someday.”

When I asked why they weren’t doing it now, why they were postponing their dreams, many said, “I’m busy, I’ve got bills to pay, people counting on me.”

They seemed to think it was selfish, almost irresponsible, to do what made them happy. They were counting on being able to do what was calling them someday when they had more time or money, or when the right person or set of circumstances showed up.

The problem with that? What if that never happens?

Waiting for someday is a prescription for regret.

That’s why I named my book Someday is Not a Day in the Week. I knew people could relate to it and find it relevant—because so many of us are operating with a conscious or sub-conscious assumption that “we have time.”

I hope this book serves as a wakeup call. I hope it helps you identify your true priorities—realize they’re much too precious to postpone—and get crystal clear that you have a right and a responsibility to do more of what makes you happy and healthy now, not later.

Please note: I’m not suggesting you quit your job, walk away from your obligations or take a year off to take off on a Year by the Water. Chances are, you’re not in a position to do that, and it may not appeal to you anyway.

I am suggesting you fill out the Happiness Box in the book to identify small meaningful things you can do on a daily basis to live a more purposeful, connected life.

I am suggesting that by reading inspiring stories of people who changed their life for good—even when they were busy and had a lot on their plate—you know it’s possible and it might just give you the courage and “permission” to do the same.

Perhaps most importantly, I hope the adventures, insights and life hacks in this book inspire you to dust off abandoned dreams, put yourself in your own story, stop watering dead plants, and honor your true priorities now, not someday. It’s not selfish, it’s smart.

I promise, you’ll never regret figuring out what really matters and bringing more of that into your life; you’ll only regret not doing it… sooner.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sam Horn, CEO of the Intrigue Agency and TEDx speaker, is on a mission to help people create the life, work and relationships of their dreams. Her books have been endorsed by Tony Robbins, Dan Pink, Stephen Covey and Seth Godin, featured in The New York Times and on NPR, and presented to Boeing, Intel, Capital One, Cisco, National Geographic, and YPO.

This giveaway is brought to you by St. Martin's Press. We have 20 copies available.