How To Have A Good Day, Guaranteed

About twenty years ago American Idol did something I thought was terrific fun: they sent eliminated contestants off the show while showing clips of them, but the music playing was Bad Day by Daniel Powter.

They just used the chorus, I think, part of which says

You had a bad day, you’re taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don’t know, you tell me, don’t lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride…
You had a bad day

The music is upbeat and positive — an intentional contrast to the lyrics, where things are not going well. That song gave the author and performer, Mr. Powter, several very good days. Coca-Cola used it as a theme song for a campaign on the European continent, and because of that visibility it hit #1 on the Italian and German charts and was #2 in England for three weeks.

We’ve all had a bad day or two, of course, but the sense I get from college students I’ve had the privilege of teaching as well as people I meet in business is that bad days are a little more frequent. If they don’t quite show up, there’s a feeling that a bad day might be lurking right around the corner. Golly!

Good Day

The first song that popped into my head about a good day following a bad day was Tomorrow from the musical Annie. It’s hard to listen to “the sun’ll come out tomorrow” and the rest of the lyrics without getting a little bit pumped up for the future.

The problem with it — and problem is too strong, but you’ll get my drift — is that it’s all circumstantial. That is to say, it implies your day will be good or bad based on the appearance of the sun. I like the sun. And the sun can most definitely make us feel better in a lot of ways. But if your day is good or bad based mostly on circumstances that are outside your control, I can’t really guarantee you a good day.

However… there are a ton of things that are inside your control, and we’re going to use those to have a good day!

GIGO

You know that GIGO is an acronym for Garbage In Garbage Out, but did you know it is credited to a computer programmer and instructor named George Fuechsel? He stressed to his students that if you program a computer with badly written or formatted data (garbage), you’ll only get garbage out.

The very same thing is true with your mind, your spirit, and even your day. Want to have a bad day? Get up early… no, wait! I’m here to tell you how to have a good day, so I’m going to use GIGO like this

Good In Good Out. I don’t think George would have objected.

We aren’t computers, of course, because we process everything that comes into our being in ways even the most sophisticated AI machines can only mimic. There have been many times in human history when a person or persons have been “fed” lies and hatred and other kinds of garbage and still given back good. And there have been people who have returned evil for good given to them. Still, if you want to have a good day, here is how you feed your senses to make that happen.

Take in good with your eyes In real life, and often in shows, there are survivalists who can go into a desert or forest and find food because they know what to look for. Train yourself to look for and see beauty, which is everywhere around us. (The sunset picture above was taken just down the street.)

As I sit in my home office writing this article and pause to look around, here’s what I see that is beautiful.

• an inexpensive painting of a couple embracing under a red umbrella on a Paris street on a rainy day. She’s wearing red shoes, a red skirt, and a white blouse, and her high heels are off the ground as she makes herself taller for a kiss.
• a small bowl with a fun design and great colors that recently held a couple of scoops of ice cream
• a ceiling fan that is turning just fast enough to send a breeze my way. The geometry and artistry of the piece, not to mention the motion of the blades, captures my attention
• there are hundreds of books in this room, and all of them contain much good. Read good in the morning and in the evening.

Take in good with your ears

• the “news” will almost always be bad, so for a good day give it a miss. You’ll find you don’t miss it.
• listen to some great music, like the Pachelbel Canon, or a great voice, like Adele or Frank Sinatra
• stay off of social media, but if you need a fix, listen to comedy reels by Nate Bargatze or Michael Jr.

Speak good with your eyes and mouth (and thumbs!)

• when you’re walking down the hall or the street and meet people, smile at them with your eyes and your mouth
• when you greet someone you know, instead of asking “how are you?” tell them “great to see you!”
• send a text of encouragement to a friend. You’ll both feel better for it
• when you hear a siren or see a car on the side of the road, pray for whoever is involved
• write a short poem for someone you care about. Just thinking about how to do that will make your day better

Do good with your heart

• tell someone you love (spouse, friend, God) that you love them
• think of a charity or church that touches your heart and send them a note — maybe even with a check
• thank God for putting people in your life who make a positive difference

This could go on, but here’s the formula: intentionally bring good into yourself today and intentionally give good out to others, and your day will be good. Even if it rains.

Do good. It’s in you!