Day 1 — Excavation

Time: ~80 min · Goal: gather raw material from your own life.

The goal today is not to draw conclusions. It’s to gather data that the later days will draw on. Resist the urge to synthesize — just collect.

1. Life chapters timeline (20 min)

Divide your life into 5–8 chapters. For each, write a title, one sentence on what defined it, and one sentence on what you learned.

Example title: “The garage-band years,” “First job that mattered.”

• Chapter — title: __
  • Defined by: __
  • Learned: __
• Chapter — title: __
  • Defined by: __
  • Learned: __
• Chapter — title: __
  • Defined by: __
  • Learned: __
• Chapter — title: __
  • Defined by: __
  • Learned: __
• Chapter — title: __
  • Defined by: __
  • Learned: __

2. Peak experiences (20 min)

List 5 moments where you felt most alive, most yourself, most in flow. They don’t need to be big — a specific day works better than a general era.

For each: What was I doing? Who was I with (or was I alone)? What was the underlying quality — challenge, creation, connection, mastery, service, freedom, beauty, something else?

1. Moment: __
   • Doing: __
   • With: __
   • Underlying quality: __
2. Moment: __
   • Doing: __
   • With: __
   • Underlying quality: __
3. Moment: __
   • Doing: __
   • With: __
   • Underlying quality: __
4. Moment: __
   • Doing: __
   • With: __
   • Underlying quality: __
5. Moment: __
   • Doing: __
   • With: __
   • Underlying quality: __

3. Low points (15 min)

List 3 hard chapters or moments. For each: What was being violated or missing? What did this teach me about what I need or won’t accept?

1. Hard moment: __
   • Violated / missing: __
   • Taught me I need / won’t accept: __
2. Hard moment: __
   • Violated / missing: __
   • Taught me I need / won’t accept: __
3. Hard moment: __
   • Violated / missing: __
   • Taught me I need / won’t accept: __

4. Energy audit (15 min)

Look back at the past month.

5 activities or interactions that energized you:

1. activity: ________
2. activity: ________
3. activity: ________
4. activity: ________
5. activity: ________

5 that drained you:

1. drainer: ________
2. drainer: ________
3. drainer: ________
4. drainer: ________
5. drainer: ________

Patterns — what kind of work, what kind of people, what kind of environments?

patterns: ________

5. Childhood threads (10 min)

What did you love doing at age 10 that you no longer do? What were you naturally drawn to before anyone told you what you should be?

threads: ________

✓ End of Day 1 deliverable

Raw notes. Don’t synthesize yet. → Continue to Day 2 — Values.