Problem: As a rather exacting person, I’ve developed a system of thinking behaviors that focuses on what could be better, rather than what is already excellent. I find a lot of my time is spent excluding rather than including. That is, looking at a wide range of what exists and coming up with criteria for filtering out what is not good enough.

The irony is that while this process regularly leads to great outcomes (from projects to relationships), I’ve spent so much time thinking about what’s not great that my daily thought patterns focus on the negative rather than the positive. I particularly dislike how these mental filters impact the way I think about people.

Solution: Every day this year, I’m going to write a few sentences about someone I know to focus (without qualification) on precisely what I think is great about that person. The goal is twofold:

1. To create a large vocabulary for describing how people are really super.
2. To rewire my brain to systematically engage in open, positive, appreciative thoughts about others.

I will privately send my words to the subject, and I will publicly post them online, with the name removed. (Neither of these outputs serve my goal, but they create short term incentives that will help me continue to engage in the project. And anyway, why wouldn’t you tell someone you think they’re great?)

By the end of the year, I will have described 366 people with probably a thousand sentences, spending hundreds of hours meditating on the positive qualities of the incredible people I am fortunate enough to know so well.

The project is updated daily at http://whatilikeaboutyouproject.tumblr.com.