The Perfect Day Formula 

How to Own the Day and Control Your Life 

Craig Ballantyne 
 

Book Overview from the Publisher 

Most  people  are  stuck.  Every  day  we  seem  to  just  go  through  the  motions,  following  our  usual  routine 
without  ever  stopping  and  thinking  why  we  do  what  we  do,  or  what  we'd  rather  be  doing  instead.  But 
sometimes  we  have  that one day - that Perfect Day - where everything just clicks. We feel great. We are 
unstoppable.  And  at  the  end  of  it  we  think,  Why  can't every day be like this? Get the Focus You Need to 
Take  Your  Career  to  the  Next  Level  and Achieve the Financial Freedom You've Always Dreamed About... 
Most  entrepreneurs  start  a  business  so  they  can  have  full  control  over  their  life.  However...  they  end  up 
saying  YES  to  every  opportunity and becoming bottlenecked with too many responsibilities. This was my 
biggest  problem  before  I  met  Craig  and  it  limited  my  ability  to  have  MAJOR  breakthroughs.  One  of  the 
most  valuable  lessons  that  I  learned  from  The  Perfect  Day  Formula  was  to  keep  a  strict  schedule.  It 
seems  counter-intuitive,  but  structure  creates  more  freedom  in  your  life.  Keeping  a  schedule  and 
prioritizing  the  most  important  action  steps  have  made  a  huge  impact  in  my  business.  In  the  last  year  I 
was able to have 4 massive product launches (each one bigger than the last) and net over $2 million! This 
has  given  me  the  financial  -  and  time  -  freedom  that I had always dreamed about. And thanks to Craig's 
system  I  have  an  even  bigger  plan  in  place  to  take  my  business  to  the  next  level.  If  you  want  the  focus 
and  strategy  you  need  to  dominate  in  your  career,  then  Craig's  Perfect  Day  Formula  for  you!  -  Tyler 
Bramlett, best-selling fitness expert 
 

KEY POINTS COVERED IN THIS SUMMARY: 

1. Structure leads to freedom -​   
2. Having “rules” -​ Description 
3. Script your perfect day -​ Design your own perfect day 
4. Power of deadlines -​ How deadlines bring out the best in you; how 
to make deadlines work for you 
5. Success is simple once you accept how hard it is ​- The 
consequences of having a mindset that success is “hard” 
6. Take the smallest possible action -​ A simple strategy to beat 
procrastination 

   

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1) Structure Leads to Freedom 
 
As paradoxical as it sounds, structure does lead to freedom.  
 
As Paulo Coelho, the author of the alchemist said:  
 
“Discipline and freedom are not mutually exclusive,  
but mutually dependent because otherwise you'd sink into chaos.”  
 
If  you  want  to  work on an important project, you're much better off if you block off time on your 
calendar,  turn  off  every  kind  of  distraction  whether  electronic  or  human  disruption,  and  focus 
single-mindedly on the task at hand. 
 
Once  you  have  created  that  structure  for  your  work,  you  are  now  free  to  do  what  you want to 
within  that  structure.  You  are  free  to  experiment  and  to  give  your  very  best  within  those 
constraints.  
 

2. Having “Rules” 
 
In order to have structure in life, we must have a set of personal rules to live by.  
 
Rules are much stronger than any habits, routines, rituals, or even willpower.  
 
EXAMPLE:  
Let's  say  you’re  at  a  Lavish  Dinner  Party  and  the  host  is  insisting  that  you  try  out  the  steak. 
However,  you’ve  been  on  a  special  diet  for  a  while  and  you  are  trying  to  avoid  any  high 
fat-foods  and  hence  resisting  that  urge  for  steak.  You  use  a  lot  of  willpower  to  resist  this,  but 
finally you give in and you have that piece of steak. 
 
However,  the  host  then  comes  to  me  and  insists  that  I  try  out  the  steak.  However,  I  will 
instantly say no. Why? Because I'm a vegetarian and hence the steak is a nonstarter for me. I do 
not eat meat. That is my rule.  
 
In  this  case,  I  don't  really  have  to  worry  about  any  habits  or  routines  or  willpower.  My  rule  is 
that I do not eat meat and that is the end of the story. There is no compromising on that rule.  
 
Rules help us make the right decisions in moments of possible weakness.  

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 ● They help us resist temptations and get past them.  
● We are not dependent on willpower to get things done.  
● Rules  are  actually  driven  by  our  own  personal  philosophy.  (We  all  can  have  our  own 
different rules.)  
● Life gets much simpler once we have our own set of rules to live by which we impose on 
ourselves. 
● With  rules,  we  don't  worry  about  what  others  think  or  say.  We  are  almost on autopilot 
because these are rules defined by ourselves.  
 

3-Step Process to Harness the Power of Rules  

 
1. Figure out what your biggest dream / goal / vision is.  
2. Think of what precise rules will help you accomplish that goal.  
Example:  If  your  goal  is  to  have  a  certain  amount  of  revenue  every  month  from  your 
business, what rules will allow you to accomplish that goal? How much specific effort do 
you give? Maybe your rule is to work on your business at least 60 hours every week.  
3. Put  these  specific  rules in writing. Don't just leave these rules hanging in your mind. You 
want to be able to refer to them as often as possible. 
 

3) Script Your Perfect Day 

 
Our  life  is  a  collection  of  days,  and  in  order  to  have  a  great  life,  we  must  have  great  days.  Our 
own kind of perfect days. 
 
In  order  to  have  that  perfect  day, we have to decide ahead of time what that perfect day would 
look like. We have to design it, and that is where the scripting comes in.  
 

A Simple Guideline to Script Your Perfect Day 

 
1. Script the day the night before. 
2. Decide exactly what you want to accomplish that day. 
3. Decide the exact Start and End times for all tasks. 
4. Set a deadline for your work, the time by which you will finish all your tasks.  
 

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4) The Power of Deadlines  
 
Deadlines are extremely important in any venture of great importance.  
 
Parkinson's law​ states: Work expands to fill the time and the resources allotted to it.  
 
This  means  a  that  goal  or  a  task  will  take  as  much  time  as  we  allot  for  it.  If  we  give  it  a  lot  of 
time,  it  will  take  a  lot  of  time.  Therefore,  in  order  to  execute  it  fast, we must string the time we 
allot to our tasks and goals. 
We must operate on deadlines. Without a real deadline -- 
● We tend to waste our time.  
● We tend to operate with minimal urgency and with minimal intensity. 
 
The beauty of deadlines: They force us to perform with the constraint of time in mind.  
 
As a result of that constraint -- 
● We have to become more creative with the resources available to us.  
● We have to increase our intensity and focus. 
● We have to give our very best when working.  
 
Deadlines, therefore, help bring out the very best in us. 
 

2 Ways to Apply Deadlines Into Your Productivity Systems  

 
1. Apply  deadlines to your daily tasks in the amount of time you will invest in each of them. 
Limiting  the  time  on  your  calendar  forces  you  to  give  your  very  best  within  the  allotted 
time period.  
2. Put deadlines on your goals, both short-term and long-term.  
 
In order to make a deadline real, you must have consequences built into it.  
● There should be a reward if we meet the deadline.  
● There should be a punishment if we do not meet the deadline.  
● We must hold ourselves accountable to others.  
 
 

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5) Success is Simple 
 
This is a meta-level idea that also sounds very paradoxical:  
 
Success is simple...once you accept how hard it is. 
 
This is because once you understand that it is going to be hard -- 
● You will not be stopped in the face of challenges.  
● You will be okay with making the sacrifices of working hard.  
● You will never take no for an answer.  
● You will be more persistent. 
 
Even though it all sounds very hard, it will make success much more achievable for you. 
● If  you  accept  that  building  your  business  or  career  is  going  to be hard, you will make all 
the sacrifices needed to make it great.  
● If you accept that making a marriage work will be hard, you will be okay with making the 
sacrifices that come with it.  
● If  you  accept  that  building  a  great  body  will  be  hard,  you  will  not  shy away from all the 
hard work and sacrifices needed to build a great body.  
 
On  the  other  hand,  if  you  think  that  success will be easy, you will not want to do the hard work 
you  need  to  do  in  order  to  be  successful,  and  hence  you  will  continue  to  struggle and possibly 
fail.  
 

6) Take the Smallest Possible Action 

 
The  next  key  idea  is  a  simple  strategy  to  beat  procrastination,  and  that  idea  is  to  take  the 
smallest possible action.  
 
EXAMPLE:  
You're  procrastinating  on  writing  an  important  blog  post.  Instead  of  writing that blog post, you 
are wasting time on the Internet, checking news websites, social media, and other distractions.  

A simple hack to get yourself to take action 

 
1. Summon the smallest possible courage to click Open your writing app.  

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 2. Whether  it  is  MS  Word,  Evernote  or  Google  Docs  or  whatever  it  is,  just click Open that 
writing app.  
3. Once  you've  opened  it,  just  summon  enough  courage  to  write  one  word  on  it.  What 
happens  is  once  you  do  this,  momentum  starts  to  build  and  you  end  up  with  this 
possibility: 
 
1 word ➜ 1 sentence ➜ 10 sentences ➜ complete blog post 
 
But it all starts with that one little action -- the small action of courage to click open your writing 
app.  As  simple  as  it  sounds,  you  will  find  that  this  strategy  works  like  a  charm.  Just  that  first 
small  action  triggers  a  whole  slew  of  events  which  will  defeat procrastination and allow you to 
get your most important work done. 
 
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