This is at the core of the journaling, just extended via the app, your companion. There's a version of this where I tell you to do all five things every day. I'm not going to do that, because it's not how this works.
Show up for one. That's the only rule in Phase 1.
One item on the checklist, every day, for 66 days. Some days you'll do all five. Most days you'll do two or three. A few days you'll check one box and close the app. All of it counts. None of it is wasted.
What's on the list
The checklist has five items. They're not arbitrary — each one is pulling at something specific.
Vibes List. Three things you're grateful for today. Not the five biggest things in your life — those go stale fast. The small stuff: the coffee that actually tasted like coffee, a teammate helping me out with a towel (yes it happened, I tend to forget things), I moved my phone away 1 hour before bedtime and I was proud of it. Your brain is trained to find problems. This trains it to find the good things too. Do it daily and it compounds in ways that are hard to explain and easy to feel.
Experience. One memory from the last 24 hours, written in enough detail that you'd remember it in ten years. Not a summary — a moment. The way something looked, sounded, landed. You're teaching yourself to notice your life while it's happening, not just after the fact. I tend to collect my notebooks for a review in a decade or so. It's a blessing to feel like I lived a good life when reflecting.
Act of Kindness. Something you did for someone else. It doesn't have to be significant — held a door, let someone talk his or her heart out, told a compliment to a complete stranger on a bicycle that her sweater is perfect (it said "FUCK YOU PUTIN"). Small acts, real ones. The research on this is clear: doing things for others changes how you feel about your own life. It's a strange loop and it works.
Listen. Ten minutes of something that feeds your brain. Not news. Something that teaches, expands, or shifts how you think. A podcast on your commute counts. Huberman Lab, The Happiness Lab, something in your field, something completely outside it. Ten minutes is enough to make it a habit — and keep the noise of wars and tragedies out.
Meditate. Five minutes of stillness. Eyes closed, no input, no output. It doesn't have to be perfect. Thoughts will come — that's fine, that's what minds do. The practice is noticing them and coming back. It gets easier. It also gets more useful, in ways that are hard to predict in advance. I tend to do this when I feel overwhelmed, uneasy or just sensing that I need a mood boost.
What happens after
You don't have to master the checklist to move forward. You just have to show up for it, daily, for 66 days.
When you do, Phase 2 unlocks. That's where you pick the actual habit you've been meaning to build — the specific thing, in the specific domain of your life you want to improve. The checklist was the foundation. Phase 2 is where you build on it.
You'll know when you're ready. The app will tell you too.