Imagine the sound of a snapshot being taken. What would it capture?
Would it show you fully engaged, present in the moment? Or would it capture a scene where your body is here, but your mind is elsewhere—caught up in thoughts, to-dos, or worries?
What are you doing? Would it show you engaged in something that brings happiness or fulfillment?
As the quote goes, would it show you doing the things that support the life you’re trying to create?
The Snapshot Exercise is a simple way to help you become an active participant in your own happiness. It’s an antidote to autopilot mode, a practice that helps you reset with awareness and intentionality by letting you see your life unfold in real time through the snapshots you take.
Click Here to Download the Snapshot Exercise
Why Take Snapshots of Your Day?
Regain Control Over What You Can Influence
Life can feel overwhelming when we focus on what’s beyond our control. But with each snapshot, you’re intentionally bringing your focus back to what you can control—your actions, your thoughts, and your alignment with your goals. Each time you do this, you’re strengthening the habit of returning to what you can influence.
Notice Patterns In Your Thinking
Your thoughts are like guideposts, giving direction to your actions, even when you don’t realize it. By tracking them, you start to see patterns between what you’re thinking and what you’re doing. Some thoughts will energize you and keep you on track; others may leave you feeling distracted or off course.
When you take note of these thoughts, you’re not just observing them—you’re learning how they shape your behavior. Over time, this awareness helps you understand where you might make small adjustments to better support your goals. This isn’t about criticism or perfection; it’s about curious awareness and compassionate self-redirection.
Pro tip: Jot down any repeated thoughts you notice in your snapshots over time. Seeing these patterns helps you understand how your mind operates and where you might make gentle adjustments to stay on course.
See Time As Your Ally, Not Your Enemy
When you take regular snapshots, you’re no longer letting time slip by unconsciously. You start to see time for what it is—an ally, not a scarce enemy. The more snapshots you take, the more you see that each moment is a chance to course-correct, reset, and use time to your advantage.
Return to the Present: The Only Point in Time Where You Shape Your Future
The only moment where you can actively shape your future is the present one. Each snapshot is a reminder of this truth. By aligning your actions in this moment with the future you want, you’re not just dreaming about change—you’re creating it. This practice grounds you in the here and now, where real transformation happens.
Click Here to Download the Snapshot Exercise
The Importance of Presence: Why We’re All Trying To Be More Present
The present moment is powerful because it’s the only time when we can observe our thoughts, feelings, and actions, and make choices that align with our intentions. Buddhist and meditative practices teach that when we’re fully present, we see what’s in front of us as well as what has potential for genuine change—choosing responses over reactions, conscious action over drifting.
- Presence fosters peace and clarity: When we’re focused on this moment, our usual anxieties—regrets about the past and fears about the future—fade into the background. We find more calm and clarity to make intentional decisions that serve our goals.
- Presence reunites you with your true potential: Inviting ourselves to be more present makes each moment a fresh opportunity to respond instead of react, to choose instead of drift. Every moment holds the seed of possibility. We can either repeat old habits or consciously choose a new path.
- Presence builds self-trust and resilience: When we consistently show up in the present, we start to trust ourselves more deeply. Why? Because when we’re right here, fully engaged, we give ourselves the opportunity to face whatever arises rather than avoid, deflect, or numb. In doing so, we start to see we’re capable of handling far more than we ever believed. We start to build skill and competency in areas we used to resist and fear. We start to trust that whatever comes our way, we’ll figure it out and survive. Over time, finding our way back to presence becomes a foundation for resilience, self-compassion, and growth.
By taking snapshots throughout your day, you’re practicing presence in a way that’s practical, manageable, and deeply powerful. Each snapshot brings you back to the moment where you have the power to observe, adjust, and realign with what matters.
Click Here to Download the Snapshot Exercise
Try It Out: Taking Snapshots in Real Time
As you move through your day, picture yourself pausing to take a mental “snapshot”—a freeze-frame of where you are and what you’re doing.
In the beginning, you may want to set an alarm for every waking hour so you can feel the power and purpose of this exercise. If hourly feels overwhelming, pick a frequency that still allows you to get value from the exercise.
Remember, the Snapshot Exercise isn’t an exercise in harsh self-accountability. It’s actually the opposite. So much of the pain and suffering we experience in life is rooted in wishing we’d allowed ourselves to live lives that felt more true to us.
The Snapshot Exercise lets us do something about it before it’s too late.
Here’s the general framework of the Snapshot Exercise:
- Stop several times throughout the day to mentally “capture” what’s happening.
- Evaluate. Notice what you’re doing and thinking.
- Course correct, if needed.
Each snapshot is a freeze-frame and a chance to ask these questions:
- What am I doing in this moment? Observe with curiosity, not judgment.
- Is this aligned with what I set out to do? With the life I want?
- What thoughts are running through my mind?
- Am I being the person who accomplishes the goal, achieves the result, or creates the life I want?
This simple act of observing the freeze-frame—without judgment—reveals where you might be subconsciously repeating old patterns and old ways of being.
Consider the four questions a radical act of self-kindness. With each captured moment, these questions bring the life you truly want back into focus so you can keep going after it. The more you “catch” these moments as they happen, the faster you reconnect with your autonomy: your ability to direct your own life.
Every time you do this, you’re training yourself to return to what’s within your control, making each moment count toward what you truly want.
Ways to Deepen the Practice
- Write it Down: Each time you take a snapshot, jot down your thoughts. Tracking them helps you see connections between your mindset and actions, making it easier to course-correct.
- Visual Snapshot: If you’re a visual learner, try sketching a quick “snapshot” of what you’re doing, even if it’s just a stick figure with a speech bubble capturing your thoughts. This visual reminder adds a playful element and makes each moment more memorable.
What If I Miss a Snapshot?
Missing a snapshot is part of the process. This exercise is about flexibility and self-compassion, not rigid discipline. If you miss a reminder, just catch the next one—every snapshot is a fresh opportunity to reset. If you notice you’ve missed a few, that’s okay. It’s not about perfection; it’s about bringing more moments into focus over time.
When you’re able to look back and see even a few snapshots that brought you into alignment, that’s progress! Think of this as a practice in curiosity, not critique.
Why Give This a Try?
This isn’t just about insight—it’s about action. Every snapshot you take gives you the chance to:
- Realign with what you truly want.
- Catch more moments that move you forward.
- Transform time from a source of stress into a tool for growth and change.
So try it out today. Set those reminders, take your snapshots, and see how each one becomes a powerful step toward the future you’re creating—one moment, one choice, at a time.
- Make the exercise more practical: Track your findings on the Daily Snapshots worksheet so you can easily review what you captured. Reviewing invites reflection, which helps your mind notice patterns and connect dots faster. Set time at the end of the day or week to review your mental snapshots. Did you spend most of your time on things that will help you create the life you want? What thoughts got you back on track? For each entry, did you course correct? Why or why not? Click here to download the PDF of the Daily Snapshots Exercise
- Out of sight, out of mind: To make it easier to incorporate this exercise into your routine, print off several at a time to keep the exercise top of mind.
- Create your own personal growth binder: To prevent paper overwhelm, consider three-hole punching your worksheets and keeping them in a personal growth binder. Choose one that resonates with you—after all, you’ll be spending time with it over the year. Find one that invokes something within you when you reach for it.
