---
name: beautiful-life-doc
description: Use when asked to write a personal living document describing, in concrete sensory detail, what a good ordinary life looks like for this person, including days, people, places, work, and what to say no to, and to reread it regularly to guide choices. Distinct from [[regret-minimization]] (a single decision test), [[annual-review]] (looking back over a year), and [[ideal-week-system]] (a schedule). The name is descriptive only.
---

# Beautiful Life Doc

A beautiful life doc is a short personal document that describes, in
concrete detail, what a good ordinary life looks like for one person:
a normal Tuesday, the people nearby, the places, the work, the pace, and
what is deliberately left out. It is reread on a schedule and used as a
reference when choices come up.

The name is descriptive, and no particular origin is claimed.

## Input required

- **Present life:** where the user lives, works, and spends time.
- **Moments when life felt right,** and moments it felt wrong.
- **People, places, and activities** that matter.
- **Constraints:** money, health, family duties, location.
- **Upcoming decisions** the doc might help with.

## Questions to ask first

Ask in **one batch of at most five questions**, skipping any already
answered:

1. Describe a recent ordinary day that felt good. What made it so?
2. Who is around you in the life you want, and how often?
3. What does your work look like, in practice, hour to hour?
4. What would you say no to, even if it paid well or looked impressive?
5. Which choices are you facing now that this doc should inform?

## Method

1. **Gather raw material.** List good ordinary moments from the past year
   and the details around them: light, sounds, food, who was there,
   how the body felt. Also list drains.
2. **Write a typical day, hour by hour,** in the present tense: waking,
   morning, work, midday, evening, night. Use the senses and name real
   things, not abstractions like "balance".
3. **Describe the surroundings:** the home, neighborhood, climate, and
   how far things are from each other.
4. **Describe the people:** who is in the weekly rhythm, who is in the
   yearly rhythm, and what time together looks like.
5. **Describe the work:** the kind of problems, the people, the hours, the
   pace, the money level that is enough, and the autonomy.
6. **Describe health and energy** in everyday terms (walking, cooking,
   rest) without medical goals.
7. **Write the "no" list.** Commitments, habits, places, and kinds of
   work that do not fit. Make it specific and usable.
8. **Check for realism.** Mark which parts exist already, which are one
   step away, and which are far off. Keep the doc honest, not a fantasy.
9. **Extract three to five principles** from the details, as short rules
   that can test a decision ("Does this leave my evenings free?").
10. **Schedule the reread,** monthly and before any large decision,
    and revise once a year during [[annual-review]]. Use
    [[regret-minimization]] when a choice is still unclear, and
    [[ideal-week-system]] to turn the day into a real week.

## Output format

- **The document,** one to two pages: a typical day, places, people,
  work, health, money enough, and the no list.
- **Principles:** three to five short decision tests.
- **Gap list:** what exists, what is near, what is far.
- **Review plan:** reread dates and the update rule.

## Ground rules

- **Concrete, not abstract.** Replace "happy" and "successful" with what
  one sees, hears, and does.
- **The user's life, not the agent's.** Do not impose values, or copy
  someone else's dream.
- **Do not claim an origin** for the format or credit a person.
- **No promises.** The doc guides choices; it does not predict outcomes.
- **Stay kind.** If writing it brings grief or distress, slow down. Ongoing
  low mood or thoughts of self-harm call for a clinician or crisis
  service; ask the user's country and point to the official one.
- **Privacy:** it is personal and need not be shared.

## Self-check before answering

- Could a stranger picture the day from the text alone?
- Does it include a "no" list and a realism check?
- Are principles short enough to use in the moment?
- Is a reread date set?
- Did I keep the user's values, not mine?

## Common pitfalls

- **A list of adjectives** with no scenes.
- **Describing an impressive life** rather than a liveable one.
- **Writing once and filing it,** so it never guides anything.
- **Ignoring constraints,** which turns the doc into a wish.
- **Using it as a stick** against the real present day.
- **Leaving out the "no"** and so changing nothing.

## Example prompt

> Help me write a beautiful life doc. I am thirty-eight, tired of a long
> commute, and unsure about a job offer. Ask what makes an ordinary day
> good for me, then draft the document, a no list, and a few principles
> I can use to judge the offer.

## Learn more

- [[regret-minimization]] for testing one decision against the long view.
- [[annual-review]] for revising the doc each year.
- [[ideal-week-system]] for turning a good day into a real schedule.
- [[rainy-day-folder]] for comfort kept for bad days.