Want to learn the ideas in Countdown better than ever? Read the world’s #1 book summary of Countdown by Deborah Wiles here.
Read a brief 1-Page Summary or watch video summaries curated by our expert team. Note: this book guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher or author, and we always encourage you to purchase and read the full book.
Video Summaries of Countdown
We’ve scoured the Internet for the very best videos on Countdown, from high-quality videos summaries to interviews or commentary by Deborah Wiles.
1-Page Summary of Countdown
The Countdown
Start on the 21st day of your journal, so that you can create a countdown effect. This will help keep your attention focused and make it easier to remember what happened each day. At the end of each day, write down these questions in your journal: 1) What mattered to me today? 2) What coincidences or insights did I experience? 3) What new ideas did I have? 4) How do I feel about today now that it’s over?
Day 21: You can succeed. One reason is that you are smart, and another reason is that you work hard. For the rest of today, think about why you can be successful, because it will help your confidence to succeed tomorrow. Day 20: Uncovering Your Personal Destiny. Think about what skills you have and what activities give you pleasure without effort or thoughtfulness; these are your natural abilities. Write five things down without thinking too much about them; they’re just for fun!
In order to be successful in life, it helps to know what you’re good at. What are the things that make you feel most accomplished? Once you figure those out, think about how they can help others. This is your purpose in life. Write a mission statement describing your personal goals and aspirations so that when times get tough, you’ll have something to fall back on.
Imagine your goal in detail. If you can see it clearly, you’ll be able to make it happen. Today’s exercise is to visualize a description of what success looks like for you. Imagine yourself driving a Mercedes or sitting in front of your new home. Describe the style and material that the house is made out of (brick, fieldstone), how many rooms are there inside and any other details that come to mind when visualizing your dream home. Spend a few minutes every day reading over this description so that it becomes more real for you as time goes on.
Positive affirmations are important because they can help you succeed. Negative statements limit your potential for success, so you must not put yourself down. Positive statements increase your success potential, so always speak positively about yourself and others. Make sure that the affirmations are in the present tense (“I am healthy and strong,” not “I will be healthy and strong.”) Repeat these positive thoughts to yourself over and over again until they become a part of who you are.
Today is Day 17. Remember to set goals for each of the following areas: money and abundance; work and career; personal mastery; learning, and inner transformation. Give each goal a deadline, whether it’s short or long term.
Today, we’re going to simplify our lives. We’ll start by cleaning out our closets and giving clothes that we haven’t used in a year to charity. Next, we’ll choose one day each week for shopping and errands. Finally, let’s get rid of newspapers and magazines that have piled up around the house; it will make things easier for us later on.
Day 15: Celebrate – Congratulations! You made it to Day 15. Today, you should celebrate your success and reflect on the things in your life worth celebrating. Enjoy yourself today. Tomorrow is another day of work for you to do.
Write down five things that you’ve worried about lately. See if any of them are meaningless worries (something totally beyond your control). Meaningless worrying takes energy away from other tasks where you can be more effective. Let go of these worries and think about the worst possible outcome for each one of those items on your list. Now write down realistic outcomes for those same five worries. Contrast the realistic outcomes with the worst-case scenarios, and realize that it’s unlikely the worst case will happen in most cases because there’s a lot going against it happening, such as a low probability or luck to prevent it from happening. Repeat this exercise anytime you feel worried so that you can gain perspective and see how little control you have over many situations in life, which makes worry useless at best and harmful at worse.
