What’s keeping you from a ten?

Owner

Brian Rumao

December 17, 2025

Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.

Abraham Lincoln

A few years ago a friend shared a simple framework that stuck with me. The first question is: “On a scale of 0 to 10, how is your life going for you? Zero is the absolute worst and ten is the absolute best, i.e., it couldn’t get better in any way.” If the answer isn’t a ten, the second question is “what’s keeping you from a ten today”? And finally: “what’s stopping you now from getting those things”?

I ask friends and family these questions, giving them space to stop and reflect, to look past the day-to-day grind, to zoom out and consider: how happy am I, truly? I find the responses revealing. Are they the type who can never be a 10/10? Or are they actually a 10 today, but won’t let themselves admit that level of contentedness? Are they waiting for something in the future, delaying their happiness for something out of reach or out of their control?

We all have days where we feel less than a 10. For me, the most important thing is to track that number on a daily basis, and if there’s ever a period where I’m consistently below a nine, it’s a reminder to pause and go deeper. To find support, to consider how much I have to be grateful for, to shift my attitude. To know the path I’m on is the perfect one for me. There’s nowhere, and no one I’d rather be.