Today’s Recipe.

Today’s Marketing Cookie explores the hidden benefits in your daily routine that may surprise you.

Is Chinese food healthy, or is this fortune just a Jedi marketing trick to get you to place another order? I’m not sure they need any gimmicks to boost orders, considering you’ll probably be hungry again in about 45 minutes anyway. But there could be some truth to the health claims—after all, Alimihan Seyiti from Xinjiang, China, reportedly lived to be over 135 years old!

Healthy or not, Chinese food has transformed my daily life. I've carved out a big chunk of my day to write this blog, inspired by whatever it says in other people’s fortune cookies. Each morning, I'm up between 4 and 5 a.m. to start writing, which some people think is nuts, but I’ve always been an early riser. I used to spend these early hours watching documentaries, doing a little exercising, and planning my day.

This daily “me time” is now dedicated to translating cookie fortunes into marketing insights, which has necessitated some hefty trade-offs. The little bit of physical exercise I was doing before is now nonexistent, which isn't great. Sometimes, the rush to publish by 9 a.m. means I start my workday without having set clear priorities for the day, which is also not great. These are two areas where the balance is off and needs to be restored. 

On the flip side, there have been some healthy benefits too. For one, this daily creative exercise has proven to be an intense workout for my thinker. After 123 consecutive days of writing, my mental muscles are well-toned and beach ready. The daily challenge of crafting new content from a small slip of paper has significantly honed my ability to dream up and express new and better ideas for our clients. 

As you know, this project is a collaborative effort, and one of the greatest benefits has been the deeper connections and the continuously expanding network it has fostered. People from all around the globe send me photos of their fortunes. Even though these are small gestures, their support is incredibly meaningful and keeps this project alive. As long as the fortunes keep coming, I'm committed to keep writing.

If there was something I didn’t want to do, I'd find any excuse to avoid it. In fact, I could have lettered in procrastination in high school. There have been mornings when the last thing I wanted was to get out of bed and face the keyboard and other days when the words just won't flow, and I find myself staring at a blank screen. But considering someone took the time to send their fortune, I feel compelled to honor their contribution. Even if my writing isn’t perfect, I am determined to see it through. Interestingly, I’ve noticed that I don’t put off the mundane tasks quite as much as I used to, and I'm about 22% more proactive in tackling challenges head-on. Or maybe it's 17%? I don't know. I'll figure out the exact number later.

What daily commitment could you make that not only challenges you but also enriches your life? Whatever it is, it might just be the recipe you need for a healthier, more engaged existence. Let this be your moment to step into a routine that transforms every day into a more fulfilling adventure. When you embrace this habit, the food for thought in today's fortune can become reality, as it suggests, "A good way to keep healthy is to eat more Chinese food."