Default Smile List
Use a personal joy list to interrupt emotional loops before deciding
- Difficulty
- Starter
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 94%
The Default Smile List is a simple precommitment for moments when fear, uncertainty, or low mood starts looping. While relatively clear, write five to ten activities that reliably put a smile on your face or restore steadiness. The list must be personal: walking and never skipping gym sessions worked for Champagne, but someone else may need music, nature, a conversation, or another healthy activity. When the loop begins, do not improvise or debate what might help; default to the list and use one activity to pause the narrative. The objective is not to deny the problem or manufacture happiness. It is to protect mind and body long enough to reduce emotional congestion, creating the mental room needed to connect dots and choose a path deliberately.
Origin
Champagne used walks, workouts, and gratitude practices to protect his mind and body after shutting down Kiyo.
Core principles
- 01State affects decision quality
- 02Reliable personal activities can interrupt a loop
- 03Physical and mental health create room for clarity
How to run it
- 1
Build the list
Write five to ten healthy activities that reliably lift or steady you.
Pro tip Choose things you know work without question, not aspirational habits.
- 2
Make it available
Keep the list where you can reach it when your judgment is clouded.
Pro tip Add at least one option that requires almost no preparation.
- 3
Default, do not debate
When the internal loop starts, pick an item and do it before attempting a major decision.
Pro tip Movement can support both physical and mental clarity.
Watch out The activity is a pause, not permanent avoidance of the underlying issue.
- 4
Decide from space
Return to the problem only after the emotional congestion has eased enough to think clearly.
Watch out Seek qualified help when a low mood or crisis exceeds the scope of a self-guided reset.
In the wild
After closing a financially and mentally exhausting venture, Marc takes frequent walks and continues every planned gym workout. These defaults do not solve the business problem directly, but they protect his health and interrupt the narrative long enough for a new question and direction to emerge.
→ He regains enough clarity to separate the failed vehicle from the work he still values.
Common mistakes
Choosing theoretical mood boosters
A list of activities that sound healthy but have never helped you cannot serve as a reliable default.
Using the list to avoid reality
The reset should create capacity to face the decision, not postpone it indefinitely.
Is it for you?
Best for
People who know they become mentally flooded during setbacks or uncertainty.
Not ideal for
Clinical crises that need professional or emergency support.
From the transcript
“having something as simple as a list of five or 10 things that you know without question will put a smile on your face and…”
“my number one goal during that period was to keep my mind and and body as healthy as possible”
From the episode
Marc Champagne: The Power of Being Present
Marc Champagne