Live Your Best Life

The above video inspired me to write more about Living Your Best Life! Although many of my blog posts fall under this category I thought it may be beneficial to write more on the topic itself.

There is no one right way to live YOUR best life. Living my best life is not going to be the same as living your best life. However, there are some core principles that many of us can live by to help create our ideal lives. Below are some activities and principles that can help you Live YOUR Best life.

• Get clear on what it is your want. Identify what it is your truly want out of life. Sit still and visualize what brings you joy and how you truly want to live your life.

• Meditate. If you do not or cannot meditate then make sure you take 20 minutes out of your day to quiet your mind.

• Write in a journal. Journaling can be a great place to help you release your worries and obsessions. It can help identify any fears and also passions. Journaling can tap into deeper layers to help you on your path of personal growth and development.

• Visualize. You can do this while you relax your mind-sit and think about your ideal life. Imagine what it would look and feel like. Experience the happiness that you feel when thinking about the wonderful things you currently have in your life or in the future.

• Replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts. Think of constructive thoughts that can replace negative thoughts. Keep in mind when you look at your situation it may not be as bad as you thought or you may not be to blame. You can say things like: “At least I did something”, “nobody’s perfect”, “what happened is not entirely my fault” and “Every cloud has a silver lining.”

• Improve your self-confidence. Identify things you are proud of and/or have successfully achieved. List out your best characteristics.

• Define your passion. What are you passionate about? What do you ABSOLUTELY have to have in your life to feel whole and complete?

• Identify the blockages in your life and then learn to overcome them. Find out what is preventing you from reaching that goal or taking the next step. Is it fear? If so learn to get comfortable with fear and become aware of what it feels like (does your blood pressure rise, stomach in knots, heart pounding etc.). FULLY experience your resistance. When those little sayings in your head start creeping in such as “I can’t do this” or “I am not good enough to have that” learn to stop it dead in tracks and replace it with “I can.” Be consciously aware of your fears.

• Create a vision board and post it where you can view it every day. Create a board filled with pictures of your ideal life. Cut pictures and words out of magazines, draw pictures or print out photos from the internet. Looking at pictures creates imagines in our mind. Vision boards can help us get what we want out of life!

• Live by your values. Make a list of values and be sure to honor them. Make sure your decisions are based on your values to ensure you are living in accordance with who you are.

• Set goals and be sure you have an environment set up to help achieve your goals. Make sure your family is on board and remember to let people know about your goals-they can help push you when you need it. Make sure your work and home environment is equipped with the right tools.

• Surround yourself with positive people. The positive energy that radiates from people who are joyful and optimistic will send out vibrations that will permeate within you.

• Eliminate negativity out of your life-negative people, negative news, negative environments, negative substances, etc.

• Learn to balance your time. Identify what areas of your life need more balance and start taking proactive steps to create balance. Not all areas have to be equal but balance is key to living a healthy life!

The above list is by no means comprehensive but if you can take a few of these principles and apply them to your life I can bet you will start seeing positive changes. When you live your life in accordance with who you a shift occurs and energy starts to flow to help attract YOUR best life!

Be All That You Can Be

Many of us have heard this slogan “Be All That You Can Be.” Created by the U.S. Army and used for recruiting purposes.

Basically, the slogan challenges a person to become all that he/she is capable of becoming. Growing up in a military family I have heard this phrase more than once but never really gave it much thought. Maybe I was just too young at that time to really give much attention to the saying?

However, now that I am older and designing my best life I revisited this saying and reflected more on what it means. Becoming a person that one has the potential to become is what I get from this slogan. I thought about what one needs to do to help be all that he or she can be.

The number one factor that I keep coming back to is values! In order to be all that you can be you MUST live your life according to your values. You must get clear on who you are and live in accordance with this. Although I have written a blog post on identifying your values I think it is important to reiterate a few vital points.

The first step in identifying your values is taking time out to reflect. Write down what comes to mind. Just write without editing or over analyzing. Write words or phrases that you feel represent who you are. If you find it difficult to come up with values then answer a few questions such as:

• What are you truly passionate about?
• What does having a full or whole life look like to you?
• What is missing from your life? What would make your life more satisfying?
• What is your definition of success?
• What would you like others to say about your at the end of your life? What would you like
to say about yourself?

If you are still finding it difficult to pinpoint your values after answering these questions reflect on a special time in your life. What was going on and why was it so special? What was happening? What were the values that were being honored during that time? There was probably an event or moment in your life that made you feel good. Most likely, you were in tune with who you are therefore honoring your values. Think about the important things or feelings that were present during this special time.

After determining your values, make a list and prioritize them. Rank order them in importance and check either yes or no if you feel you are currently living in accordance with your values. If so list the ways you are honoring your values.

Lastly, make a list and keep it with you at all times (purse or wallet). Be sure to look at it at least once a day. Any decisions that you need to make especially BIG decisions make sure you think about your values. Any or all decisions made in accordance with your values ensures you are living a full rich life. Be true to yourself so you can BE ALL THAT YOU CAN BE!!!