Who are you?

“To understand the mind of a person look at what they have already achieved, and what they aspire to do.”

What have you achieved? 

What do you actively aspire to do?

If you were someone else, looking at what you have done in the past and what you aspire to do now, what would they know about you?

Ask better questions

“If we would have new knowledge, we must get a whole world of new questions.” – Suzanne K. Langer

If you are not making progress but swear you are giving the right answers, it’s time to ask some different and better questions.

What are the most important issues in your life right now?  What is not going well?

What are some different questions you should ask about these issues?

If you’ve been asking questions of others and not getting satisfaction, what questions should you ask of yourself instead?

What have you become?

“In the last analysis what we are communicates far more eloquently than anything we say or do.” – Stephen Covey

All your thinking and all your actions based on that thinking all these years – what has it led to?

What have you become?

Friends

“This communicating of a man’s self to his friend works two contrary effects, for it redoubleth joys, and cutteth griefs in half.” – Francis Bacon

Having great friends is part of living a long satisfying life.  I don’t mean the friends you party with, or the ones you see here and there.  I mean the ones who you have a deep trusting relationship with, who will do anything for you if you needed it.  Ones who care enough to call you out a bit when you need a course correction.  Ones who are there for the high points in your life, and the low ones too.

You don’t need two dozen friends like this, a small handful will do.

Who are your friends like this?

If you need a few more here’s how to get them – be a friend like this first.

Communication

“Once a human being arrives on this earth, communication is the single factor determining what kind of relationships she or he makes with others and what happens to them in the world.” – Virginia Satir

Communication is an art and a skill.  It’s how we tell the world who we are and what our intentions and expectations are.  It’s how we receive others and take in the world and its information.

If we are good communicators – face to face, using our voice – transmitting our energies and will, we shall have better lives than if we had many other skills and lacked this one.

Are you good at communication?

Living on Purpose

Many people just live according to the circumstances around them.  They just go day to day responding to what happens and what other people do.

This is very different than living “on purpose”.  People that do this make things happen; the things they want.  They start where they are and overcome circumstances with determined purposeful action.

Would you say you are more of the first group, or will you wind up somewhere “on purpose”?

When it worked out because it didn't

That time you were rejected…that time it didn’t work out….it allowed something else to happen that was great/better.

We can all look back and say that there are times when it didn’t work out and that is a GOOD thing!

We couldn’t see it at the time, but we can now!  

What didn’t work out for you, that was a GOOD thing?

Initiative

Most people are in avoidance mode. They can’t be bothered, or they are lazy, or don’t want to go out of their way.

People that take initiative will ride to the top.  They call out problems and look for solutions.  They roll up their sleeves and do something about it.  They can’t stand by and watch things around them circle the drain.

People that take initiative are in high demand and rise to positions of leadership.

Is that you?

Five Pillars of Healthy Aging

This list comes to me from my Aunt Donna who lives in Jacksonville FL.  She is 82 and lives an active life with her 87-year-old husband Stewart.  She worked as a nurse and director of nursing facilities until she was 75.  

Here are her five pillars of healthy aging – 

(Not old yet?  Yeah – that’s why this is important!) (List by her – comments by me.)

Healthy eating – we all know this, but must be more disciplined in a world that is a supply chain for the opposite.

Adequate sleep – that’s when the body and brain heal and rebuild themselves.

Social support – you’ve got to have family and friends and social interaction.  Live for others, and don’t be lonely.

Exercise – the body houses us.  Use it or lose it.

Challenging your brain with lifelong learning – When you stop learning the brain says “ok, I guess we are winding up this go around”.  Keep learning and growing mentally.

Thanks Aunt Donna!

You must do what you think you cannot do.

Would it be satisfying to do something that you thought you could not do?

What would that do to your thinking after that?

Growth lies outside of our comfort zone.  By definition, growth is doing things we haven’t done before. We create our own boundaries.  Who said you couldn’t do it anyway?  Did you buy into a story that was told to you, or was it just convenient to say you couldn’t do it yourself so you could get out of the work and risk?

You are who you say you are.  Declare something more and take action.  

Amaze yourself.