Thursday, December 17, 2015

The 6 Essentials To Living Well + A 7th To Consider

"More is not better; better is better"

I first heard that quote from Charles Staley, known as the 'secret weapon' to elite level athletes.

A few thoughts on that statement, which I have recorded as a principle in my own gym:

To live simply, is to live a full life. To live a vain and showy life, is indeed, empty.

LIFE requires that there is space to live, move and breathe.

Margin, if you will.

Life needs space to rest, and space to let other things grow. YOU need space to go over the essentials again and again, until they are fresh and internalized, making it easier for you to do them.

And doing, is key.

And the more you have to do, the less you'll actually get done. Overwhelm sets in, and the propensity towards distraction skyrockets!

There are only a few essentials in life, and doing them well, consistently, beats trying to 'do it all', especially all at once.

I name these essentials as follows:

1) Time with God.
     You become like whom you habitually associate with. Think about that for a second.

2) Time working on yourself. 
     You needs skills to pay the bills, and it's no fun to cut down a tree with a dull axe. Sharpen the saw, as it is said in the Franklin Covey world. Spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, socially: Grow! Refine! Soak up the good!

3) Time with spouse*
     Not applicable to everyone, but your chief 'partner in crime', with whom you are choosing to build your life with: Keep it Creative, autonomous, inter-dependent, willful, loving and collaboratively blessed.

4) Time with kids*
     If you have a kids in your life, this is a huge blessing and opportunity. One day, they will be grown, and you'll be old. They will have to decide what kind of people they will be - and you, as a 'big one' in their life, have profound influence, for better or worse, to help them determine what the future will be like for both of you.

5) Time attending to the NECESSARY work to fulfill your purpose for being on the planet.
     You were put here for a reason. And, even if takes you the rest of your life to find out what that reason is, you owe it to everyone, including yourself, to find out what that reason is (Thank you, Kevin Costner in "Man of Steel"). Then, attend to it, and grow in it, more and more.

Remember: A promotion in God's economy is not necessarily rising up in the organization; it is increasingly (but not always suddenly) walking in your talents, gifts, passion and dreams, in service to others.

6) Time to rest, recreate, recharge and seize big opportunities.
    If you are always on the go, your batteries run down, life seems miserable and overwhelming, you don't get anything done, and you begin to resent people. This is not a call to laziness, but rather, prudent diligence.

7) Bonus: No matter how well your time is structured, you need energy and focus to follow-through on all the endeavors which you desire to pursue. 

Just as well, fatigue, haste and distraction will taint your best work - which is akin to bruising your best crops before taking them to the marketplace. They just won't sell, and your good efforts are in vain.

There you have it. Living well is pretty simple, but it requires a lot of 'No's' and sacrifice. The sacrifice isn't to do more, it is to do better, and to prevent the cares of this world from robbing your present state of the ability to attend to a grand future.

Strength and Honor: Live well!

-JG

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