Living your best life

What does living your best life really mean?  Clearly, it means different things to different people – but how about you?

Is it a life full of adventures and experiences that many people will never have the opportunity to have and so feel both grateful and fortunate.  Or, perhaps a quiet life, surrounded by routine and comfort and those that you love?   Why not both?

People often get caught up in the belief that to live your best life it has to be big and gregarious with constant travel and endless reels and posts of exotic locations…

As we’d say here in Australia – yeah, nah!

You, and you alone are the best judge of what the most important things in life are.  Still, that shouldn’t stop us dreaming or striving to try new things and have different experiences.  In my mind, these dreams and experiences can add the injection of excitement and change of pace that rounds out our day-to-day existence.

For me, living your best life always comes back to your mindset.

Just imagine if you had the freedom to do whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted – would your life look different, or would it essentially be the same as it is today?

If you believe you are living your best life, no matter what the experience then you are indeed living your best life.  However, if you believe something is missing, then it’s up to you to determine what that might be and go do it.  Your actions always speak louder than words alone.

One aspect of living your best life that is sometimes overlooked is that of balance.  Balance isn’t equal time for everything; it’s being intentionally focused on what matters most to you and designing your life around that.  Not surprisingly, personal freedom is often top of mind, which includes time, choice, and experiences.

One of barriers to living life on your terms is the amount of time you have to actually spend pursuing your dreams.  This is where mindset comes in by creating a mental sense of freedom, but before we can create this mental model, we also have to understand who we really are.  Fully understanding your values, beliefs, passions and indeed limitations also feed into your mental model.

Another limiting factor to us living our best lives are the expectations of others, particularly the ones we love.  Having pre-disposed expectations places barriers around those that you love and indeed in this case us.  Now this may be out of love but stifling non-the-less as it limits our choices to a narrower spectrum that we can imagine.

Expectations is an issue only if you allow it to limit your mindset and restrict you from living life on your terms.  Sometimes it’s a parent, other times a spouse or partner, or a combination of each.  In a previous life I found that these limitations placed a lot of pressure on me personally which stifled my sense of wellbeing and overall enjoyment of life.  Not great for your psyche or mental state…

Getting out from underneath these expectations is a far more complex issue.

However, once you come to terms with the realization that you’re being blocked by the expectation of others and the ensuing limitations this places on you then the closer you are to creating the life you’ve always wanted.

Just so you know there will definitely be turmoil and heartache in the short term, but life is a long-term proposition, so it really is up to you on how much pain you’re willing to bear.

Speaking from personal experience there is light at the end of the tunnel, if you have the courage to address these challenges.

One of the by-products of this journey is building your resilience.  Your ability to weather difficult times while being able to bounce back from these setbacks, adapt to change and manage life’s challenges.  These are all part and parcel of living your best life.

We all know that life will throw curve balls at you from time-to-time, not to mention how boring life would be if it were always only perfect and hassle free.

I’ve always been an impatient person, but through my personal journey of self-discovery I came to the realization that patience and persistence are the cornerstones of your mindset.  They enable us to savour the wins when they come because you know they came from hard work and focus.

My weekly essay is all about provoking your personal reflections and thinking around a topic.  I share my personal experiences and learnings from my journey, but ultimately, it’s all about getting you to reflect and develop your own point of view or perspective on a topic.

Not all of my topics will resonate, but I know based on the feedback from many of you that my essays tend to come at a perfect time and that seamlessly fit with what many of you are going through at any given moment.

I’m also a big believer in things happen for a reason and that you are often presented with the tools and insights that you need at any given time in harmony with what’s going on in your life.

Until next week.

Ciao!