Wowza… 40 seems soooo 40!
Deciding on only 4 important lessons seems like madness but these are definitely the most meaningful to me and it is my hope that they will be barometers for growth going forward for you as well. (Smile)
Let's get to 'em:
1. GET TO KNOW YOURSELF
Start here!!! This foundation is fundamental to progress and personal growth.
Hey hey, hey, the most important relationship in your life really is and will be with you.
Everything else and every other relationship is a reflection of your true awareness of who you are.
Your circumstances can either be illuminated, enhanced, improved or even weakened, worsened or become more difficult and complex depending on your impression of you, and further, how you show up in the world.
Spend time with yourself as often as possible… Not just thinking but taking action on the following types of activities.
Get clear on your values. Don’t half-ass this, get clear on them and show up to life with those values in mind.
Know your desires.
Visualize your goals.
Set intentions as often as possible.
Dream big and never cease to keep dreaming.
I know way too many people who don’t make time for slowing down and spending time with themselves.
Though in my personal experience, I don’t know a more important experience. But I would love to hear yours.
Now, at 40, with the past 20 years having been spent on countless adventures across our great globe, living, working, experiencing more than 60 amazing different countries and cultures.
Ohhh… the countless journeys, the timeless tales I could tell, the smiles, the laughs, the love, the lessons through losses, struggles, scares and risks taken. Not a single one I would change for anything in this world.
Except maybe this one….
The most important lesson I’ve learned in my life at the age of 37.
After countless physical journeys, I realized the most important journey I have ever taken is the one that I took within… listening and actually hearing how I work, why I show up in the ways I do, the varied reactions I bring to any given circumstance in life and how I (how we all) have so much more control over alllll of that than I had ever understood before getting to know myself right where I am at.
That journey has been more meaningful than any I have made in all my 40 years.
And my heart is bursting to help others learn more about it and live into that gift, too.
I hope you love yourself enough and all those in your life too, to spend time on you.
2. DO MINDSET WORK
If there was one thing I wish I learned earlier in life, it would be mindset work.
This ties well with getting to know yourself as Mindset work is the entry point for self-discovery and understanding and to me it is the single most important practice I have ever learned to get to know myself.
The power of this practice is learning you have complete control over what you allow in your mind, and more importantly, living the practice by taking the time to intentionally listening, learn and be aware of your thoughts, beliefs, opinions, rationales for how you live your life. Thne learning about the power of decision and how to aligne your beliefs, thoughts, actions, and your results in life with your values and how you want to show up in the world is. This practice, to me, is the most useful and life changing practice anyone can learn.
Knowing and understanding what mindset work is, is only the beginning.
Practicing it is where the work really begins…..
Know that:
Your words matter!
“What you think, you become.” Buddha
“What you focus on, expands.” Oprah (and others)
“Where your attention goes, the energy flows & follows.” Tony Robbins
Self-awareness, money-awareness, reaction-awareness, controllable factors awareness… Working on Mindset around all these and more is the beginning to feeling balanced, grounded, in control and abundant in ways that you can’t even imagine until you have done the work.
Fun thought, I also find MindSET to be a funny word. It is completely NOT having a “Set” mind but rather a growth & possibility-oriented mind, being open, curious, active, flexible, creative, & caring. And who wouldn’t want to experience such empowering ways?!
The best news, YOU have this power within you.
3. DO THE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU…. Ohhhh weee
Do the Hard even if you don’t want to.
Do the unfamiliar and step into the uncomfortable. Stretch Yourself… ohhhh feels so good!
Leave home. Go it alone. Yes, you can.
Don’t hesitate or think “too” much about it, just act. You can adjust as you go.
The obstacle is the way through to the next level of you that life has set up as a test to see if you are ready to take on what is next. Embrace it because the tests will keep coming.
It can help to redefine the scary, the hard, the fear as opportunity. Play with that beautiful reframe as the body’s physiological reaction to processing both are quite similar.
Besides, the more you take on the things you hesitate to take on because it scares you, the less and less you will find that scares you. And ohhhh what a feeling.
Let me know what you might want to try. I would love to encourage you.
4. EXPERIENCE WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED
True knowing is in the DOING!!!
It is commonly thought that for the most part we remember or retain approximately 10% of what we read, and 20% of what we hear, and so on until you get closer to action and output… then it solidifies to up to 90% or better.
I try to catch myself in this all the time…. To get away from saying, “I know…”.
And instead remain more open to the possibility that I have yet more to learn, even with a topic I feel “i know.”
We can think we know a topic, literally think we know it inside and out, yet it’s only after we can demonstrate the knowledge by using it that we truly find understanding and get definitive confirmation of the level of understanding that we actually possess.
Of course, we can read about just about any subject, learn the topic inside and out, but that all remains mostly theory until tested, does it not?
We can know what it takes to be healthy and take care of our bodies, and be able to recite the calories, nutritional benefits, needs for our personal body, perfect workout routine that can maximize and heighten our metabolism, but the true knowledge is making those changes in our lives and becoming living proof of that knowledge.
We can know all about what makes a good speaker and what one should do to connect with the audience, tell a powerful story, speak with authority or what have you, but until we step on that stage and put our knowledge to the test… how can we be so sure of the knowing without experiencing?
We can know about the importance of gratitude but we will never understand and experience the effects until we practice it...and give it time to make a difference.
Oh all the things we have learned, the true knowledge to the depth of real understanding can only be experienced when one has taken action to make it a part of their life.
I love reading.
I love learning.
I love conversing about theories and hypotheses and so many things, but I do know that there is a deeper level of comprehension in living it.
Here is me wishing you live those things “you know” as often as you can. If you have done so, you really do know the difference.
Growth and goodness to you!
What is the most important lesson you have learned in life? I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW!
Looking to implement new lessons into your life, I can help you with that. Let’s chat. JUMP into my DMs.
BLISSINGS TO YOU!!
Cheers to the years to come.
