Four Words to Focus Your Life
There is a popular book by Jon Gordon called One Word although other authors have made attempts to create the same ideas on how to focus your life using one word. I also like one word with four subsections to focus your life.
I have one word for my life. It is self-actualization. One way to characterize self-actualization is always be growing or always striving to be better. The next step is to list the categories in which you want to grow in alignment with your desires or goal.
What Are Your Goals?
One could say they want to be President of their company which was a goal of mine when I worked for a residential real estate company. A runner might have a goal of winning a marathon. A writer might say they want to write a best seller.
For a fulfilling life, we must have some balance. One goal is good for focus, but other aspects of our life must also be targeted to support the one goal. Select the areas under self-actualization in which you would like to grow.
Selecting Your Words
Under self-actualization I think in terms of four words. They are health, learning, creativity, and contribution. Health, learning, creativity, and contribution. These as headings for a chapter in a book could then be supported by subchapters.
In health, I focus on nutrition, exercise, relaxation, sleep, and solitude. I need each of these for my wellbeing. I try to improve my experience for each word. I am always conscious of improving my health, with better diet, many ways to exercise and at least one each day, relaxation at some point in the day, solitude with meditating and often going camping, and setting a sleep routine that delivers consistent results.
In learning, I am always trying to learn more about my professions which I consider surf instruction and Thriving Worker Consulting. I learn more about the internet, about web design, about posting and podcasting, and read a lot of books. Learning is rewarding, supporting, and brain activating. Any progress toward goals has to come through learning.
Creativity is my favorite indulgence. I write every morning. I was creative as a child and I never stopped wanting to write books although it took me all my life to get to the first one which was just ten years ago. Now I have 24 books on Amazon that I have written first of all for my pleasure. Creativity is one of the most blissful experiences because it stimulates happiness brain chemicals and flow.
Contribution has been a theme in my life that has been expressed through coaching. I have coached in my career, my writing, and my consulting. I have coached my kids on how to live productive lives. I started writing daily over ten years ago to share what I had learned about nutrition and physical fitness. That led to a large online following and my first books.
Convert the Words to Time Blocks Each Day
Take the first word of self-actualization and break it down into the areas in which you want to grow. If you select health, learning, creativity, and contribution, break them down into action plans for each day. Have time blocks each day where you work on each of these four words, for example.
I write in the morning and podcast. I then exercise. I have a diet that I adhere to for weight control and optimum energy for exercise and recovery. I teach both surfing and thriving to benefit other people’s lives. The reward is knowing I am making lives better or more fun.
In these practices I am growing who I am, living in purpose, knowing why I am here, and finishing each day with the summary, that was a good day. Select your one word of self-actualization and then select as few or many subcategories as you want. I didn’t say anything about family or relationships, but that might be the main focus of someone else’s life. I didn’t talk about travel or hobbies, but those are good areas for growth and adventure.
As long as your focus is on growth, you will stimulate happiness brain chemicals and feel you are thriving. Living a purposeful life that contributes to others will reward you every single day.
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As a Thriving Worker Consultant, I can engage in conversations with employers on how to begin the process of helping workers thrive and reach peak performance. It begins with a conversation to see how far an organization is willing to go to change the culture for workers.
Great practices for daily living can be learned with the Markap Series of Books. If your organization would like live presentations or Zoom meetings, they can be arranged for small to large groups.
