Many times we settle for what we can get, even if it’s not what we really would love. Most people focus on one part of their life without looking at all four quadrants: Health, Relationships, Vocation and Time, and Money Freedom. Living a life you love in all four quadrants starts with a Vision. Not just a goal, but a full vision of what you would Love. How do you know what you would love? What is it that makes you come ALIVE. Focus on the WHAT, not the HOW. Assessing your Life for growth requires honoring your longings and discontents. We are meant to grow. Envision the Future as NOW. Focus on the WHAT, not the HOW. Your imagination is excellent. It is just worry turned backward. What would it look like if it all worked out? Your vision raises your awareness bringing new ideas. Thoughts become things when your emotions allow you to ACT. Anxiety and fear are the boundaries between where you are and your vision. Tools to repattern fear into courage. Allow your vision to come in ways you did not see. Everything looks like a failure in the middle. Hone your perceptions and see the gem in what you thought was a failure. Abundance thrives on circulation. Release brings liberation. It is not just what you achieve from your vision, it is who you become in the process.

Problem: We are often so busy working hard or taking care of others that we forget self-care. A full life requires self-care in your health, relationships, and freedom. Often we are dominated by our work life.
Health: Are you in pain? Does your body dislike you? We took health for granted as teenagers. Now we must get creative to feel good all the time. Get over the “have to, should, must” syndrome that makes self-care just another job. Rewire by thinking: “I get to.” “I want to.”
Exercise: four types of exercise: Endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility. Each one has different benefits and can improve your ability to do the others. Variety helps reduce boredom and the risk of injury.

If there is no exercise that you love, brisk walking is the best exercise of all according to the Mayo clinic. It is aerobic, improves posture and cardiovascular fitness, burns calories, strengthens bones and muscles, improves balance, energy, mood, cognition memory, and sleep. The Mayo Clinic also says it reduces heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and cancer, strengthens the immune system, and reduces stress and tension. Tips for the exercise journey, caution, and safety.

Athletics: How I accidentally became an international powerlifter at age 57. The story of recovering from a decade of back neck and head pain from a car accident through weight lifting. As an international master’s powerlifter for 15 years, winning five world titles and setting 15 world records. The truth about age and exercise. It’s never too late and you are never too busy.

Relationships: Cumulative empirical evidence across 148 independent studies indicate that individual experiences within social relationships significantly predict mortality. The overall effect size corresponds with a 50% increase in odds of survival as a function of social relationships Keys to healthy relationships include:
Trust: Safety in sharing intimate personal information, interest, desire, dreams, and disappointments.
Common Interests: Spending quality time together in activities you both enjoy and allowing each other time for activities they enjoy independently.
Support: Having each other’s back is fundamental to a good relationship.
Release: Forgiving yourself and the other in the relationship is an ongoing requirement. Holding onto resentments or your own guilt inhibits the relationship.

The importance of Nature:

1. Spending time in nature is linked to both cognitive benefits and
   improvements in mood, mental health, and emotional well-being.
2. Feeling connected to nature can produce similar benefits to well-being,
   regardless of how much time one spends outdoors.
3. Both green spaces and blue spaces (aquatic environments) produce well-being benefits. More remote and biodiverse spaces may be particularly helpful, though even urban parks and trees can lead to positive outcomes.

Vocational Success
Health and Time in Nature contribute to vocational success as well. I grew up with the 50’s notion that a good life comes from hard work. However, my father added to that “work hard and smart”. He showed me how even raking leaves could be easier if you knew the most effective method. Jari Roomer, Personal Growth Lab also says “You Need to Work Smarter, Not Just Harder". He urges us to focus on the value we create in our hours of work, rather than just the number of hours. Prioritizing
Using the 80/20 Rule: 20% of your tasks and activities are actually responsible for 80% of your desired outcomes.
Digital Distraction: The addictive nature of our devices can erode our work day and our home life. We need to keep the focus on what produces results.