[S1128]Such A Beautiful Life

Here is a lifestyle tip that has helped me to be a lot happier, and healthier. It the era of 15 second sound bites and the overwhelming abundance of information available to us through television, radio, the Internet, the skill of editing, deleting and filtering out what is not wanted or desired is extremely important. Dare I say, vital?

To know what you should edit, delete and filter out of your life, you will need to know what it is you really want. If you aren't sure of the results you are looking for then how will you ever know if you are getting them?

Write the Laundry List. Having a written list of what it is you really want is absolutely necessary for success but do you know how many people have written goals? Amazingly, it's only two percent of the population. Only two people out of every hundred will take the time to think about life and write. Then we wonder why 2% of the population control 60% of the wealth in the country! That's a clue.

Of course, it's not just about the money. Most lottery winners compound their problems by having access to large amounts of cash. Moral discipline lacking, most, not all, lottery winners tend toward excess, poor decisions, momentary pleasures and lack an expressed purpose in life.

This formula works: Thoughts lead to feelings; Feelings lead to actions; Actions lead to results. If you don't like your results, you have complete editorial control to change your thoughts!

The Passion Test

There is a book by this name that you can order and read but the test is quite simple. Start with a notepad (or computer) and write the sentence, "In my ideal life, I________________

Then fill in the blank with a 'to be', 'to do', or 'to have' verb that pinpoints who you are and your desires in life. Do at least 10 or 15 of these sentences and you can keep doing them if you like the exercise. Mark Victor Hansen teaches you should have a list of 101 things you want to do before you expire.

It's important to do at least 15 if you can because we are going to edit and mark the list with your top five. Here are my top five in this present moment but I do have the freedom to edit the list and change it at anytime.

1. In my ideal life, I give value to every person I meet. (This sets a context for every interaction I have with any human being and gives me the edge I want.)
2. In my ideal life, I weigh 165 and enjoy excellent health. (This safeguards me from pigging out and eating the wrong kinds of foods and fats.)
3. In my ideal life, I provide a great environment for my family. (This keeps me focused on my family goals.)
4. In my ideal life, I have excellent friends and business partners. (This reminds me to spend time with quality people)
5. In my ideal life, I earn twice as much as I spend. (This keeps me creative, actively engaged in doing more and doing better.)

If you have your top five selected, then this becomes your template for making critical decisions with your time, your relationships and your life. If any activity arises yet does not support one of your five top ideal life scenarios, you have permission to delete that activity from your life or edit and modify until it fits with your purpose.

Let me give you an example of editing my life. In the past month, I set my intention and made a commitment to let go of some weight. I didn't say lose the weight. If I lose something, I may try to find it again! The reason (my "why") was very base and instinctual. I wanted to increase my life insurance policy and I didn't want to pay standard rates. I wanted preferred. Purely economic and by that I mean, purely monetary. Who wants to pay $400 a month when there is a $150 rate out there?

Of course the side effect of wanting to save money in this manner is that I learned a lot about my health habits and then there are more benefits to boot. It is true that all diets work and all diets fail. Guess who makes the difference? Point your thumb into your chest and say, "ME."

It's how big a reason and what is your "Why?" Why do you want this and how badly do you want this? Michael Jordan attended Laney High school in Wilmington, North Carolina, but as a 5-11 skinny sophomore, he was cut from the varsity basketball team. The summer before his junior year, he grew to 6-3 and began his path to super-stardom. Instead of giving up after failing to make the team, Jordan used it to spur himself to greater achievements, practicing hour after hour on the court.

"Whenever I was working out and got tired and figured I ought to stop, I'd close my eyes and see that list in the locker room without my name on it," Jordan said, "and that usually got me going again." It may not be that unusual for a high school sophomore to grow 4 inches in one summer but it was a manifestation of his extreme desire, of his competitiveness that caused him to work extremely hard and grow and make the team as a junior. He made the team and led his school to the state championship.

An interesting side note, Jordan was the one who introduced longer basketball shorts to the game as he always wore his North Carolina shorts under his NBA shorts. Others followed. How embarrassing is it to watch those games from the eighties see those tall, grown men in those skimpy shorts? Thank God for Michael Jordan and longer shorts!

Back to editing. I should edit my stories too. I had originally gotten down to 165 when I first started using taking Omega-3s. Over time, with holiday eating and a more sedentary life style (working at a computer replaced swinging a hammer), my weight had crept back up to 180. I am a mere 5'8" so the Body Mass Index (BMI) charts that insurance companies use to determine a portion of your insurability pegged me as "overweight". According to the Insurance companies, I should weigh between 125 and 164. This is normal range for my height.

All diets work and all diets fail. What ensures success is finding one that resonates, makes sense and works for you. I have lost my gut in one month. I usually weigh in between 168 and 170 these days so about 5 more pounds to go. The interesting thing is that by curbing my intake and sticking to the replacement shakes, I found the innate intelligence of my body making some decisions for me.

For example, without realizing it, I stopped coffee. I just "forgot" to make it and after several days realized, I didn't need it. No one said, "you must stop coffee" it just happened. And I can still drink a cup when I like but I am not dependent on it. Likewise, when I go grocery shopping, I spend much more time in the fruits and vegetable sections and avoid all the process foods altogether. That also happened "by itself."

Really, losing weight has two parts. 1) Burning more calories than you consume. Add weight training to your exercise program brings a lot of benefit. Fat gets morphed into muscle. You will look better and feel better too. 2)Take in nutritional calories. It's a no-brainer to find a program where the nutrition is already there for you and the cravings for the bad stuff disappears on its own. There are many good options out there, it remains to find one that works for you.

Who's in charge? There is only one person in charge and that is you. Choose your activities based on your "Ideal Life" list; choose your friends; choose your life; choose your health. Choose your habits. You are in charge, make no mistake about it. Congratulations on your new posting as Editor-in-Chief of your life. Don't accept anything less.