Older AND Better

Are you getting Older AND Better? The first question has already been answered for you. You’ve gotten older since you opened this post!  We can’t avoid getting older.  What we don’t want to do, though, is get older and regret everything we haven’t tried or accomplished yet. Now, that we can do something about. Question: What have you accomplished in the last year? Are you different now than you were a year ago?  If the answer is yes, I’m sure it had something to do with YOU! You are making things happen in your life, and you are the only one who can move you forward.

Now I think we can agree on some reasons why we don’t get better (please comment on this post with more reasons, I’d love to add them to my list!)  They all boil down to wasting time.  For one, people can slow down your progress. Relationships can waste your time and energy if they’re dragging you down instead of building you up. Dead end jobs can waste your time if there’s no growth potential.  Going to school for years on end can even be a waste of time if you don’t have a good plan for what you’re going to do with it. Not setting goals eventually has us wasting time we could have been getting the right things done.  The point is we have to be intentional about what’s next. Our lives won’t just fall into place by themselves…

How do you make sure you’re getting both Older AND Better? Here are a few key points:

  1. Take inventory of where you are right now. What more do you want from your life? What do you want to be different next year?
  2. Set goals and WRITE THEM DOWN.  It’s nice to have a decorative journal, but even if you have to write it on a dinner napkin, write it down! …and then go get a journal…
  3. Set alerts or alarms. If you’re anything like me, your schedule will take over your life if you let it. When I’m starting a new habit, if I don’t set reminders I’ll eventually fall right back into old ways and forget what I was working toward (can I get a witness?!).  Use email alerts, alarms, special days on your calendar – whatever it takes.
  4. Get more information on that thing.  The more you read, hear, and learn about what you want to do, the more motivated you become to achieve your dreams.  Surround yourself with the information and the people that will encourage you to move forward.
  5. CELEBRATE – plan your celebration now!  When you get to your destination, you owe it to yourself to acknowledge yourself for what you’ve done right.  Share it with the people in your life who can handle your success.  Find that original journal entry (or dinner napkin…) and write in red letters “I DID IT!”  Nothing compares to the satisfaction of living – and winning- on purpose.  Take your “Celebrate Me” party as far as it can possibly (and legally) go!

Better Living. On Purpose.