- Our personal expenses speak volumes. List 5 establishments that see a regular flow of cash from your bank account each month. In your journal, pen a brief letter to your grandmother explaining why you spend money on each of these things.
- Making the best choice when no one is watching is often our greatest struggle. In your opinion, what are 5 of the most high quality organizations you could give to monetarily?
An Upside to Conflict
- How is this struggle or conflict serving you? How will this shape you? Strengthen you? On the other side of this, how will you have grown?
- A challenge is an opportunity to change – to learn, reflect, and become better. Think of 3 anxieties plaguing your thought process lately. Write out the strongest thought pattern you’ve had around each of them. Then take a minute to write the opposite of each of these thoughts (i.e. Starting a new job: I will not be adequate for the position. Opposite: I am adequate and have the capacity to learn how to completely rock this new position).
- In all situations we can choose to allow stress to build in our hearts and minds, or let gratitude fill our growing minds and spirit. Reflect on a time you observed someone turn a stressful situation into a civil, reasonable one. Consider a time when you have done the same.
Worry
Do you feel that you waste energy on worrying? You would be more effective if you would simply focus on those areas where you have real influence: what you think, what you say and what you do.
Today, start by practicing what needs to be said.
For each Lifetime Value Account, address the situation that is the highest priority.
Professional Life Example: I will speak to my superior about the late hours that keep me away from my family…today.
Connection
- Do you feel connected in your PHYSICAL Life? Do you connect well with others at the gym, health club or those that are peers on your Health Journey? In which relationships in the Physical category does connection seem to come easy? Why do you think that is?
- The things we pay attention to display the things we value. During a few minutes of down time, what gets your attention? ex: Websites, magazines, TV shows, people, habits…
Where is the Love?
- Focus on Unconditional Love: Do you feel Unconditional Love in your Familial Life? Do you sense a genuine caring that is freely given regardless of achievement or behavior? In which relationships does this authentic love seem easiest? Why do you think this is so?
- OUR SELF TALK CREATES ACTIONS, ACTIONS CREATE OUTCOMES, OUTCOMES CREATE OUR REALITY. What would you like your self talk to sound like? Write three phrases would you regularly like to include.
- Reflecting on our values motivates the behaviors most congruent with who we are at our best. Who are you when you are operating as your best self in your workplace? Name three traits you exhibit when living like this. What life values do these traits represent? (ie. I am well-rested and able to fully focus on the people and tasks I interact with. Value: Presence).
- Each of us possess the capacity to surprise ourselves with what we are physically capable of. When was the last time you surprised yourself – pushing further and accomplishing more than you expected? How did you feel after it?
Rest & Rejuvenation
- Focus on Rest and Rejuvenation: Starting with your daily schedule: where can you make time for daily Rest and Rejuvenation in your Familial Life? Now create time on your weekly schedule for a Rest and Repair Appointment for your Familial Life. Follow this same structure for each category of your Lifetime Value Account.
- Slowing our full lives down to reflect for five minutes does miracles for our brains. Where do you spend your most relaxing recreation time? How often do you get there? When do your friends get to see you? What off-the-clock activity or non-activity do you come back from rejuvenated?
- Periodic moments of rest during the workday enable greater focus and creativity. How can you make time for your brain and body to rest and renew during the work day?
- By intentionally aligning with our body’s natural rhythms, we learn to listen to its signals. How are you actively listening to your body’s need for rest?
- In a culture of relentlessly rising demand and chronic overdrive, a little intentional renewal goes a long way. What pastime do you engage in to give your brain a break? Is it a healthy one?
- “Health is a state of harmony between the body, mind and spirit. When one is free from physical distractions, the gates of the soul open.” ~B.K.S. Iyenga
Giving Thanks
- Where in your day to day life do you need to put more emphasis on gratitude? What part of your life have you been taking for granted or disregarding? Where do you want to show thankfulness in a deliberate way?
- It would do our heads and hearts well to rest our wallets regularly, recognizing what we already have. How can you simplify your spending this week, making use of what you’ve already purchased?
- Gratitude is a choice, not a feeling. Consider your work-life, work-place, and co-workers. If your brother/sister asked you to list five things you were most grateful for about your job, what would you say?
- Each of us has the ability to choose our response to a given situation. But just like a muscle takes time to strengthen, practice is required to develop the mindset and coordination to respond well. Consider one of the toughest seasons of your life. Write down one thing you are now thankful for in hindsight, as a result of that difficult time.
- We would do well never to take for granted the gifts in our lives, nor miss the opportunity to recognize them. List five of the resources you have access to that bring peace of mind to your life each day (i.e. grocery/farm store, running (warm!) water, church community, etc.).
- Healthy people choose to fill their hearts and minds with gratitude at every opportunity – like a traveler filling a canteen for a long journey. Consider and write down three ways you can encourage your family to express gratitude for the companions in their lives (i.e. begin a family gratitude journal; count gratitudes around the dinner table; articulate about the day’s moment they were most grateful for before going to bed…).
- It is infinitely valuable to role model gratitude, recognition, and appreciation in our relationships. List five of the most important people in your life, outside of your family members. Why are they so valuable? Take one minute for each of the five and write down what you appreciate about them.
What’s Your Vision?
- Imagine that you had the ability to create the life that you want. For each category of your life identify and visualize what you would love to create. What do you really want? Describe your vision using the framework of Be, Do and Have for your Familial, Financial, Intellectual, Physical, Professional, Social and Spiritual Life.
- We are hard wired to believe in something. What have you been wondering about lately? In your day-to-day head game, is your thought process more like a sailboat on a windless day – or a buoy in a thunderstorm? If you could explore the “reason why _______ happens” – what would _______ be?
- Consistent, daily rituals allow us to get the most important things done during our workday. Are your regular start-of-your-workday practices launching you into your workday effectively?
- Successful habits are like great friends: They walk with us through all seasons of life, keep us in line when necessary, and enable us to have a better time with them than we ever could without them. What great practice have you dreamt of, hoping it would someday be a regular part of your life? Why not start now?
- To create change, we’ve got to know what we are looking for. List the top 3 things you’d like to change about your workday. How would you like these to look instead?
- In order to move toward health, you’ve got to know what a thriving, happy you will look like! Name 5 ways you’d like to see yourself get healthier. State them as though they have already become reality. For example, “I take the stairs without losing my breath,” “I get enough sleep that I awake feeling rested,” and “I move, pant, and sweat 7 days a week.”
- Investing in yourself is crucial to growth. What was the last book you read, seminar you attended, or lecture you listened to that led to your personal growth? How about your financial growth? Reflect on the concept that has stuck with you most from each of them.
- Completing important tasks before they become urgent illustrates true prioritization. Envision yourself accomplishing one of your recent goals before the end of this month. What’s the goal? How do you feel once it’s completed? What comes because of it?
- Write down 3 of your best excuses for why you are not where you want to be with your fitness. Next to each of these excuses, write one decision that will move you in direction of your desired health outcome. (i.e. My schedule is too hectic for me to work out. – I will map out my workouts on the family calendar at the beginning of the week).
- Let your deepest values become a greater guide to your daily choices. Reflect upon 5 values you desire to align your actions around, regardless of the circumstances (i.e. compassion, responsibility, honesty, patience, gratitude…).
- Our limited resources – time, energy, focus, and money – must be put to use in accordance with what we value most. What were three of the most valuable financial investments you made over the last year? Why were they valuable?
Focus on Connection
- Do you feel connected in your Familial Life? Do you connect with other members in your family? In which relationships does connection seem easy? Why do you think this is so?
- Our familial relationships are among the most important we possess. In your journal, list the top 3 traits you most appreciate about each of your immediate family members. Then yank out a piece of paper and jot a note to one of them, telling them their most appreciated traits.
- Name the 3 most important friendships in your life right now. Reflect on how you’d like to see these friendships strengthened over the next month.
- Wonder is an essential nutrient for a life well lived. Name 10 things (people, places, flavors, songs, events) that completely astonish you.
- Who are the people that matter most to you? Take a few minutes and brainstorm in your journal a creative way you can show each of those closest to you just how valuable they are (i.e. a note of appreciation and gratitude, an act of service, a gift).
- Our friendships open our eyes to ourselves. If someone asked your best friend to list the top 5 things you stand for, what would they say?
- Name three people you most respect. What is it about their character that you admire most?
- People perform best when given clear standards. Standards provide clarity, accountability, and the opportunity for feedback. List three figures – whom you know personally or from afar – who operate with a consistent focus on their standards.
- The choices we make daily are the ones that shape our future. What three people do you know or know of who never seem to tire of making the right decisions? How about making the right decisions for their family?
- Those whom we spend the most time with shape us most profoundly. Name five of the people with whom you spend the majority of your time outside of work. Of those five, which of them inspire you to live life in line with your values?
- Whom we trust speaks volumes. When things aren’t going as planned, whom do you place your trust in? Where do you find rest when the circumstances around you are going haywire?
Embracing Struggle
- Embracing Struggle: What is the primary source of struggle, resistance or challenge in your life right now? Address this issue in the context of each of the Lifetime Value Categories: Example: Familial Life: My sister in law is creating stress in our home because of the choices that she makes… Example: Recreational/ Social Life: I never have enough time to spend with friends. I have lost touch with several…
- By choosing to embrace struggle, we bring about opportunity for growth. Consider a current struggle or conflict area in your professional life. Take a few minutes to write out the nature of this struggle. Then consider your ideal response the next time this conflict comes up.
- In nature, we encounter a challenge or struggle, adapt, and move forward. List 3 of the greatest battles you are facing with your body. Take one of those battles and envision what complete success would look like in it.
- Family matters can offer us some of our greatest challenges. Reflect on a hard conversation you are in the midst of with a family member or close friend. What is making it so hard? What would the greatest outcome be, from your perspective? How about the greatest outcome from their perspective?
