When our life is approaching its final moment, I believe a natural thing to do would be to assess our life as it has been. We would reflect on all our life experiences, all the things we have seen and done, and the choices we have made. We will watch the trailer of our own life movie, recalling images and scenes from events in our lives. We will reflect on the good times, the bad times, the sad times and the happy times. We will look back on the emotional highs and lows of life and everything in between.
I’m sure we will ask ourselves many questions. What if I had done things differently, reacted differently, or said things differently? Did I do things I shouldn’t have done? Did I not do some things I should have done? What if I had made decisions and choices opposite of the ones I actually made? How different would my life be today?
Would you be living in the same city even the same country? Would you be employed in the same line of work? Would you have chosen the same spouse and have the same family? If you had exercised more, eaten better would your health problems not occurred? You would celebrate some of your choices, and regretted others.
Your life thus far is a direct result of the choices you have made. When you reflect back up on our life, it would be natural to re-evaluate those choices, and wonder what your life would be like if you had made other choices other than the ones you actually made?
Finally at the end of your time here, you would reflect back up on your life and gaze into your own autobiography. Do you see that person you’ve always wanted to be? Is your family situation what you wanted it to be or what you thought it would be? Are you happy or sad with the choices you’ve made and the results of the outcome?
Why wait till your time here is nearly over. I would say to you this is the only life you will ever have. You have a chance right now to get it right. So many of us fear to step up, to test ourselves. When it comes to our dreams and ambitions. Deep down we know we have the ability to do more, achieve more, become more. We are afraid of change. Don’t leave it until it’s too late, and get to the end of your life with doubts or regrets about how you lived your life.
The one question you certainly will ask at the end is, did you do everything you could do, to make the most fulfilling and productive life it could have been?
So why not ask yourself now, is your life what you want it to be? Start thinking about your life today, what are you’re doing, not doing, hoping for, dreaming of, planning to do?
Do your days feel like they’re running together, with so much to do and not enough time to do it all. Are you excited by your life or bored to death with your current situation. Despite the appearance of so much personal achievement, are you unhappy because your life is busy but empty, with no feeling of personal fulfilment, working hard to make others happy, at the expense of your own happiness. Are you always juggling, handling an extraordinary number of concurrent activities and tasks. Have you ever felt as though you were just going along on this journey we call life on autopilot? Day by day, week by week, year by year…
If your life seems unfulfiling, sometimes it’s just a matter of taking a step back. Take the opportunity to re-evaluate your life. To know where you’re headed and what you want now that you have the time to make other choices. What are you going to do and who are you going to be doing it with? You have the power to create the life circumstances you desire. We are not stuck where we are. Choice is always available. You just need to re-evaluate some of your choices.
Just take some time off to re-evaluate your life. Here are some areas to look at:
- Health
- Work or Career
- Money
- Home
- Relationships
- Family
- Spirituality
- Education
- Time
- Emotions
- Greater Contribution
One of my favourite exercises that I use in my role as a life coach, provides you with a wonderful tool to re-evaluate your life.
Look ahead and ask yourself what do you want your life to look like five or ten years from now (your ideal scenario; dare to dream!)?
- Where are you?
- What are you doing?
- Who is there with you?
- What are you most excited about?
- What was your greatest achievement?
- What was your greatest challenge and how did you handle it?
Next, come back in your mind to today, and using the knowledge of where you want to be five to ten years ahead, ask yourself these questions:
- Is the path that you’re currently on going to get you there?
- If not, how do you need to be different in order to get there?
- What do you need more of in your life in order to achieve your goals and how will you ensure that you get it?
- What do you need less of in your life in order to get there and what changes will you make to ensure your success?
So if a major life overhaul is in the air for you, make a start today!
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You had a post about a memory board, would you see yourself being able to use that with these points?
Absolutely SJ. When I first started putting together my first vision board, it materialised into what i would now describe as a ‘treasure map’. It got me to see what i really wanted in my life, and helped me to take drastic steps. Infact it showed me that the ladder i’d been climbing was up against the wrong wall. Which believe me was a big eye opener, but my vision board put me on the right path.
Sometimes though, where you would like to be in 5 or 10 years may not be a realistic goal. It may be a dream, and one worth working towards, but in your heart you know that the chances of reaching it are slim. I am a very driven, disciplined woman with many short and long term goals. Some of which are attainable, and others that are in my mind to keep me going although I know that I will never be able to achieve them, only because of the path our life has taken. I am not resentful, nor angry at this. I believe that God has a plan for all of us and my plan unfolds a little each day. It is very difficult for us to ‘plan’, so to speak, because our lives are in constant change. Nothing is concrete other than the fact that I breathe (for the time being anyhow).