As you think about planning your day, or week or year, what do you use to guide you?

                

   Is it habit?         Big rocks?           Purpose?         Values?

 

How could being conscious of your decisions or ways of being help you live the life of your dreams?                                  

 

Here are 3 tips that could help make choices that align with you and provide more peace and joy in your life:

 

1. Be willing to keep comparing and contrasting to get the clarity you want around issues, situations or choices. Don’t settle. Choose what you want. For instance, it can be around little things like what color to choose for your walls or purse. Make sure they make you “feel” how you want. For instance feelings that are important to me are joy, harmony, and inspiration. So as I’m deciding I need to feel inspiration. So I choose the red tie on the purse. It excites me rather than choose the “typical” brown one that you see on most purses. Your decision needs to light you up. If you making a choice about a job, then you must be clear about the qualities you want – values, needs and feelings. What I need is work that brings me joy, harmony and inspiration. I need people around me that bring me joy, harmony and inspiration. I can’t be in negative environments. If your needs are flexibility, freedom and power, then you must find positions and people that provide that for you.  Keep comparing and contrasting until you get what you want. Sometimes you don’t know until you are in the middle of something. Then, you can be clear, that is or isn’t what you want. But, what happens for most people is they stay there too long instead of realizing the negative impact it can have on you and your life. Use each situation as an opportunity to be more aligned for you.   Take the “good” you had to the next place. Stay positive, not bemoaning what you didn’t like. Honor the difference, because the contrast showed you more of what is true for YOU. The more you honor what you need and what’s right for you the better your life will be.        

 

2. Know Your Big Rocks. What are the values driving your life? For instance, Hobby Lobby and Chick Fil A are companies that close on Sundays. They are driven by Christian values and want their families to be able to attend church. That value is higher than the money they would earn that day. They are clear and at peace when those choices are aligned. Life is stressful and overwhelming when your choices and actions are not the same as your values.                          What is most important to you? Is it your health or making sure you are providing a safe or financially abundant life for your family? Then, make sure your decisions bring those outcomes. Who are the people that must be in your life to feel love or fulfilled? Do they know that, are you showering them with your presence, attention and time? Are you building experiences and memories with them?                                                                                                                        Decisions are not always simple but much easier when you are clear on your big rocks. Take time to list out your BIG ROCKS, then fill your world with those.

 

3. Add A Little Fun. Fun allows you to be healthier. It reduces stress and anxiety.   Fun allows you to have higher levels of energy and better connections to others.  Lengthy to-do lists and packed schedules can keep you from cultivating time for good, old-fashioned play.                                                                                   Scheduling a little fun into every day is an important way to cultivate good health and overall happiness.

 

So as you make daily choices for your life, allow these 3 tips to guide you to more peace and joy. The more conscious you are to what matters to you and how you are living your life, the more likely your life will be one you love.