Slices of Hope: Design your own lifestyle
By Vincent Muli Wa Kituku
Sunday, January 4, 2009 12:00 AM PST
Forget New Year’s resolutions. Design a lifestyle you can sustain beyond March — the time more than 95 percent of all New Year’s resolutions have long been abandoned — a lifestyle you can sustain for the rest of your life, with the same enthusiasm, if not more passion than, you had at the beginning of the New Year.
While driving home from a conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, with my friend Dwayne Speegle, vice president of the Leavitt Group (an insurance company), we discussed the importance of being involved in physical activities one can participate in way beyond retirement age. Dwayne is an avid outdoor enthusiast. Be it biking, backpacking, hiking or allowing himself to be punished by the grueling Robie Creek Race, the toughest marathon in the Northwest, Dwayne is there.
That thought of lifetime activities was the seed of what I have encouraged thousands of people in my seminars to do — never limit their thoughts, plans and actions to what they feel like doing in the beginning of the year, but to extend the thoughts, plans and actions into lifetime involvement.
A few questions can get you started in creating the future you hope, plan and pray to have. Do you like what you are doing currently? Are you satisfied with your personal and/or professional relationships? Are you in involved in activities that bring you intangible rewards? What are you doing for your physical fitness, spiritual growth and financial independence? What have you done to adjust your attitude to that of knowing and seeing yourself as the CEO of all you do? What are your plans for developing your mental fitness by reading, attending workshops and having quiet time to think/reflect on a consistent basis?
Aristotle’s wisdom teaches us, to be excellent in what we do, we must make our actions habits, not onetime acts.
After working with people who are both fulfilled (making a difference in this world) and successful (having material rewards), I realized resolutions were not part of their personal or professional plans. They have a way of making decisions, believing in those decisions and acting on them for the rest of their lives in one way or the other. Decisions, belief systems and actions become habitual for those who want to excel in their life endeavors.
So where can you start?
You must empower yourself to be the CEO of all your decisions, plans and actions. You can’t blame others for anything you can control, starting with your attitude, being accountable for your actions and doing your best in anything you commit to do.
You must believe in achieving what you never accomplished and do what you have never done in the past to have what you never had.
To reach new heights of personal and professional growth, you have to set the bar higher than your previous mark, prepare your mind for the new life you envision and act either in new ways or by pushing your efforts harder than before, or a combination of both.
Develop new relationships, and downsize those that impede your personal and professional growth. The relationships you develop will largely influence the lifestyle you design for yourself.
You must resolve to make past disappointments and failures points of reference — but not stumbling blocks — that are between you and the best future you can possibly have. The past is un-adjustable, but the future is adjustable. Adjust it to fit the lifestyle of your choice.
Redefine what success means to you, but have a firm understanding fulfillment is achievable on a consistent basis, requires minimum effort and doesn’t have the subjective measurements we have for success. Plan to volunteer in community programs that matter to you.
Strive to reach new heights of mental power, the launching platform for great ideas and actions. A single book or a statement made at a workshop or class can change the course of your life forever. Invest in your mental growth.
Learn to use your non-talent attributes all the time. You don’t need talent to love life, do your best and contribute to other people’s successes.
Never underestimate what hope and faith can do in whatever paths of life you choose to follow.
Dr. Vincent Muli Wa Kituku is a motivational speaker and author of ‘Overcoming Buffaloes at Work & In Life.’ He can be contacted at www.overcomingbuffaloes.com or (208) 376-8724.
