Being your best

Are you being your best, and living your best life? You can, with a commitment to personal excellence.

But that can seem like a tall order (who has all the answers?), so let’s start with some simple questions to ask yourself.

“The key to wisdom is knowing all the right questions.” – John Simone

I recommend taking some time to answer these questions because they will quickly get you to the core of who you are and why you’re here. Who you are, and why you’re here, are the keys to a happy, fulfilled and purposeful life. When you know the answers, personal excellence becomes a part of you. It becomes important because without personal excellence, you cannot be who you are meant to be or do what you are meant to do…

Many people walk around in an unconscious sleepwalking state, unaware of who they really are, living day to day with no direction or purpose. They are not really living – they are existing. But is that what you’re here to do? Are you a sleepwalker, or are you awakening from your slumber?

Signs of being a sleepwalker:

• you are not aware of the big picture
• you are not in alignment with your purpose
• you allow your life to run on auto
• you engage in non-value-added activities (“killing time”)
• you are passive (playing the victim) or engage in avoidance
• you have difficulty finding time to do things you love
• you are not aware of your thoughts and emotions and how they can control you
• you lack motivation or ambition

More than likely, you exhibit some of these traits but I suspect if you are reading this, then you already have an awareness that there is something more to life. So before you do anything else, grab some paper and pen and find out who you are and why you’re here.

Ready? Take the time to write down everything you can think of for each answer. Please do not edit what you wrote or skip ahead. Take them systematically one at a time.

• If you had one year left to live, what would you do?
• If you had one month left to live, what would you do?
• If you have one week left to live, what would you do?
• If you had one day left to live, what would you do?
• If you had one hour left to live, what would you do?
• If you had one minute left to live, what would you do?

The answers to these questions provide clarity on your purpose, and will guide you on your road to personal excellence. They will give you motivation to act on your priorities.

It takes a certain amount of courage to answer these honestly! It’s tempting to answer with things that you think you should do, things that other people deem important (for example, a popular “must do” on many people’s list is to travel to…). But if you have other priorities, then putting “visit the Great Wall” is not honoring who you are!

Don’t be afraid or ashamed to list what YOU WANT. If you can’t be truthful with yourself about what you want, you cannot live the life you’re meant to live.

Once you’ve identified your “who” and “why”, you will know what you need to improve in yourself in order to achieve them.