Intentional Tuesdays

Are you going to make real progress in your life over the next year? The answer to that question will likely come down to your answer to this one: Are you planning to make a significant investment in yourself? Resolutions are great, but when it comes to making real change and achieving real benefits, what we need are investments, not empty promises.

The problem that I encounter quite often at the Life Design Center is that many people have a misunderstanding of the term, Investment. As a result of this, they fail to make solid investments in themselves. Let’s start by examining the elements of a true Investment. I think there are 4…

• Investments require intentional planning. Life is always happening and we grow from every experience. That is not the same as intentionally setting a goal and establishing a plan to achieve it. When we’re intentional about something it changes our experience of the thing, usually for the better. It’s the difference between...

A few years ago I changed the way I set my New Year’s resolutions and since then I’ve had a lot more success making them stick, and most importantly, making real progress. Here’s how…

Don't Set Goals.  Establish a Theme.

Goal setting is important, but also brings risks. We often overestimate what we can accomplish in a short amount of time. We also tend to set goals that allow for only two possibilities…total success or total failure. Personally, I usually end up with the fuzzy end of that lollipop. The biggest risk is that our goals and resolutions don’t make room for the unknown. We can’t know what tomorrow will bring, let alone 365 tomorrows. Our goals and resolutions need to be flexible enough to accommodate the uncertainty of life while still pointing us in the right direction.

Establishing a theme does this. Keep your theme short and sweet. One-word themes are my favorite. A few years ago my theme...

Ahhhh, spring.  The season of rebirth.  We gratefully shed those heavy winter layers in favor of something lighter and less restrictive.  For many, the season holds a tradition of "spring cleaning" where we go through our homes and rid ourselves of unnecessary clutter and accumulations.  The ritual is as much a mental exercise as a practical one.  It feels good to toss away our baggage and start anew.    

This year, while you are cleaning up your closest and your garage, why not take some time to set your entire life in order?  Wait.  What?  You don't know where to start?  Luckily I have a simple framework that will help you take inventory and get cleaning.  The idea is simple.  To guide you, we'll use five categories: 

• Health - What is your current state of your body?  
• Work - Are you doing work that allows you to meet your obligations while simultaneously bringing you joy?
• Relationships - Do you have...