Assessing
your Lifestyle
Do you ever fall into the trap of thinking you
have to wait until retirement to have your life be just right? (Of course, in
retirement people often get bored.) This article is written to help you
design your ideal life and stop waiting!
Ask yourself the question: What would it take
to have this (your ideal lifestyle) NOW, or this year? If that’s absolutely
not possible (and it probably is, so look hard!), then you design a plan to
reach that.
Instructions: Print out the following, and
create a picture of your ideal lifestyle in the following seven areas. Use
the questions as a guide and also add your own questions. Assume money is not
an issue (i.e. you have plenty.) You can worry about HOW to get your picture
later. Now dream!
a) Self Care
How many massages per month? How much drinking
water per day? What kind of body? Exercise program? Diet? How much energy
would I have? How many walks would I take? How much peaceful time/fresh air?
How much sleep would I get? How do I dress?
b) Home Environment
Where would I live geographically? Which
suburb? Which country? House/unit? On the water? In the country? Friendly
community? Climate? What would my bedroom look like? My yard? How tidy is the
house? Do I have a cleaner? Someone who shops for me? Does the washing? What
car do I drive?
c) Relationship
From your partner, do you want a commitment
for life, or a commitment for now? What kind of commitment do YOU want to
make? Do you want an exclusive relationship, or one where you explore other
relationships? To what limits? Kids? What's your ideal sex life?
d) Friends and Family
How many friends do you want in your life? Do
they drop by spontaneously, or set up weeks in advance? Do your friends know
your other friends? Are they rich? Interesting? Creative? Warm and Open? Or
busy and stressed? Ideally, how would your relationship with your mother
look? Father? Siblings? (Don’t let your history block you here. Create the
'ideal' relationships!
e) Career
For this exercise, remember you don’t 'need' a
career. Assume you have plenty of money, right? So in your perfect world, is
there a job you would enjoy? What would you create or make? What service
would you provide? What kinds of things have you enjoyed in past careers, or
what do you think you would be good at? What kind of people would you work
with? What hours would you work? Work from home or in a really funky office
building with a slide down the middle?
f) Enjoyment
What do you do in your ideal lifestyle?
Garden? Paint? Fish? When you gather with friends or family, what do you do?
Do you travel? Where? How often? What do you do when traveling?
g) A Cause/Purpose
If the rest of your life was perfect and
handled, to whom would you contribute? To your family? The environment? The
Community? Child abuse victims? Politics? What do you strongly believe in?
What do you love? What do you hate? How would you contribute? Donate money,
time, brain power? What legacy would you like to leave behind when you die?
The first, and most important step, is to
create the picture. This alone increases the chance of it happening without
you doing anything. However, if you're willing to take action, and are up for
the game of creating your perfect lifestyle, then:
· pick an area to start on
· write the top ten actions
required to handle that area
· do two this week!
Used
with permission. Copyright 2001-2004 LifeCoachingResource.com David Wood is a
personal and business coach, and an original founder of the International
Coach Academy.