Simple Life Habits

Everyone needs a personal life coach. We all need that mentor, guidance counselor, outside advisor to help us with how to see the world around us. Many times we have our blinders on and can only see one small piece of the pie. Coaches have the ability to see things from 30,000 feet while the best you can do is live on the runway of life. Personal life coaching can add many benefits to your life. Even the best in the world use coaches. Michael Jordan, Bill Gates, Brett Favre and many others all have benefited from having a coach. Many people do not even understand what it is. Coaching is much different then counseling. Counseling focuses on the past and tries to analyze all the things that have happened to you. Coaching is much more forward momentum focused.  The philosophy is much more about helping you get unstuck out of your rut and focus on the steps you can take to get your life moving forward.

I get frustrated at times when life gets in the way. Does that ever happen to you? Sometimes it feels like there is no time to do the most important thing. I read a recent article that stated that January 24th every year is known for being the most depressing days of the year. The reason for this is due to people feeling depressed over credit card debt from Christmas, the gloomy days of January, and not holding up to their New Year’s Resolutions.

Are you a control freak? I know i have those tendencies from time to time. Well, today I decided to resign from General Commander of the Universe again. Yes, I said, again. Seems somewhere along the way I decided to pick up the crown and cape and try to manage everything in my life. The funny thing is you can go days before you even realize that you are doing it. We really do make life so much harder then we realize. We lose the mental game every day and the downward spiral happens before we know it.

At the beginning of every new year, most of us make new goals and resolutions. We have a desire to be better and do bigger things. In reality we want to add hope to our lives that things can get better. John Maxwell once said, "Hope in the future gives you power in the present." I want to share with you a little exercise that has meant much more to me than any New Year’s Resolutions that I have ever made.

My Personal Year-end Review

I must admit a weakness: I love new technology. Since the first time I played pong on the Atari as a boy, I was hooked on games, computers and technology. While those things can be great to enjoy it still begs the question:  is our life really getting much simpler ? They said back in the seventies that computers were going to simplify our lives so much that by the turn of the century the average hours a person would spend on the job would go down considerably. The opposite has been true.

I have tried to do a Personal Extreme Life Makeover and let me tell you it doesn’t work. When you try to change all of the things that are wrong with your life all at once, you are doomed for failure.

We have a “bootcamp mentality” thinking that self-discipline all at once will get us where we want to be in a short period of time. The only way to get to where you want to be in life is by one small habit at a time.

I read an inspiring story this week that I want to share with you. Obstacles Welcome by Ralph de la Vega is a personal account of how a ten year old boy escaped Communist Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis and came to America with nothing. Today, Ralph de la Vega is the President & CEO of AT&T Mobility.

Early on in the book he talks about how out of the enormous challenges in his life came some of the best opportunities. He challenges the reader to look for and expect opportunity to show up in the midst of great challenges that you face in life and how you can truly overcome obstacles.

Today’s tips are not about how to better organize the garage or what you should do with your husband’s baseball card collection. I want to talk about you. Sure it is good to simplify your environment and the areas in which you live. Sometimes living in a messy environment adds to your psyche and can quickly discourage you. I want to talk today about simplifying life on the inside.  Which is the best way to simplify life in general.

You have heard it said that a bad habit is hard to break. So, how do you develop good habits? I think you need to first start with an awareness. We lie to ourselves more then any other person. In fact, there is a quote I heard once that really struck with me:

“Excuses are lies that you tell yourself.”

Are you using excuses in your life? Many of us think that good intentions will get us where we want to be eventually, but nothing could be further then the truth. Andy Stanley in his new book The Principle of the Path talks about this very thing.

I have always had a craving to be better in life then I currently am. Whether it is my walk with God, my relationship with my wife & kids, or just how I handle my time. I want to be better today than yesterday. Life can get extremely busy and I am always looking for ways to simplify my life.

That being said, I have tried many things in my life (most of which did not work). I have tried all of the gadgets and tested every theory imaginable. Everything I tried seemed to have a gap or just did not fit right. I used to chalk it up to a lack of self discipline and that I just needed to “try harder.” Have you been there?