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6 Essential Waypoints to Live a Better Life

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In our previous Wisdom Note, we explored seven steps to destroy bad habits. These bits of wisdom help us to live a rich and satisfying life while creating a living legacy. If you miss any of our Wisdom Notes please go to the blog to catch up on previous installments.

As we head out on our trek for this week, we will be on the lookout for…

6 Essential Waypoints to Live a Better Life

I’m living a good life, but I can still do better. We all can. Every day is a series of choices. Today is the culmination of all the choices we’ve made up to this point. It is funny when we act surprised by how life has turned out when we ultimately made the choices that have led to this place. Like I heard an older person once say, “I would have made better choices if I had known I was going to live this long.” Here are the 6 essential waypoints that we can learn from to live a better life.

1. Rest

The Roman poet Ovid once said, “Take a rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.”

As our culture in the western world, we live at a breakneck speed. We’re going so fast we can’t stop until we crash. The statistical evidence of the negative impact stress is having on us is alarming. Stress is literally killing us:

  • Stress is the cause of 60% of all human illnesses and diseases.
  • 3 out of 4 doctor visits are for stress-related issues.
  • Stress increases the risk of heart disease (40%), heart attack (25%), and stroke (50%).
  • 40% of stressed people overeat or eat unhealthy foods.
  • 44% of stressed people lose sleep every night.

I could go on, but it’s too depressing. The reality is, none of this is new news. So why do we continue? We need to stop.

You absolutely must rest from your work. Schedule downtime into your day where you completely unplug from electronics and all the inputs that bombard you every day. Take time to just be still.

Get enough sleep. Well-rested people have better memories and learning ability, better metabolism and weight control, better moods and better cardiovascular systems just to name a few. Sleeping is like hitting the reset button each day. We start fresh every day after a good night’s sleep.

2. Reflect

Management Guru Peter Drucker said, “Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come more effective action.”

Few of us know ourselves the way we should. We are with ourselves all day long, yet we often can’t answer the question of why we do what we do. Or other basic questions like our true purpose and passions in life. Many times we continue doing the same things day in and day out, not getting the results we want, but for the life of us can’t figure out why.

It’s only through reflection that you can ascribe meaning to your experiences. Through reflection, you can better predict what will make you successful in the future. Without it, you continue blindly on your way repeating mistakes, scratching your head, and asking why, yet not taking the time to give a real answer. You can’t live better if you don’t know yourself better.

3. Build stronger, deeper, richer relationships

As Mother Teresa said, “Intense love does not measure, it just gives.”

We were created as God’s image-bearers to be relational people. Relationships are critical to our well-being. Relationships are the key to living longer, dealing with stress, being healthier, and feeling richer. They also help guard against decreased immune systems, depression, and high blood pressure. With all those advantages, why wouldn’t we want stronger, deeper, richer relationships?

Connect with others on a deeper, more meaningful level. It’s not without risk because to do so you must put yourself out there in an authentic way. However, authenticity breeds authenticity in relationships that are worth cultivating. To live better, invite someone to lunch, dinner, or coffee, somewhere, anywhere to connect. People are worth the investment of time and energy.

4. Forgive

Bernard Meltzer said, “When you forgive, you in no way change the past – but you sure do change the future.”

This one can be hard to do. But you remain in a prison of your own making, drinking a poisoned cocktail of bitterness when you live in un-forgiveness. Forgiveness releases you to move on. It doesn’t make the other person right, it just sets you free. Choosing to continue on in un-forgiveness shortens your lifespan and limits your opportunities to have an abundant life.

1 Corinthians 13:4 tells us, “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.” So, choose forgiveness.

5. Gratitude

Henry Ward Beecher said, “Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.”

Do you know what all people have in common that are able to endure seemingly impossible hardships? They’re grateful. Not for their circumstances, but for the good in their lives that they see more clearly against the backdrop of tough times and less than ideal circumstances.

Gratitude is a character trait that must be developed, not just a temporary state of mind. It has many benefits including building your immune system and guarding against the ill-effects of stress. Other side benefits of a grateful attitude are increased happiness and life satisfaction. There really is no downside to it.

Build grateful habits into your life. Each day, begin or end your day writing what you’re thankful for. This sets the stage for a positive day.

6. Get outside yourself

Matthew 6:3-4 tells us, “But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”

When you serve and give generously, without expectation of return or profit, your world is enlarged. You become better, live better, and fulfill one of your purposes for being on this earth because this life isn’t about you. It’s about your impact on your people, your community, and the world. It is living your legacy daily.

Along our trek for this week, we visited the six essential waypoints to live a better life. Next week we will explore the 3 Crucial Trails to Survive Major Transitions on Life’s Trek. In addition to our weekly Wisdom Notes, encourage your friends and family to also join us on our daily podcast – Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

9 Tips to Relax and Recharge

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Within our previous Wisdom Note, we explored part three of our three-part series Wandering in the Wilderness by Faith. If you miss any of our Wisdom Notes please visit the blog to read past newsletters.

In today’s trek, we will explore 9 tips to relax and recharge. Most of us realize that regular relaxation is essential for a long life and personal effectiveness. The question is, if we know that, why don’t we make it a priority in our lives. I certainly am pointing my finger at myself on this one, so let us digest these nuggets of insight together. Here are some techniques for relaxing that are used by the most successful people in our fast-paced society of the western world.

1. Take Time Off Every Week

First of all, work only five or six days per week, and rest completely on the seventh day. Every single study in this area shows that you will be far more productive in the five or six days that you work if you take one or two days off completely than you ever would be if you worked straight through for seven days. Of course, God was the original designer of this concept as it declares in Genesis 2:1-3, “So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.”

2. Get Your Mind Busy Elsewhere

During this time off, do not catch up on reports, organize your desk, prepare proposals, or do anything else that requires mental effort. Simply let your mind relax completely, and get busy doing things with your family and friends. Maybe work around the house, go for a walk, engage in physical exercise, watch television, go to a movie, or play with your children. Whatever you do, discipline yourself to shut your mental gears off completely for at least one 24-hour period every seven days.

3. Get Away on Mini-Vacations

Take one three-day vacation every three months, and during that time, refrain from doing any work. Do not attempt to catch up on even a few small things. If you do, you keep your mental gears in motion, and you end up neither resting nor properly doing work of any quality.

4. Take Big Chunks of Down Time

Take at least two full weeks off each year during which you do nothing that is work-related. You can either work or relax; you cannot do both. If you attempt to do a little work while you are on vacation, you never give your mental and emotional batteries a chance to recharge. You’ll come back from your vacation just as tired as you were when you left.

5. Give Yourself a Break Today

If you are involved in a difficult client relationship or situation at work that is emotionally draining, discipline yourself to take a complete break from it at least one day per week. Put the concern out of your mind. Refuse to think about it. Don’t continually discuss it, make telephone calls about it, or mull it over in your mind. You cannot perform at your best mentally if you are emotionally preoccupied with a person or situation. You have to give yourself a break.

6. Go For a Walk in Nature

Since a change is as good as a rest, going for a nice long walk is a wonderful way to relax emotionally and mentally. As you put your physical body into motion, your thoughts and feelings seem to relax all by themselves.

7. Eat Lighter Foods

Also, remember that the process of digestion consumes an enormous amount of physical energy. Therefore, if you eat lighter foods, you will feel better and more refreshed afterward. If you eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain products, your digestive system will require far less energy to process them.

8. Be Good to Yourself

Since your diet has such an impact on your level of physical energy and through it your levels of mental and emotional energy, the more particular you are about what you put into your mouth, the better you will feel and the more productive you will be. We know now that highly processed foods, carbs, and sugar are not good for your body. The lighter the foods you eat; the more energy you have.

9. Perform Three Action Exercises

Here are three things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:

First, plan your weeks in advance and build in at least one day when you will relax from work completely. Discipline yourself to keep this date.

Second, reserve, book, and pay for your three-day vacation several months in advance. Once you’ve paid the money, you are much more likely to go rather than put it off.

Third, decide that you will not work at all during your vacations. When you work, work. And when you rest, rest 100% of the time. This is very important. It is nearly impossible to do both at the same time.

I trust that you see the value and have enjoyed exploring these powerful and yet simple to implement tips that will help you and me to relax and recharge completely. I plan on putting them into practice, what about you?

In our next Wisdom Note, we will hike up an interesting trail to discover the difference between a legacy and inheritance. Encourage your friends and family to also join us on our daily podcast for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

How Heavy Is Your Backpack?

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Within our Wisdom Notes, we continue to explore our daily trek called life. The hills that we climb, the twists and turns on the paths that we face, and the steep slopes that we find ourselves on can be challenging and very interesting. If we are not careful as we trek through life, we will allow our backpacks to become full with cares and concerns that weigh us down and cause us issues. So, this week as we start up the trail let me ask you…

How Heavy Is Your Backpack?

Imagine carrying a backpack filled with rocks everywhere you go. Now that would be exhausting! It gives new meaning to the phrase “doing the heavy lifting.” If the weight of that backpack seems like too much to bear, just imagine the impact of the emotional baggage that we carry every day! Think about it…We fear getting fired, we complain about the service we receive, we express disgust over the politics of the nation, we envy the person “next door,” we worry about meeting deadlines, and we discredit our colleague for “stealing” the promotion. Emotional baggage? You bet.

Now ask yourself, “What do we gain by gossiping about a colleague, badmouthing politicians, or ranting about our frustrations on Facebook?” Answer: We get upset, with little to show for our efforts. It’s as though we believe that if we gossip, rant, and rave loud enough and often enough, people will accept our way of thinking. The truth is, besides being a colossal waste of time, nothing really changes — except that we’re not much fun to be around. Who needs that?

Even when we don’t overtly express our negative feelings of worry, prejudice, fear, criticism, guilt, anger, and envy, we play out these “dramas” in our heads like a chess master plotting his next few moves. These negative thoughts race through our minds like a whirlwind, making us more and more anxious each time we revisit them. In fact, some people get so overwhelmed and depressed that they worry themselves into a frenzy, making it tough to concentrate during the day and causing sleep issues at night. Taken to the extreme, emotional baggage can be absolutely debilitating if not controlled.

In days gone by in a labor-intensive society, hard work resulted in tired bones and sore muscles. In the Information Age, our bodies tell us that enough is enough by reacting with stress-related ailments ranging from headaches to backaches to anxiety attacks. And over time, these stresses add up.

The bottom line is that these “emotional tirades” are unproductive, unhealthy, and exhausting. They cause us to lose focus, snap at people we care about, and waste precious time because we’re stuck playing these ridiculous mind games. No wonder we’re exhausted.

Take a Load Off Your Mind

Here are some simple suggestions to reduce your emotional baggage masquerading as worry, prejudice, fear, criticism, guilt, anger, and envy.

Food for thought.

One of the first steps that people take when trying to lose weight is writing down the food they eat each day. It’s surprising to see it in writing and represents an important motivator toward changing eating habits. By listing the negative thoughts that cross our minds each day, we can use the same technique to reduce our emotional baggage.

Keep it positive.

Cautious thinking isn’t always bad. In fact, having some fear and worry keeps you on your toes, forces you to prepare early, and encourages you to anticipate future events by asking yourself, “What if?” That’s positive. On the other hand, when emotional baggage makes you angry, increases your anxiety, or overwhelms you, it’s a negative to avoid.

Is that a fact?

It’s very helpful to determine if the assumptions behind your fears, worries, prejudices, etc., are factual and realistic. When you’re tired, emotional, or stressed, negative thoughts can spiral out of control and ruin your day, even if the premise behind your anxiety is far-fetched. That’s a fact.

The sky is falling!

How often do your fears and worries actually come true? If they rarely come to fruition, why are you getting all worked up? The odds are that you’d have a better chance of getting hit by lightning.

Make it happen.

Many situations involve matters beyond our control. If you can’t affect the outcome, you may as well enjoy your day – because even a Herculean effort won’t make a difference. Therefore, if there’s a problem that’s waking you up at 3 a.m., and you can do something to make it better, even at that hour, DO IT. If not, it’s better to forget about it and get some sleep. Deal with it in the morning. And if it’s truly beyond your control, then all your worry and sleeplessness won’t change the situation. It’s time to put the worry behind you and move on.

Will it even matter?

Some situations appear larger than life, yet in hindsight seem inconsequential. The key is to gauge the issue beforehand. As a simple test, ask yourself whether you’ll remember the problem in a year or two. If not, it may be a trivial issue unworthy of your concern.

Break Free from Your Backpack

It’s unfair to assume that it’s easy to unpack the emotional baggage that we’ve accumulated over a lifetime.

Romans 6:8 tells us, “So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.” With this in mind, it’s vital to take control of our lives. But let’s be realistic.

The anxiety that we create in our minds is often worse than reality. We worry about impressing our friends when the truth is that real friends remain good friends in good times and bad. We worry about being late for a meeting. If we are, it won’t change mankind. We also get angry waiting home all day for a delivery person. And that too shall pass.

The truth is, in most cases, life goes on. You have the power to make yourself happy or miserable during your life journey. There are very few times in life when we hit a wall so hard that we don’t recover from it. So pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and move on. The difference is if you take a pledge to be positive, and start lightening your backpack, you’re going to lead a happier, healthier, more fulfilling life. When you change your thoughts, you change your world.

Let me ask you, “How can you lighten your backpack today?” We need to learn to travel light and to leave all the unneeded emotional baggage behind. Next week in our trek, we will explore wandering in the wilderness of faith. So, encourage your friends and family to sign up for our weekly notes and also join us listening to our podcast for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

7 Activities to Integrate Into Your Life

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Within our Wisdom Note today, let us consider the various activities that make up each day, if you are like me, you feel that there is just no way to add anything else to an already overflowing schedule. My question to you is “Are the activities you are involved in for this season of life congruent with your life purpose and objectives? Are these activities moving you closer to or farther away from your destination in life?” These are hard choices that you will have to make, and you will need to learn how to say no to the good activities so you can say yes to the best activities.

There are some universal activities or habits, though, that all of us should integrate into our lives to ensure that we are moving toward a life that is both rich and satisfying.

Consider replacing some of your less productive activities/habits with ones that have better benefits. This will allow you to create and live your legacy each day. Here are the activities/habits that I recommend.

1. Exercise

Working out is good for the body, mind, and soul. According to various studies, people who exercise 30 minutes a day, five times a week, enjoy better overall brain health, including uplifted mood, reduced stress, increased creativity, and clearer thinking. Exercise is one of the best activities you can be involved in to stay alert and alive. For me, the best time to exercise is early morning. I set aside about 75 minutes each morning for this activity. I do include listening to devotional materials, podcasts, and audiobooks into exercising to maximize the use of my time.

2. Hobbies

Have you ever noticed that some of the most productive and successful people also lead rather interesting lifestyles in addition to their careers? That comes largely from the personal pastimes they choose to enjoy. Hobbies are a good outlet for stress and an excellent source of creativity. Although I really do love work, I also enjoy renovating The Big House and taking care of the grounds. These are times of relaxing and thinking for me.

3. Learning

Success in all areas of life means fostering a love of learning. If you want to inspire a love of learning inside yourself, learn something new. With access to virtually unlimited resources through the internet, you are able to learn anything that you choose. Most people learn something that will be useful to them in their careers, but don’t limit yourself…a universe of learning is available at your fingertips. One study shows that a strong atmosphere of learning new things can help increase personal and business productivity by 37 percent. With online tutorials, web-based informational courses, and apps that offer assistance with just a few taps, you don’t have an excuse not to learn something new.

4. Meditation

Even if you do not consider yourself a person of faith, there are many ways to practice meditation. For me, meditation is praying and reading of Scripture, but for you, it may be something else. These practices can be incorporated into yoga, martial arts, and other practices for calming the mind. Meditation can help increase relaxation, improve productivity, facilitate creativity, and maintain your general overall well-being. It could simply mean sitting in stillness for 20 minutes twice a day, or leaning back in your chair, staring up at the ceiling, and forgetting the world for 10 minutes.

5. Service

If you’re losing sight of perspective and what matters to you most, take an opportunity to serve others, especially the less fortunate. Giving back to your community helps you think about things besides a pursuit of success. This will enable you to evaluate life from a different perspective. It is one of the best ways to put your life into perspective and reduce the stress that comes from constantly focusing on your own problems. It is even proven to be one of the most effective ways to overcome depression.

6. Reading

This is somewhat tied to point three on learning, but it can also be a way of relaxing and meditating. The best way to stay up to date with activities and information is to read. Whether you’re keeping up on the latest news, studying a business-oriented self-help book, or reading the biography of a successful person you admire, reading can help boost your creativity, improve your thought processes at work or home, and enable you to de-stress after a long day.

7. Family

Take a break every now and then to devote your entire attention to those you love most. For just a few hours a week, stop thinking about the things that happen at work or other activities, and enjoy what’s going on at home and with your family. Healthy, happy, and successful people understand that taking a break with their loved ones keeps them sane as they hike up the mountain of life toward their life purposes and objectives. Your family should be the most important aspect of life’s trek because they are the ones that you will ultimately have the most impact on.

Many of us, including myself, don’t take enough time to enjoy what God has so richly blessed us with. I am reminded of this in these verses:

2 Timothy 2:6 – And hardworking farmers should be the first to enjoy the fruit of their labor.

Ecclesiastes 3:13 – And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.

Within our Wisdom Note today, we located the 7-mile markers or activities that we should all incorporate into our lives. Next we will hike the trail that will teach us the 9 life lessons we can learn from the mountains. So, encourage your friends and family to join us, and make it a habit to listen to our five days a week podcast.