This is the last of twenty articles about Your Best Life. I would like to bring the series to a close with some final comments, and a review that also serves as an effective index.

Assumptions

In calling the series Your Best Life there is an assumption that every reader is interested in and has the motivation, the dream and strategic wherewithal to craft a better life for themselves. These articles are intended to give the reader food for thought and perhaps some tools to assist. This does not mean to imply that everything is under your control, but as the following poem (from Article 11) suggests, we can make the big decision, choose the direction of our life, if we will.

In this life of trouble and strife

Where e’er the winds may blow

It’s not the gales, but the set of the sails

That determines where I go.

CAR Framework (Article 1)

Your Best Life has been organised around the CAR framework where C= Current Circumstances, A=Actions and R= Results i.e. C+A=R. Two additional  frameworks were mentioned indirectly, and they can add depth and further suggestions to CAR: (a) the five parts of what I called the CAR Bridge (from Article 19 – in the context of Features and Benefits) and (b) UP I CARE (from Article 12 – in the context of getting ready to Act).

Current Circumstances (Articles 2-10)

The most significant thought tool for Current Circumstances was the 6 S’s (Article 8), namely:

1. Your Seasons (also Article 7)
2. Your Settings (also Article 7)
3. Your Surroundings (also Article 6)
4. Your Self / Person (also Article 6)
5. Your Strengths (KASH – Article 4)
6. Your States

Careful reading will reveal other  tools, concepts and comments for Current Circumstances (Article 2 & 3), including Competency (from Article 5), the 3 Ring Circus, Your Seven Colours and Your Seven Days relating more to Your Settings (from Article 10). My own Current Circumstances were listed in Article 9.

Action (Articles 11-18)

The A=Action element of CAR was organised around the first three habits of Stephen R. Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, namely:

1. Be Proactive – Ready (Articles 11&12)
2. Begin with the End in Mind – Set (Articles 13-16)
3. Put First Things First – Go (Articles 17-18)

Additional concepts introduced included UP I CARE, definition of Emotions, and useful Virtues (all from Article 12); the 4 S’s – Survival, Stability, Success and Significance (Article 13), more on the 3 Ring Circus, and the elements of Happiness (Article 14), the meaning of End (Article 15) and suggestions for how to get ideas of Best Life (Article 16); 4 different productive uses for time – Projects, Routines, Appointments and Emergencies – PRAE (Article 17); how to multitask and an alternative framework for Your Self and Your Surroundings – PET ROCK to Belong to and Master (Article 18). 

Results (Article 19)

Results were considered in three parts:

• Desired Results (see also Articles 13-16)
• Actual Results
• Emotions about Results (see also Article 12)

Results from one CAR cycle become the Current Circumstances for the next CAR cycle. No matter what your Current Circumstances you can take Action for better Results. You can continue again and again, towards Your Best Life, if you will.

Points to Ponder

• Do you feel empowered?
• Do you feel hopeful? Excited?

Copyright © 2021 John Harris