Last time we considered the second of our Action questions:

• What do you think about where you are right now? (Get Set)

I used the bicycle analogy noting that even if you want to move away from where you are “… without the front wheel you could go in circles.” What I was really saying is that we need to look forward, towards our desired Result.

So today we will visit the three questions we asked way back in our first article that are associated with our desired Results. Here they are:

• Where do you want to be at some point in the future? 
• What is the absolute best you can imagine for your life in the future?
• What do you believe can be Your Best Life in the future?

I must confess that I have trouble thinking about my life as a whole and asking those three questions. It is way too complex. I am reminded of the riddle that likens my life to an elephant: Q. How do you eat an elephant? A. One bite at a time. I feel I need to break my life down into smaller parts and apply those questions at lower levels.

One way to break my life down is to revisit the three-ring circus, and ask those three questions of each of the rings, of each part of our life – The Private Life, The Professional or Work Life and The Worthy Causes. Even then I am tempted to wonder if it would not be better to go even deeper down to what I previously called the Seven Colours / Seven Days, and ask those questions of:

1. Yourself
2. Your Relationships
3. Your Home
4. Your School / Education
5. Your Work
6. Your Money
7. Your Worthy Causes

Of each of these seven parts of life you can ask:

• Where do you want to be at some point in the future? 
• What is the absolute best you can imagine for your life in the future?
• What do you believe can be Your Best Life in the future?

And by “best” you can apply the four S’s from the last article, meaning:

• Survival
• Stability
• Success
• Significance

You can pick the word that best applies to what you want in each part of life.

But before settling on our answers it would be helpful to reflect on one more thing – the five answers identified as being associated with happiness and wellness that Martin Seligman has discovered as part of the Positive Psychology Movement over the last two decades. What are the things that make us feel happy or that give us a sense of wellbeing? Here are the five things:

1. Pleasure / Positive Emotions
2. Engagement / Flow
3. Achievement
4. Meaning / Purpose
5. Relationships

So when you think about Your Best Life, if you want happiness or wellness to be part of it (and who doesn’t), make sure that it includes things that are going to bring you pleasure or positive emotions; make sure that it involves things that you are going to love doing, where time seems to stand still and you are totally present in the moment; make sure it gives you a sense of achievement or fulfilment; make sure it involves things that you really believe in and that are meaningful to you; and finally, make sure that it includes relationships that really matter.

Points to Ponder

Describe:

• Your Best You
• Your Best Relationships
• Your Best Home
• Your Best School / Work 
• Your Best Financial Position
• Your Best Worthy Causes

Copyright © 2021 John Harris