10 INSIGHTS FOR LIVING A GREAT LIFE
I’ve been privileged to spend over 18 years in the life coaching industry with New Insights.
I remain as passionate about what we do today as I ever was—perhaps even more so, as the relevance of life coaching continues to increase exponentially.
The demands, stresses, and strains of modern-day living are leaving more and more people disillusioned and searching for ways to live a better life.
In my opinion—and despite many hyped up marketing claims to the contrary—there are no effective shortcuts.
The answer is not to be found in an Internet search or an AI generated response to a prompt.
It is to be found in the amazing journey of self-discovery and growth that only a programme of transformational life coaching can truly offer.
To whet your appetite, I have taken my 18 years of experience in this field and carefully distilled what I believe are 10 insights for living a great life.
1. Live and Let Live
Life is for living. You have the precious gift of free will, don’t waste it. Give free rein to your creativity in living the life you love. Try new things, visit new places, experiment, keep an open mind, and above all, have fun.
There’s just one simple caveat. Take great care not to infringe on, or detract from, the right or ability of others to do the same.
Use this principle as a test before plunging headlong into actions and behaviours that, while seemingly enticing, cause others inconvenience or even pain.
2. Live Purposefully
There is nothing more rewarding, fulfilling and motivating than living with purpose, even if that purpose is as simple as maximising your happiness.
Make it your mission to identify the purpose for your time on earth. And if you don’t believe in the concept of a pre-determined life purpose, then decide on one anyway after visiting the principle in point one again.
3. Know Yourself, Love Yourself
Make a concerted effort to get to know, understand and appreciate yourself deeply. Becoming genuinely self-aware takes time, effort and honest reflection.
Most are so focused on presenting a suitable perception of themselves to their external world, and so consumed with how others react, that they miss the opportunity to explore—and ultimately come to love—who they really are.
4. Put Yourself First
If you’ve ever travelled by plane, you’ll know the advice in the safety brief: If an emergency causes oxygen masks to drop, always be sure to fit your own properly before helping others.
To be at your most effective when it comes to helping those around you—or leaving an enduring and positive mark on this world—you have to be at the top of your game.
If you are so busy attending to the needs and wants of others that you neglect to invest in your own physical, mental and spiritual health, your achievements will be suboptimal and short-lived.
Putting yourself first is not a selfish act unless you intend it to be. On the contrary, it is the way to ensure that you can give the world the very best of what you have to offer.
5. Take Full Personal Responsibility for Your Life
When you consciously decide to take full responsibility for your life, you take a vital step on the path towards personal freedom.
Life is challenging. When you embrace challenge as the facilitator of your growth and development, rather than resist it as an uncomfortable inconvenience, your life will take on a new dimension.
Embracing challenge means stretching yourself, learning from the outcomes of the choices you make, taking on exciting new challenges and becoming a better person.
By resisting challenge, and finding scapegoats for your lack of growth, you will continue to attract more of that which you resist and point fingers about.
6. Have the Courage to Take Action
Life will always seem hard until you learn to live proactively. Problems confronted timeously and thoughtfully are like speed bumps in the road. They serve to slow your progress temporarily while you overcome them.
But problems that are ignored or procrastinated about grow into great sinkholes in the road that halt your progress indefinitely and require far more serious effort to resolve.
7. Direct Your Own Play
The reality that you associate with the external world is determined by the person you are, what you value, what you believe, and how you approach life. Your external world impacts you in the manner—and to the extent—that you allow it to.
Understand that you are not defined by the world around you but rather by the way you choose to interpret your relationship with it.
You can choose the reality of an actor, acting out the script of a play that is written and directed by others. Or you can choose the reality of a director, designing the play to suit your own personal vision.
8. Cultivate an Opportunity Mindset
Sadly, in the modern world, most people are fixated on problems and finding solutions to those problems.
Ask any marketer worth their salt what they do, and they’ll tell you they identify common problems and find creative ways to position their products as the ‘perfect’ solutions.
But as life coaches know, the flipside of every problem is an opportunity. And opportunities are far more exciting and energising to contemplate and work with than problems.
It takes some practice, but once you begin to recognise that every problem is an opportunity in disguise and you become an expert and identifying, clarifying and exploiting opportunities, life becomes so much more vibrant and fulfilling.
It's a mindset thing.
9. Step into the Shoes of Others
Those who claim to know and teach the absolute truth are either deluded or seeking control over others. Control is always temporary and builds resentment, distrust and intolerance.
What really counts is an appreciation for the fact that truth is relative. It differs from person to person, as each person is unique and therefore holds their own unique perspective on the world around them.
Be authentic in applying this knowledge in your dealings with others, by metaphorically ‘stepping into their shoes’, or trying to see the world through their eyes. In this way, you will gain their respect, trust and attention.
Efforts to build rapport always bring mutual benefits. Those who feel that you are making an effort to see things from their perspective are far more likely to extend the same courtesy to you.
10. Promote Fair Exchange
Much that is wrong with this world can be attributed to greed and self-interest. These result in transactions between people and groups that are deliberately manipulated to cause a win-lose exchange.
Fair exchange is characterised by transactions in which both, or all parties, perceive that the value they are receiving is equivalent to, or greater than, the value they are giving.
This needs careful thought to be fully appreciated. But the principle of fair exchange, if authentically applied by governments, businesses and individuals alike, is a sure-fire recipe for growth, happiness, and sustainability.
