Optimize Your Life
Are you “working” for or against yourself?
Are you showing up for your own life?
What life experiences would you like to have?
You are the only one living your life. You are unique. No one else has your exact combination of skills, talents, actions, rules, values, beliefs, and way of looking at the world around you. Others may be similar, but there are differences. We are each dealt a hand. How do you choose to play it?
Shoshi and I recently ate lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and Nick G. was our waiter. He was so wonderful that I asked why he was so unique. His response was twofold. First, try to be a better you than you were the day before. Second, so many others are negative, and he doesn’t choose to be that. He chooses to be kind, helpful, and positive.
These two simple rules help him be uniquely him. He’s claiming his power and is the CEO of his own life.
The question for you is “what would it take to optimize your life experiences?”
It’s time to own yourself and your life experiences. You are the CEO of your own life. Think of your life as a company. As the CEO, it is up to you to set the course and make choices for the benefit of the company (your life).
Ten Steps to be the CEO of Your Life
1. Accept responsibility for your life. When you take ownership of your life, you quickly realize that you have choices and that these choices direct what happens to you. You are in charge of how you feel and since the Universe listens to your feelings and brings you matching opportunities, you may as well take responsibility so that what shows up will match with how you choose to feel. With your life, the buck stops with you.
2. Know what your values are. Take time to choose the top 5 values that you choose to live by. (There are great lists online to help you with knowing what values are available.)
3. Write the rules you choose to live by. Phrase it in a positive way asking for what it is you truly desire. Drop the word “not.”
For example, if you have the belief that “nothing ever goes your way,” it may be time for an upgrade in your rules. Play with the wording until you have a rule that works for you.
A favorite of mine is “something even better is coming my way.” This gives a little wiggle room to allow for something to not go “my way” AND to know that this is good because something better is coming.
4. Live with intention. Before you do anything, choose what it is you would like to happen and what benefit you would like to get from doing that thing. Show up intentionally. (This is similar to having a plan or a mission without having to know how it will get done, just that it will be done.)
5. Feel the feeling. After you set your intention and before you do the action to get there, choose the feeling you will have when you have completed it. Then feel that feeling now.
6. Take action. You will get nudges (also known as intuition) of what to do next. Do that. This is the “work” part.
Follow the feeling to the next action. Actively choose the next actions. This doesn’t mean plan everything out. It does mean that you have a general idea of what you might do AND you are open to things showing up differently. (The best place to be is totally open to following the feelings to the next action.)
7. Stop apologizing for everything. An effective CEO doesn’t ask his employees to do something by making himself small and apologizing for what he wants. He clearly asks for what he desires.
8. Be your unique you. Stop being average. Average only means that you fit in are like everyone else. To optimize your life experiences, you have to step toward your unique self and let go of trying to fit in. A successful CEO is willing to fill a niche that isn’t being serviced. You being you (in your best form) is the niche you are filling.
9. Know your natural skills. Take inventory of what you are good at and enjoy. Then do more of that.
10. Fill in what you don’t know. No one knows everything. No one can do everything. Either learn what you don’t know or ask for help.
To optimize your life, it’s up to you to be your unique self. I give you permission to be you. Now, who do you choose to be to optimize your life?