Assessing your Lifestyle

Do you ever fall into the trap of thinking you have to wait until retirement to have your life be just right? (Of course, in retirement people often get bored.) This article is written to help you design your ideal life and stop waiting! 

Ask yourself the question: What would it take to have this (your ideal lifestyle) NOW, or this year? If that’s absolutely not possible (and it probably is, so look hard!), then you design a plan to reach that. 

Instructions: Print out the following, and create a picture of your ideal lifestyle in the following seven areas. Use the questions as a guide and also add your own questions. Assume money is not an issue (i.e. you have plenty.) You can worry about HOW to get your picture later. Now dream!

a) Self Care

How many massages per month? How much drinking water per day? What kind of body? Exercise program? Diet? How much energy would I have? How many walks would I take? How much peaceful time/fresh air? How much sleep would I get? How do I dress?

b) Home Environment

Where would I live geographically? Which suburb? Which country? House/unit? On the water? In the country? Friendly community? Climate? What would my bedroom look like? My yard? How tidy is the house? Do I have a cleaner? Someone who shops for me? Does the washing? What car do I drive?

c) Relationship

From your partner, do you want a commitment for life, or a commitment for now? What kind of commitment do YOU want to make? Do you want an exclusive relationship, or one where you explore other relationships? To what limits? Kids? What's your ideal sex life?

d) Friends and Family

How many friends do you want in your life? Do they drop by spontaneously, or set up weeks in advance? Do your friends know your other friends? Are they rich? Interesting? Creative? Warm and Open? Or busy and stressed? Ideally, how would your relationship with your mother look? Father? Siblings? (Don’t let your history block you here. Create the 'ideal' relationships!

e) Career

For this exercise, remember you don’t 'need' a career. Assume you have plenty of money, right? So in your perfect world, is there a job you would enjoy? What would you create or make? What service would you provide? What kinds of things have you enjoyed in past careers, or what do you think you would be good at? What kind of people would you work with? What hours would you work? Work from home or in a really funky office building with a slide down the middle?

f) Enjoyment

What do you do in your ideal lifestyle? Garden? Paint? Fish? When you gather with friends or family, what do you do? Do you travel? Where? How often? What do you do when traveling?

g) A Cause/Purpose

If the rest of your life was perfect and handled, to whom would you contribute? To your family? The environment? The Community? Child abuse victims? Politics? What do you strongly believe in? What do you love? What do you hate? How would you contribute? Donate money, time, brain power? What legacy would you like to leave behind when you die?

The first, and most important step, is to create the picture. This alone increases the chance of it happening without you doing anything. However, if you're willing to take action, and are up for the game of creating your perfect lifestyle, then:

·          pick an area to start on

·          write the top ten actions required to handle that area

·          do two this week!

Used with permission. Copyright 2001-2004 LifeCoachingResource.com David Wood is a personal and business coach, and an original founder of the International Coach Academy.