I’ve been thinking about why things break down. This isn’t a random thought. As some of you already know, I recently came back from overseas to find my world collapsing around me.
Literally. Stuff around the house had broken or was in the process of breaking down, my car wouldn’t start, and in one day alone three of my transaction cards failed to work, one of which was swallowed by a dodgy atm the day after I got a new pin number for it.
As I sat there in my car penniless and paranoid that someone was sticking pins into a voodoo doll that looked like me, I got over myself and looked at the situation in a logical and coherent way. That’s when I realised some cold, hard facts of life:
Fact 1: things break.
Fact 2: they break for a reason.
Fact 3: you can fix them.
Which brings me back to houses. Like many things houses give you something to spend your hard earned dosh on instead of wasting your money on having a life.
For those of us fortunate enough to own one, we love our houses but imagine if you could have your dream house, one that’s the perfect size, suits your lifestyle and expresses who you are.
Say you happen to find a place just like it… EXCEPT that it’s run down and needs a bit of TLC. Do you take it or leave it? Let’s make things a little more interesting. Not only is this place potentially everything you want but you just won the lottery (go figure!), so now you’ve got all the time, energy and money you need to fix it up. You would have to be crazy not to buy it and give it a shot doing it up, right?
So you buy the place and you start to get a picture in your head of what you need to do to fix it up and make it more ‘you’. Next you figure out a plan, seek advice, get educated on the Do’s and Don’ts, discuss it with your loved ones, make those all important compromises and, finally, you make a start. Life is good. You’re living the dream.
Let me clarify something here: I’m not moonlighting as a real estate agent. Promise. What I am getting at is that our lives are like houses… which brings me to fact 4:
Fact 4: you can maintain things so they don’t break.
When we don’t do regular maintenance on our lives and give them a bit of TLC now and then, they get messy and run down. We then have to do some work on them to get them to function properly so they are how we want them to be.
The same as when you renovate a house, we have access to the resources we need to fix our lives. Rather than hammers and nails, we have our own internal tools such as life experience and our own values and skills to help us build a life we want. There are external tools such as self-help books and mentors offering advice and suggestions. If we are prepared to do what it takes to restore our dream home, then surely we are more than prepared to do the same to our lives?
When I sat in my car that day, I had to step back from the situation so I could see it for what it was: a wake-up call. I had been neglecting certain areas of my life. Incidentally, a few weeks prior to this event, I had made a New Year’s Resolution to get my finances in better shape for 2009… Freaky.
Anyway, what I’m suggesting is to step outside of your daily humdrum now and see what needs to be done to make your life better. Then get out the mop and bucket and get started. If you’re not sure where to start, seek help. Read a book or find a mentor. Whatever you do, just start. It’s your life we’re talking about.
So, without further ado, here are 10 ways to renovate your life:
- Focus on who you WANT to be, as opposed to who you SHOULD be.
- Know what you want to do with your life and act on it.
- Look after yourself (exercise, eat healthy, get enough sleep, socialise).
- Invest 30 minutes a day on self-improvement.
- Slow down. Give yourself time and space.
- Cultivate positive relationships (and listen to everyone – really listen).
- Find a mentor in those areas of your life you want to change (stand on the shoulders of those who went before you).
- Find a collaborative listener (someone you trust who you can meet with once a week for mutual support).
- To LIVE different, THINK and BE different.
- Start right here, right now.
Whatever you do, just start. It’s your life we’re talking about. Feel free to leave a comment.
Until next time, all the best to you,
Tracey
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