What Do You Want Your Life's Message to Be?

Kitty Boitnott, Ph.D., NBCT, RScP

On occasion, you have heard me mention an online mentor of mine. His name is Michael Hyatt, and the last time I wrote about his work, it was in reference to his latest book, Living Forward:  A Proven Plan to Stop Drifting and Get the Life You Want. Michael wrote the book in conjunction with his coach, Daniel Harkavy. 

What I know from having followed Michael Hyatt for some time now is that he takes living on purpose very seriously. This is the second year, for example, that he is offering a 5-day course on 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever. I watched his free webinar presentation last week and was inspired once again. (I purchased his 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever course last year.)

As I prepare for 2017, I am consumed with the idea of habits...how we make them, how we break them, and how we can create new ones that can help lead us to happier and healthier lives overall. Mahatma Gandhi summed it up pretty well with this quotes: 

“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

I am also a fan of a man named Mike Dooley. Mike is the author of several books including Managing Change:  It Couldn't be Easier; Leveraging the Universe and Engaging the Magic; Notes from the Universe; and his most recent, Life on Earth: Understanding Who We Are, How We Got Here, and What May Lie. 

I have had the pleasure of meeting Mike and have an autographed copy of Leveraging the Universe as the result of my being in San Diego at the time that he was on tour and was scheduled to appear at a little local bookstore in La Jolla, California. How I got to meet Mike Dooley is a great story about synchronicities (coincidences) and how the Universe can, in fact, line things up to help make things happen in the most interesting and wondrous ways. The night I met Mike Dooley and got my book autographed was a great night for me. Hearing his story first hand was great fun, and I still have the photo that we took after I stood in line to get my book signed. I remember how tired I was that night, but you wouldn't be able to tell it from the beaming expression on my face in that photo. You would have thought I had met a rock star. (And in some ways I had!)

Both Michael Hyatt and Mike Dooley have interesting personal stories and backgrounds, but what they have in common is that they both believe that we can do whatever we want...we just have to know what that is. In Michael's case, his Living Forward book is about deciding now how you want to be remembered. In fact, the first exercise in his workbook is to write your own eulogy. How do you want to be remembered? How do you want your family and friends to speak of your after you are gone? It's important to consider. Too often, we shy away from this kind of exercise because it feels a little morbid. You don't want to tempt the fates, right? Thinking about your own death feels a little creepy.

But here is the cold, hard truth. None of us are getting out of here alive. We each have a finite amount of time on Earth.

It is up to each of us how we decide to spend the time we have here.

So, what do you want your life's message to be, and are you living your life deliberately with intention, or are you allowing yourself to get buffeted about by circumstances you perceive to be beyond your control? 

If you think you aren't made of the same stuff as Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. or Mother Theresa...think again. The only thing that makes them different is that they decided not to accept circumstances that were presented to them without taking some action to turn things around. They could have failed and we would have never known of them, but they didn't let the fear of failure stop them from taking action, did they?

Most of us stay stuck because of our fear of failure. We share a common terror of being made to look bad or being humiliated in public. Here is the thing:

No one ever died of embarrassment, and even the greatest disappointment can lead to growth and new opportunities yet unseen and unknown.

Mike Dooley is fond of saying that "thoughts become things." And if it is true that our beliefs become our thoughts which become our words which become our actions which become our habits which become our values which become our ultimate destiny, isn't it worth considering what our habits are and how they can enhance--or create limitations--for us?

That is why I have created the 7 Weeks to 7 Healthy Habits program that will kick off on January 2, 2017.

To learn more about it, I would like to invite you to join me for the 7 Weeks to 7 Healthy Habits Webinar on December 26th at 7:00 pm EST. To register (for FREE) click here. 

And if you are interested in any of the books I mentioned today's message, you can scroll down and click on any of the titles that you are interested in purchasing. The link will take you directly to Amazon where you can complete your order.

If you have questions, please let me know.

Until next time.