Everything in life is a choice.
How do you make your choices? What are they based on?
When we are clear about what is most important to us, we can make choices that are aligned with what we want in our lives. Guiding principles help keep us focused throughout the year and give us a foundation to determine the choices we make every day. It is through those daily choices that we build our lives.
Here’s a quick visualization exercise you can try to help you create your guiding principles. Journal about the following:
Imagine yourself one year into the future reading from your journal and reflecting back on how you lived your life. As you are reading your journal, you noticed that everything in your personal and professional lives went exactly as you would have liked. You lived by the values that were important to you, your life was balanced and focused on your highest priorities, and you achieved everything you wanted.
Now, respond to the following questions.
- During that year, what did you value most? What were your top three priorities?
- How did you feel and what were the results when you focused on what was most important to you (e.g., in control, fulfilled, challenged, loved, secure, etc.)?
Now elevate your responses to a thematic level, and create your guiding principles using the format below.
I believe that……..and I am committed to……..so that I can……..
Here are some of my guiding principles.
I believe that family is my most important priority, and I am committed to building a relationship with every immediate family member so that I can grow, share, and experience life with them to the fullest.
I believe that living a balanced life will enable me to be a better person, friend, family member, athlete, and business owner, and I am committed to taking care of myself physically, spiritually, and mentally so that I can live a long and prosperous life fully enjoying every moment, person, and being in it.
I believe that life should be lived with passion, and I am committed to traveling and exploring, climbing, meeting new people, and serving others so that I can experience everything that life has to offer and share in its beauty.
This is a great time of year to reflect and to renew, and guiding principles will help you make choices aligned with what you want to create for your life.