Tape Measure
When I meet people I always wonder how they judge their own happiness or success. How do you measure your life? Are you comparing yourself to your parents, partner, or kids? How about your boss, teacher, or pastor? When I look at life, I think in terms of three areas: my health, my career, and my relationships. I ask myself questions about what I want, what I had hoped for, and what I see coming in the year ahead.
When I rate my health, it’s in terms of my energy, supplementation, and the amount of exercise I do. These are my combination of factors that help to determine if I’m reaching my goals, exceeding them, or falling behind.
When measuring my relationships, I might ask questions like “Do I feel close to someone? How often and how well do we connect?” If you know the book The Five Love Languages, my top love language is quality time. I define that as having good conversations, and hanging out face to face with no electronics around. I love to be active but to me everything is more fun with someone you care about to share in it.
You don’t need a lot of friends to be successful, you just need a few good friends who like you and your messy parts. There are always going to be people who judge you and don’t like you. Trust me, the more public you are the more you will hear it. Even if you have a ton of raving fans, there are always a few who don’t think you measure up. It’s vital that you like yourself and measure yourself against what you hope for yourself, not what others expect you to do or say.
As far as measuring your career goes, some good things to ask yourself are: “Do I enjoy my work? Does it challenge me? Am I learning and growing? Do I love the people I work with? Do I trust them? Do I get paid a fair wage? Is there room for growth?” My hope for you is you’re always learning and growing in every area of your life.
How would you measure your health, your career, or your relationships?
What is one area you would like to improve?
What is one baby step you could take this week to move in the right direction?
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