“The key to success is to keep growing in all areas of life – mental, emotional, spiritual, as well as physical.” – Julius Erving
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/spiritual
How do you know what to pursue when you are setting goals? Should you only pursue those goals that provide you with the ability to make more money or should you invest in your time to your church, synagogue, or mosque? Should you spend time learning more or work more on your physique in the gym?
I recommend that you pursue a balanced life by pursuing the four areas “Dr. J” provides us in today’s quote. Dr. Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People agrees. We should learn new things (mental), cultivate and sustain relationships (emotional/social), pursue a life of service and goodness (spiritual), and build strong and healthy bodies.
We are all different. We possess certain skills and abilities. This characteristic is not limiting; it is liberating. We all have the opportunity to do great things in our lifetimes. We have the ability to improve our knowledge and skills, we have the ability to create, we have the ability to improve our physical bodies (regardless of age). We can also improve our relationship with our loved ones, future friends, and God.
When you begin adding to your list of goals, take a quick look at your list. Is it balanced? Is it pursuing multiple areas to improve, all of which are synergistic in nature? Some that can learn new things will always find employment or be enabled to provide for himself. Being rich is vacant, if your body is broken, you have no one to share your wealth with, and you ignore the finiteness of your life. At some point, you will leave everything behind. The only thing you will leave this Earth with is you, the toys, loved ones, things you know, and all the rest will be left behind. Pretty dark thought, right?
If you take any one of these areas and improve that while ignoring the others your life will be pretty vacant. I’m not suggesting that we shouldn’t specialize in areas where our strengths already exist. I’m suggesting that each area should have some of our efforts. This provides us with a balance in our lives and allows us the ability to truly live a rich life.
If you are healthy, your brain will work better and allow you the ability to pursue all of the things you want without limit. If you are intelligent, you can learn new things. You can also apply that knowledge to the other areas. If you have a strong social network, you will be more resilient when life’s “surprises” show up at your door.
Religious beliefs, in my opinion, bring everything together. Regardless of your path, believing in something greater than yourself, pursuing a life of love, charity, and service are valuable goals. This is also one area where improvement is not something you can measure. It is more about consistency and practice. If you are a Christian, your daily acts will be guided by your denomination. If you are a Buddhist, Muslim, Zoroastrian, Taoist, or Eckist, each faith has requirements. These requirements could be meditation, reading of holy books, celebrating certain holidays, and following certain creeds or rules required by your religious pursuit.
Each week look at each one of these areas and determine what actions you can take to move each of these areas forward. What could you learn? What exercise could you participate in? Who would you like to spend time with? What spiritual events are required of you this week by your path?
I use Sundays to take inventory. Then I set out and begin putting my week together, looking for opportunities to grow in each of these areas for the week. Nothing huge, just little things that move me forward.
I hope you are having a terrific Saturday! Enjoy your weekend!!
Until next time…
Dave
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