{"id":67366,"date":"2022-05-31T07:00:49","date_gmt":"2022-05-31T11:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=67366"},"modified":"2022-06-14T22:11:52","modified_gmt":"2022-06-15T02:11:52","slug":"how-to-live-your-best-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-live-your-best-life\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Live Your Best Life: First, Envision It"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Would you say you’re living your best life? If not, what do you think is preventing you? What excuses do you give yourself for not pursuing the things you want to do in life? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people feel frustrated and unhappy with some aspects of their lives, blaming outside forces. We all have excuses for why we can\u2019t do what we’d love to be doing. But our excuses are never really the reason we don\u2019t act; underlying those excuses are self-doubt<\/a> and fear of failure<\/a>. We need to shift to thinking about the inner resources we do have to start living our lives. The first step is to envision what living our best life looks like. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s some food for thought on how to live your best life<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Envisioning Your State of Fulfillment<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In his book The Big Leap<\/em>, Gay Hendricks offers some advice on how to live your best life, that is, to live in a state of fulfillment. The first step, he says, is to get clear on what that state of fulfillment would really look like for you. What\u2019s the driving force behind why you love what you love? To find your driving force, or \u201cpassion,\u201d ask yourself these questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. What do I love doing so much that I never tire of it, and that it doesn\u2019t even feel like work to me? <\/strong>Ponder this deeply until you have a clear answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. What aspect of my current work gives me the greatest amount of satisfaction?<\/strong> Here, Hendricks says that everyone has something. It can be a really small, seemingly insignificant part of your work, such as chatting with your coworkers. Once you find this, start putting a high priority on doing some of it every day. Think about how you generally prioritize tasks in your life, and whether you can re-prioritize to put these high-satisfaction activities above other lower-satisfaction activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. What special gift or talent do I have?<\/strong> This one may take some deep examination to get to. It may be an ability within another, within another. Hendricks describes it as like a set of Russian dolls, so he says you need to keep digging until you get to the foundational passion or gift. Use this example to follow this line of questioning:<\/p>\n\n\n\n