Been wondering how to always be right? Here are 3 steps for getting life right all the time.
3 Steps for Getting Life Right All the Time
“I just want to get it right!”
“If I can’t do it with excellence, I will wait until I can.”
“If I can’t figure out the RIGHT thing to do, I must be all wrong.”
I often hear statements like this from my clients. Like many people, they are sincere and just want to get life (career, relationships, stuff) right.
I love to share my 3 steps for getting life right!
Step 1
Beware of “Perfection Paralysis” (as one of my perfectionistic friends calls it)
While you shouldn’t make a life goal of doing a lousy job at everything, you become excellent at whatever you do by much practice. If you wait until you’re perfect, you won’t ever get started, much less arrive. Getting life right happens as you intentionally gain experience on journey.
Guiding principle: Anything worth doing is worth doing badly. GK Chesterton
Step 2
Beware of “The Arrival Myth”
You don’t arrive. I can remember being a young mother who was deluded by the thought that when I reached the ripe old age of 30, I will have arrived. I would have my stuff together, my family will be perfect, and I would be living a comfortable, steady-as-she-goes lifestyle.
In the 21st century, most people don’t get one career, one house, one set of interests and the settle down into comfortable mediocrity. Instead, the staples of life like career, living location, even church often shift many times.
Guiding Principle: Today, life isn’t a destination. As long as you are this side of heaven, you never arrive. If you surrender the Arrival Myth and make up your mind to enjoy the adventure that you are on, you won’t miss what God is doing in and through you.
Step 3
Live life “good enough”
So, really, you can’t get it right, right now and expect it to stick. You can’t do life perfectly but you can keep at it. You must simply do life “good enough”and learn to enjoy the process.
That doesn’t mean living lazily or sloppily, it just means that you can live life (career, relationships, stuff) remembering you are on the journey: there isn’t ONE place that you will land and then be “okay”, you must be “okay” where you are.
Guiding Principle: How do you do life “good enough”?
- Be thankful for what you have.
- Daily find moments of awe.
- Take care of what you have gratefully (your body, your soul, your relationships, your stuff).
- Handle your career faithfully and wisely, understanding that things will change. (Keep your LinkedIn updated and your resume sharp.)
- Always keep learning.
- Remember that service to others is foundational for success.
Okay, so there aren’t 3 steps for getting life right all the time. There are simply steps for living your journey well.
When you’re ready for coaching with a wise guide, contact me. We can talk in person, by phone or Skype and help you understand yourself/others and enjoy the fulfilling next steps in your life!