Published 7/27/98
Robin Sharma
Here are some suggestions on how to improve and enjoy your life more fully:
1. Find work that you love
Nothing complicates your life more than forcing yourself to go to work every morning when your heart tells you that you should be doing something else. Find work that is fun and uses your natural gifts. Wise people spend their days on pursuits that engage the fullness of their natural strengths. In doing so, they always meet with success.
2. Go on a "news fast"
One of the universal laws of the mind says that "as you sow, so shall you reap." What goes into the mind determines what comes out. Break your addiction to the news. The killings, the violence and the calamity do nothing to add to your inner peace. To simplify your life, spend the next seven days away from the news. Read great literature or listen to soothing music instead.
3. Learn to say no
The person who tries to do everything ultimately achieves nothing. What separates the peak performers from weak performers is that the first group says "no" to anything that is not important while the second group says "yes" to everything. Have the inner courage to say "no" to all those things you really don t want to do. As if by magic, you will begin to have time for the activities your truly value.
4. Connect with nature
Nature has healing properties. It reminds us of what life is really about and connects us to the simple gifts that we all, too often, overlook. If you are feeling the stresses and strains of modern life, just imagine what a daily walk through the woods or a weekly hour spent watching the sun set would do for you. Even growing a simple garden in your backyard will bring a wealth of benefits.
5. Laugh daily
Daily laughter will renew your perspective and rekindle the childlike enthusiasm that you may have lost. Most of us are too busy to laugh and too serious to smile. We have become caught up in our own sense of importance. We have forgotten to nourish the child within all of us who is just waiting to get out and have some fun. Never forget that children come to us more highly evolved than adults to teach us the lessons we need to learn. Study children. Learn from their natural wisdom. They will remind you that if you haven t laughed today, you haven't lived today.
6. Sell your TV
Do you have anything to show for all the time you have given to the box sitting in your living room? When you deeply reflect on all the hours, days, weeks and months you have given to your television, has it done anything to raise the quality of your life? While TV has some excellent programs, don t be a slave to it. Don t lose the best years of your life spending every evening on the couch.
7. Be silent
Silence is golden. In this crazy age we live in, the average person doesn t spend even an hour a month in silence. Yet silence renews us, it relaxes us, and it allows us to reflect on how we are living and make necessary corrections before it is too late. Get in the habit of taking daily "silence breaks." At the office, shut your door for 10 minutes, close your eyes and simply be still. It will be hard at first, but after a few days, you will find yourself feeling calmer and happier than you have felt in a long time.
8. Eat less
Benjamin Franklin once said, "to lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals." Yet in this age of over-consumption, we seem to have forgotten this simple piece of advice. Eating less will allow you to become healthier, more energetic and live longer. It is also one of the best ways to build self-discipline because you are not giving in to the weaker impulses telling you to eat more. Instead, you are flexing your willpower and doing what you promised yourself you would do.
Quotable Quote by Robin Sharma: The person who tries to do everything ultimately achieves nothing. What separates the peak performers from the weak performers is that the first group says "no" to anything that is not important while the second group says "yes" to everything.
Robin S. Sharma, LL.M., is an internationally known speaker on sales leadership, peak performance and creativity