Have You Got Your Life"s Priorities Right?
Some of the key areas of our lives include our loving relationships, health and wellbeing, financial security, career, and friends.
With these in mind, try this exercise:
At what point did you sacrifice yours? Interestingly, the life area often left at the end is one of the following two: health and wellbeing, or loving relationships.
Now think about it, have you ever just had too much work to do, that you had to cancel your arrangements with your friends, you missed going to the gym or you got home late and tired to loved ones? The question is, have we got our priorities right? A friend of mine recently recounted events of December 31st last year.
She was at work at 7pm and was the only person left in the office, slogging away, weighted down with the pressure of a heavy workload.
At home, her fiancé was waiting patiently for her, having prepared a surprise meal for her to celebrate the end of the year.
By the time she eventually got home the moment was spoilt.
The sad reality is that all too often we prioritise our work over our health, friends and relationships.
Just reflect for a moment, if I suggested having a monthly 1:1 appraisal and formal biannual performance review with goal setting for your RELATIONSHIP, how many of you would laugh at this idea? Yet it is common practice at work.
But then reflect upon your list - which went first, your career or loving relationships? As Abraham Maslow found many years ago, financial security is an important foundation for contentment.
It is hard to be happy when we're weighed down with the enormous pressure of paying the bills.
However, beyond a surprisingly low basic level of income, researchers have revealed that money does not make us happier.
But here are some facts for you revealed through the fascinating research of Positive Psychology:
The killer question then is "what DOES make us happy?" Researchers approached this question by seeking out people who were consistently very happy in their lives and looked for trends amongst these people.
Some findings emerged clearly.
Virtually every single person in the sample was in a romantic relationship.
Also, these people consistently had a good network of friends.
It appears that being social makes us happy.
So next time you are stuck in the office and you have a choice to make "do I stay here or do I go home?" consider going home.
All too often things that we feel we absolutely must get done tonight can in fact wait until the morning.
When you are living your final moments I doubt you will be saying "I wish I had stayed late at work more often," but instead will realise the importance of spending time with loved ones.
It is a life changing revelation when you realise that true success in life is achieved when you stop slogging away for the moment for when you achieve and are happy, and you start focusing, everyday, upon the things that make you content.
With these in mind, try this exercise:
- Imagine that an area of your life would cease to exist (i.
e.
you don't have friends anymore; or you don't have good health, etc) - Choose which area of your life you would sacrifice to retain the other areas
- When you are left with four, choose another area to sacrifice
- When you are left with three, choose another area to sacrifice
- Finally, choose which area to retain between the final two.
At what point did you sacrifice yours? Interestingly, the life area often left at the end is one of the following two: health and wellbeing, or loving relationships.
Now think about it, have you ever just had too much work to do, that you had to cancel your arrangements with your friends, you missed going to the gym or you got home late and tired to loved ones? The question is, have we got our priorities right? A friend of mine recently recounted events of December 31st last year.
She was at work at 7pm and was the only person left in the office, slogging away, weighted down with the pressure of a heavy workload.
At home, her fiancé was waiting patiently for her, having prepared a surprise meal for her to celebrate the end of the year.
By the time she eventually got home the moment was spoilt.
The sad reality is that all too often we prioritise our work over our health, friends and relationships.
Just reflect for a moment, if I suggested having a monthly 1:1 appraisal and formal biannual performance review with goal setting for your RELATIONSHIP, how many of you would laugh at this idea? Yet it is common practice at work.
But then reflect upon your list - which went first, your career or loving relationships? As Abraham Maslow found many years ago, financial security is an important foundation for contentment.
It is hard to be happy when we're weighed down with the enormous pressure of paying the bills.
However, beyond a surprisingly low basic level of income, researchers have revealed that money does not make us happier.
But here are some facts for you revealed through the fascinating research of Positive Psychology:
- Over 80% of students at Harvard University experience work debilitating depression at some point in their studies
- In less than three months, major events such as being promoted has little impact upon our happiness levels
- Thirty-seven percent of the people on Forbes' list of Wealthiest Americans are less happy than the average American
- Although the United Kingdom's GDP has grown significantly since the 1970's reported levels of happiness have not changed
The killer question then is "what DOES make us happy?" Researchers approached this question by seeking out people who were consistently very happy in their lives and looked for trends amongst these people.
Some findings emerged clearly.
Virtually every single person in the sample was in a romantic relationship.
Also, these people consistently had a good network of friends.
It appears that being social makes us happy.
So next time you are stuck in the office and you have a choice to make "do I stay here or do I go home?" consider going home.
All too often things that we feel we absolutely must get done tonight can in fact wait until the morning.
When you are living your final moments I doubt you will be saying "I wish I had stayed late at work more often," but instead will realise the importance of spending time with loved ones.
It is a life changing revelation when you realise that true success in life is achieved when you stop slogging away for the moment for when you achieve and are happy, and you start focusing, everyday, upon the things that make you content.
