Better Because…

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Better Because…You Choose

For over 25 years, we climbed the corporate ladder in Fortune 100 companies like Best Buy and General Electric and were fortunate to attend top-rated training and executive leadership programs.  After leaving behind our corporate lives, we realized that these same tools we used to achieve success in business also worked just as well for life in general.

So we’ve picked the best of what we learned along the way – from executive coaches, close friends and family – and are happy to share it with the PickTheBrain audience.

THREE CORE BELIEFS

FIRST. Life Is What You Think.

Consider this saying from the Mahatma Ghandi:

Let your thoughts be positive

For they will become your words.

Let your words be positive

For they will become your actions.

Let your actions be positive

For they will become your values.

Let your values be positive

For they will become your destiny.

Our thoughts influence our actions, which determines results.   As we’ve learned from our parents, positive thoughts lead to inspired actions, which can lead to better results.

So, remember this:  Thoughts + Actions = Quality of Life

You’ve probably heard this before, but it’s a good reminder. If we are to make the world better, it begins with how we think.

SECOND. Life Cycles.

Life is not a straight line, it’s more like a series of circles that go around and around, up and down, similar to a spring.

This is a natural cycle in life.   Every year, we have four seasons – the Fall is when trees shed their leaves and in the Winter, there is a period of dormancy (some animals hibernate).  Then, Spring is a renewal and Summer is a period of full bloom.

Some periods of time days are filled with questioning, which builds into creative thinking, which leads to inspired action. All, the doldrums can set in again, where we can languish… until we start questioning, which builds into creative thinking, which takes us once again to inspired action.

This is where positive thinking and actions have an influence on the quality of your life.

THIRD. Life’s A Gem.

Most of us get caught in some sort of tunnel-vision. Work, work, work. Or, everything for the kids. Or totally sports.

But in reality, life has many facets. Here are seven that seem to cover everything.

• Health
• Wealth
• Wisdom
• Work
• Play
• Others
• Service

Keep all facets in full perspective all the time, and you’ll see your life as a sparkling gem.

These three core beliefs drive the Better Because movement.

In order to inspire positive change through our individual actions, we try to be conscious of our thoughts, aware of life cycles, and sensitive to the phase we are in at any given time.

You have the ability to choose your actions every day.  Whether it’s something as simple as if you will exercise today, or making longer-term life decisions, you’re the one who makes the choices, and takes the action.

Most of us have one facet of our life to pay attention to and work to be more balanced.

What choices will you make today?

What facet of your life do you need to pay more attention to?

Try This: Make 2 columns, one marked “Good Job” and one marked “Area of Focus”.   Review the 7 facet of life (Health, Wealth, Work, Play, Service & Others) and decide which column each of them fall under.  Decide what you can do today on one of “Area of Focus”to make life a little better.

Make it fun to do…consider how you might feel if you accomplished your small action today and stayed focused on it, until you were satisfied.   Go for it!

Cathy Haffner and Ginny Hutchinson are co-founders of Better Because, a positive media company, whose mission is to make life a little better.  They are successful Fortune 100 executives now in their Second Act, who learned valuable (and humorous) lessons from their careers, 20-year marriages, and their children.  Their new book, Better Because of You, is a top seller and essential reading for a better life!

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