Are You Doing the Right Things in Life?

Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things. - Peter Drucker

Before you find out whether you are doing the right things or no, find out the things that are important in your life and also your goals and aspirations. It goes without saying that your health, family, career, money, friends and happiness mean a lot to you. Your goals and your purpose in life are tie with things that you are good at. Perhaps you want to write a few inspiring books if you are at words. As a person good in analyzing figures, you may want to be an accountant.    

How do you find out if you are doing the right things?   

1.     A time to reflect: It is necessary to take time off to review your activities.  You can do it at the end of the day, on every Sunday evening, at the end of every month and at the end of a year. The purpose is to find whether you are spending time productively:

·        Doing  exercise

·        with family

·        managing your money  

·        learning  and upgrading

·        keeping in touch with  your friends and closed ones

2.     Before doing anything ask yourself three questions. What is your purpose of doing this? Are you doing it the right way? Can you do it in a different way to get a better result? By asking this question, you avoid doing things that are irrelevant and wasting your time. It is also for you to thank and make changes and seek improvement and be more productive in your approach.

3.     Are you living your own life or following the life of others? Do not worry about what others think of you. Live your life and do what you have to do. You have your dreams and purpose in life. The most important thing is to capitalize on your talents and do the best you can with what you have.  

It is easier to live through someone else than to become complete yourself.
--Betty Friedan

4.     Are you happy with what you do every day? It is an issue relating to your job and career. Is it something you enjoy doing? It is challenging enough to excite you and get you into the flow while at work? Are you able to unleash your potential capabilities?

5.     How do you look at failures and setbacks in your life? It is an opportunity to examine closely the situation.  It could be a chance for you to take the challenge, solve the problems and make progress in life or it could be a hint that you are heading the wrong direction.

Conclusion:

You are doing the right things when your daily activities are aligned to those things you treasure in life and are closely relating to your goals. You need to examine if you are doing it efficiently.

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

-- Mohandas K. Gandhi

10 Little Things to Do Every Day to Improve Your life

There are no little things. Little things are the hinges of the universe.

 Fannie Fern

These are simple and small things in life but when you do it every day, it will impact your life in the long run positively:

1.      Get up a little earlier every day: Early risers are in control of their life. There is something to look forward to and something to do every day. Early risers are enthusiastic to start a new day early. Are you an early riser?

2.      Read: Read a few famous sayings to get inspired and motivated. Read a chapter of a book to be thrilled, educated, or enlightened. Reading is learning and learning is the way to embrace changes in your life and stay ahead. 

3.      Exercise: It does not matter what you do such as walking or jogging. The most important thing is to move your body so that you stay fit and healthy.

4.      Work on your goals: Have you got your written goals? Are you working on it every day? How much you can do is not important, the most essential thing is that you must work on it every day. It is your daily habit that counts. Take one step at a time and do one task every day consistently.   

5.      Get the most important things done: Are you getting things done according to your to-do list especially the most important ones? Do not procrastinate because there will be more things to do the next day and you will never be able to catch up. Just do it.  

6.      Just be happy: Smile at people you meet. Laugh out loud with friends. Choose happiness every day.   

7.      Live in the moment: Like happiness, living life is in the present moment. You can feel it and touch it. Work with focus and play with total relaxation. To enjoy every moment is to enjoy the journey of life.     

8.      Appreciate: At the end of a day take stock of all the good things that have happened to you. In this way, you will live with gratitude and thankfulness because you will know that you are living in abundance.

9.      Plan for the following day: To plan ahead is to take charge of your life and reduce stress to the minimum. Get a to-do list ready for the following every day. Get organized and live an orderly life. 

10.  Drink more water: Avoid dehydration because two-thirds of human body weight is water. The human brain is made up of 95% water; blood is 82% and lungs 90%. Drink throughout the day to keep your mind sharp and in focus.

What other little things you do every day to live a better life?   

10 Essential Things to Do

There are essential things you should do so that you can be free, healthy, successful and, most of all, happy.

1. Exercise: Recently, a friend visited me. He told me, one day, a few months ago; he was feeling uncomfortable with his chest when he was with friends outside. It had never happened like this before. He was smart enough and decided to drive alone all the way to the hospital for a check-up. Along the way, his chest pain was getting worse. Finally, he managed to reach the emergency entrance of a hospital in town. Realizing the seriousness of his condition, one of the hospital staff told him to call home.  He dialled the number but he could not speak and so he passed the line to the nurse and he collapsed. When he was conscious, hours later with her wife beside him, he was told that his heart had stopped beating for a couple of minutes. He had a heart attack. The doctor who was attending to him told him that he must exercise regularly. Technically he was dead, at least for a while. Now he is living a second life. He is a lucky man. You may not be as lucky as my friend, but to prevent the worst from happening to you, be active and exercise every day.

2. Stop drinking and smoking: When you kick the bad habits you regain your health and save a lot of money. Your smoking habit also affects the health of your loved one adversely. The most important thing is that you prevent a tragic case of a fatal road accident after drinking too much. 

3. Give: Part of the money that you have saved from giving up your bad habits can be channeled to charity. Play a part and help others in need in whatever small way you can. 

4. Be debt-free: Curb your wants in life; this is one sure way to stay out of debt. Financial independence gives you peace of mind.

5. Hold on to your job (for baby boomers): The longer you work, especially doing things you are interested in and good at, the longer you can delay dipping into your retirement fund. Life is getting tougher and tougher. The cost of living is going up like nobody’s business and what you have saved and invested may not be able to cope with it. Keep your job if you are lucky enough to be gainfully employed.

6. Stay positive: Life is full of uncertainties and we may not get what we want to achieve in life. You need to stay resilient and be positive and strong. Look at the bright side of things because of tough times never last but tough people do.

7. Solve problems:  Take prompt action and be resourceful and confident to overcome each and every problem. Life is about problems or else life will be very dull and boring.

8. Be organized: Time is limited. It is necessary to plan ahead and get organized every day. The objective is to be productive, do less and achieve more.

9. Be creative: Be outstanding and be ahead of others by doing things differently. It is also necessary to be creative to solve problems at work and at home.

10. Be happy: You should be happy when you have done the nine things as mentioned here. After all, happiness is a matter of the mind. When you make up your mind to be happy, you are.

Do you have other essential things you must do? Please share with us.

What do you value in life?

What are the things that you treasure the most in life? I find the following essential to living a fulfilling life: 

• Time and life: As we grow older time seems to pass by much quicker. It is, therefore, important to spend time wisely. Live a balanced life by allocating time to work, take breaks, create, sleep, exercise and to be with loved ones. Plan and organize your day well. The most important thing is to live fully today because it is the only time you have the power to do what you want to do. It is also the best time to enjoy, not yesterday or tomorrow. Today is the only time that you can express and communicate with someone close to you. Yesterday is dead and gone and tomorrow may not come.

• Health and fitness: How well you live is measured by how healthy and fit you are. You work and enjoy more when you are full of energy and feel good about yourself. Your health is truly the most valuable thing in life. Without it, there is no fun and no hope in life.

• Hope and expectations: It implies that you expect good things to happen because you have set meaningful goals and you are working on it every day. Hope makes life worth living because you see a bright future ahead of you 

• Peace of mind and contentment: There are many things that contribute to your peace of mind. One of them is debt-free living. When you are in debt you will face all sorts of harassment from people who want to recover the money you have owed. People do not respect you any more and it affects you negatively. More seriously, you may end up as a bankrupt. The other thing is about wanting less in life and be contented with what you have. Less desire means more peace of mind. Peace of mind is also about not thinking of the past or worrying about the future. Live mindfully in the present and enjoy what you do. Peace of mind gives you inner freedom. Your mind is free from negative thoughts such as jealousy, resentment or hatred. Your heart is filled with forgiveness, love and respect.

• Relationships and connection: To connect and to be connected, to love and to be loved, to respect and be respected, to care and to be cared are some of the wonderful things in life. In the journey of life, companionship gives you the courage, determination and motivation to carry on living and hope for the best.

  

There is no mention of happiness at all in this article. In fact, happiness is there and can be found in the things you value the most.  When you get the most out of those things you value, you are the happiest person in the world. By the way, what do you value in life?

5 Most Important Things in Life

The most important thing is to enjoy your life - to be happy - it's all that matters.

Audrey Hepburn

There are many things in life we value. Apart from the air that we breathe in and we take it for granted, the rest of the things in life we have to nurture and take care. In life, there is always something to do, someone to look after (someone who cares for you), some money to spend, and some happiness to fill our time. These are some of the most wonderful things in life:


1. Health: Robust health and physical fitness is the single best thing that you can have in life. A healthy body is a single factor that makes it possible for you to make all other things to happen in life. Someone who has suffered and fortunate enough to recover from a serious illness will treasure and appreciate good health. You don’t have to fall sick to cherish good health. Just remember that health is the No.1 thing that makes life worth living

2. A great idea: An idea is the manifestation of your passion and interest. It is based on your imagination and the creation of thought. It is made possible because you have acquired vast knowledge and experience on a subject to work on. An idea is only useful when it is beneficial to others,

3. Relationships: It is between husband and wife. It is between parents and their children. It is also among friends, relatives, neighbors, and co-workers. Are you getting along well with others in your particular role? Success in life is very much dependent on the relationships with people that you come into contact with.

4. Financial freedom: It is actually a by-product of the idea created by you. Your idea, which is useful, brings success to others and in turn, they bring wealth to you. The outcome is that you enjoy financial independence.

5. Happiness: Yes, good health, a cordial relationship with others, and personal wealth do bring happiness to you. However, it is the happiness from within your inner self that gives you lasting happiness and peace of mind. You can lose your material possession but you still can make up your mind to be happy. You can be happy to enjoy what you have and to live in the moment to discover more happiness in life.


These important things in life are woven together; you can’t have one without the others. When you take good care of your health, it facilitates the creation of great ideas. You need the cooperation of others to materialize your idea. You serve the community well and in turn, you get more out of life to create wealth. Life is beautiful when you always make up your mind to be happy.

 This article is dedicated to Henry Zaini from Indonesia who inspired me to write this post.