40 Tips to Enhance Your Life

We are at the mid-point of the year – which for me means a time to reassess and figure out where I am. Am I where I want to be? Am I heading in the right direction? Are we meeting our corporate goals? Am I meeting my personal goals?

As long as I can remember, my father has shared and sent my sister and me newspaper articles, quotations, and otherwise bits of information. This started when we were children; and now, at age 86 (my father) and 53 (me), he still selflessly and conscientiously teaches, shares, and helps me become the best person I can be. So, this month, in honor of Father’s Day, I am sharing one of the most recent gifts my father sent us. It may appear simple and basic; yet, the hard stuff is almost always the ‘simple stuff’.

The source of this list was our church bulletin, and was written by a woman named Lauren English. These are wonderful tips for us to print out – post on our bulletin boards, fridge, or screen savers. I am a believer that by seeing them and reading them – early and often – they seep into our consciousness whether we realize it or not. This particular list is divided into 4 focus areas; the tips that resonated with my stage in life right now, I have highlighted in bold.

My dad (and my mom for that matter) truly do live these suggestions. Sure, they are human and make mistakes like everyone…yet, I can honestly say that they do their best to abide by these suggestions which I believe is why at 86 and 85, they are healthy, happy, in love, successful by all metrics, and truly ‘aligned’ in life and to their Higher Power.

Health:

1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees, and less food made in plants.
4. Live with 3 E’s – Energy, Enthusiasm, and Energy.
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games.
7. Read more books than you did in 2014.
8. Sit in silence for 10 minutes (at least) a day.
9. Sleep 7 hours a day.
10. Take a 30 minute walk daily and SMILE while you are walking.

Personality:

1. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
2. Eliminate negative thoughts and things you cannot control. Stay present in the moment.
3. Don’t over do. Know your limits.
4. Don’t take yourself so seriously.
5. Don’t waste your energy on gossip.
6. Dream more while you are awake.
7. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
8. Forget issues of the past.
9. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
10. Make peace with your past so it will not spoil the present.
11. Smile and laugh more.
12. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:

1. Call your family often.
2. Each day do something good for someone else.
3. Forgive everyone for everything.
4. For a learning experience, spend time with someone over the age of 70 and under the age of 8.
5. Try to make at least 3 people smile each day.
6. What other people think of you is none of your business.
7. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Be a good friend.

Life:

1. Do the right thing.
2. Get rid of anything that is not useful, beautiful, or joyful.
3. GOD heals everything.
4. However good or bad a situation is – it will change.
5. Not matter how you feel – get up, dress up, SHOW UP.
6. The BEST is yet to come.
7. When you awake alive in the morning – thank GOD for it!
8. Be happy each and every day.

Last: Make it a great second half of 2015……we own it! Let’s make the next 6 months the BEST we can!!

Photo Credit

About the Author: Kristin Kaufman is founder of Alignment, Inc.™, formed in 2007 to help individuals, corporations, boards of directors and non-profits find alignment within themselves and their organizations. A prolific writer, Kristin’s first book, Is This Seat Taken? Random Encounters That Change Your Life, was released on 11/1/11 to national acclaim, and endorsed by Stephen Covey and John Maxwell, among others. Her second book in the series, entitled Is This Seat Taken? It’s Never Too Late to Find the Right Seat was released 1/13/15. It has already been endorsed by notables such as Marshall Goldsmith, Sean Covey, and Doug Parker, CEO of American Airlines. This book shines the light on late in life reinvention and encore ‘second half’s’ of diverse individuals. The individuals are in some cases widely known and others are somewhat  anonymous to the mass public. The common thread is their ‘post-50’ resurgence in life and in some cases their ‘fork in the road’ is quite serendipitous. Kristin’s third book, a sequel to ‘Is This Seat Taken?’ will follow later in 2015. Kristin is on Twitter as @kristinkaufman.