{"id":2580,"date":"2023-05-21T18:59:37","date_gmt":"2023-05-21T22:59:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/3-simple-steps-to-living-your-best-life-right-now\/"},"modified":"2023-05-21T18:59:37","modified_gmt":"2023-05-21T22:59:37","slug":"3-simple-steps-to-living-your-best-life-right-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/3-simple-steps-to-living-your-best-life-right-now\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Simple Steps to Living Your Best Life Right Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Profit<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

\n

The weather was outstanding in the Northeast last week, and I decided to take full advantage by going to the beach.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thankfully, it\u2019s only a 5-minute drive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing like sitting on the beach in CT in early spring.<\/span><\/p>\n

I sat at the edge of the beach right before the amazing beach homes start.<\/span><\/p>\n

To my left was an outcropping of rocks ranging from a foot high to about 4 feet tall. I didn\u2019t count them, but there were probably 30-40 of them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two little kids, probably 6 to 7, were playing on them and having the time of their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Their mother walked over and asked what they were up to, and this was the response.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re two white tigers, and this is our home. This is the kitchen, that\u2019s the bathroom, here\u2019s our kitchen table, and that\u2019s the refrigerator. The bedrooms are over there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bear in mind they were pointing at rocks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you\u2019re the mommy white tiger, and you\u2019re going to go hunt food for us to cook.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When we\u2019re children, our lives are rooted in creativity<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Everything is possible, and we cast no judgments on our creation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It never crosses our mind that a rock can\u2019t be a refrigerator.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, if an adult or older child were to come along and say, \u201cIt\u2019s not a refrigerator; it\u2019s a rock,\u201d the little kid would look at them like they\u2019re the crazy person in this equation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our world is one of creation, authenticity, and joy.<\/span><\/p>\n

As we age, our creativity becomes silly, not practical, unrealistic, and \u201cyou don\u2019t understand how things work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019re told we have to \u201cbuckle down.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It becomes unsafe to create, which is a massive component of our authenticity<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

When our creativity is slowly wrung out of us, so is our willingness to be authentic.<\/span><\/p>\n

We develop the belief that it\u2019s not safe to be who we are and that we have to become who we believe we have to be so we can be safe.<\/span><\/p>\n

We drop our role as creators and take on the role of the chaser.<\/span><\/p>\n

We chase approval and acceptance from others based on what we believe will earn us approval and acceptance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We chase and chase and chase, and maybe, we earn approval and acceptance from others \u2013 and it feels fantastic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Until it doesn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cOne day your life will flash before your eyes, make sure it\u2019s worth watching.\u201d \u2013 Gerard Way<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Around the midpoint of our lives, we begin to feel like something is off and missing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We may have professional and materialistic success, but we also have a success-sized hole in the middle of our lives, and no matter how much we chase, we\u2019ll never fill it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Because we\u2019ve been running towards the approval and acceptance from others while simultaneously running from the one person\u2019s approval and acceptance we truly desire:<\/span><\/p>\n

Ourselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve created lives based on someone\u2019s blueprint and wonder why we don\u2019t feel comfortable in our own skin.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The inflection point between our 1st and 2nd half of life is one of the most significant opportunities presented to us.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do we continue to move forward as is, hoping life will magically change?<\/span><\/p>\n

Or,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Do we accept that what we\u2019re doing isn\u2019t creating the life we want to live, and for change to occur, we must change?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Do we draft a new blueprint that will carry us into our 2nd half with a sense of mission, meaning, and fulfillment?<\/span><\/p>\n

Do we reinvent our identity from the chaser back to the creator?<\/span><\/p>\n

If our desire is to fill that success-sized hole in our lives, then we must evolve, and we must change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, that change can feel overwhelming and terrifying. It can feel like we have to give up everything we\u2019ve worked so hard to create, and we don\u2019t know who we\u2019ll be when we make this change.<\/span><\/p>\n

We threaten our fabricated identity, and the ground beneath our feet collapses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The evolution from chaser to creator doesn\u2019t need to be that challenging.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are 3 simple steps you can take today to create your extraordinary second half.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Unfulfilled Dreams<\/b><\/h2>\n

We must identify what calls to us from our early childhood, teenage years, and twenties.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is it breathing life into that Civil War epic, working with our hands, teaching, or learning to play an instrument?<\/span><\/p>\n

What do we regret not doing?<\/span><\/p>\n

Achieving clarity on our unfulfilled dreams is critical to our evolution from chaser to creator.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our core values are the fundamental beliefs and principles that guide our decisions and actions. They are the foundation of who we are and what we stand for.<\/span><\/p>\n

When we clearly understand our core values, we are better equipped to make decisions that align with our true selves. We are more likely to pursue goals and activities that bring us a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How do your core values align with your unfulfilled dreams?<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Awe & Wonder<\/b><\/h2>\n

We must remind ourselves what creating feels like in our body and mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

But how?<\/span><\/p>\n

We cultivate creativity through the experiences we choose to have.<\/span><\/p>\n

When those experiences are novel, when they ignite awe and wonder, when they\u2019re moments of truth and beauty, we cultivate creativity and create meaning.<\/span><\/p>\n

Immersing ourselves in nature, museums, or concerts and doing what we say we\u2019d never do are an easy start.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When we experience novelty, awe, wonder, truth, and beauty, we cultivate creativity and experience meaning.<\/span><\/p>\n

We reignite our childhood creativity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Individually these 3 steps have the power to change our lives and provide a tremendous ROI.<\/span><\/p>\n

All 3 combined, and we\u2019ll create the extraordinary second half we\u2019ve dreamed of.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Profit<\/a>
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The weather was outstanding in the Northeast last week, and I decided to take full advantage by going to the beach.\u00a0 Thankfully, it\u2019s only a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-success"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}