Mindful Horizons

I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was sitting in my therapist’s office, frustrated with my life, watching inordinate amounts of money being spent, and I couldn’t seem to get a hold of the situation. I kept saying I didn’t understand the game, never mind the rules by which the game of life was played. I blurted out, “Why did I have to even play the game, since I didn’t get to make the rules or at least participate in making them?” When my therapist looked at me with a deadpan face and asked, ” What are these rules you keep talking about?” I couldn’t enunciate them in the moment, so I left with a homework assignment. Identify the rules by which I believed I was living my life.

I struggled, as you might imagine. No one had ever asked me about this game called life, never mind the rules by which it is played. Eventually, I came up with a set of rules that made sense. As I looked over them, a calming anger took over as I realized these were not my rules but someone else’s, someone who thought I was too dumb to figure out the game.

It was a gorgeous San Diego day as I sat in the backyard of my beautiful home, which I was on the way to losing, paper and pen in hand, writing in my journal, when my inner voice said, “Enough!” and I wrote these in one sitting. They are listed below, with a brief explanation for each. I have used them to coach businesses and individuals alike with great success. These are the rules I live by today and every day.

Let’s be clear: these are my rules. I share them as an example of the kind of growth you can have in life when you write your own rules. Lasting change comes when you do the work and make the right lifestyle changes.  I’m not like most self-help gurus. I haven’t found something that works for me, and then tell you it will work for you. You need to do the work, write your own rules, and live by them.

I get that it’s hard; it’s something we have never had to do. But I can guide you, coach, and support you to success!