Live by Design – True Reality
What’s your reality?
Are you able to live life the way you want to? If not then are you aware of your reasons for not living it?
True reality is an honest look at your life and having awareness on what’s stopping you from being the best version of yourself or as stoics say “being in good term with your highest self”.
It is about where you stand against your life’s purpose and goals and what’s out of harmony.
Ever seen a symphony Orchestra performance? The orchestra comprises of various instruments – percussions, brass, strings, and woodwinds all working together to produce the music that is pleasing to your years. Even if one instrument is out of tune the whole piece falls flat. Similarly, our life has many aspects that all need to work together. To lead a happy, balanced, fulfilling and meaningful life you need all those aspects to work in perfect harmony, but seldom do we see it.
You might be thinking that you are working hard towards your life’s purpose, goals, but the reality could be totally different. Most of us are busy living life on an auto mode, running after wrong goals, doing everything that we have to as it comes our way, and not what we want to. You are busy with your daily life, routines and everything else except sparing some time to assess your reality. Whether you agree or not but most of us have been ignoring our reality and doing so will not change our life no matter how hard we try.
Life is at its best when every component works together and in perfect harmony.
One interesting thing is that you are working so hard towards your business, organizations purpose and goals, but not towards your own.
“Dig within. Within is the wellspring of Good; and it is always ready to bubble up, if you just dig.” Marcus Aurelius
Stoics believed that nature wants us to be the best version of ourselves and so we have it in our natural potential.
According to the philosophy of Stoicism, the ultimate goal of life is Eudaimonia which refers to overall happiness and not temporary moments of happiness and to be there you need to
Live with Arete – Arete is an ancient Greek word meaning Excellence or virtue. The pursuit of excellence requires focus on the quality of actions. Actions in harmony with our values. Getting a dream job, earning a million dollars may give you temporary happiness in the short run. Happiness and fulfilment is when you fill the gap between where you want to be and where you are, through conscious actions supporting your purpose.
Focus on what you control – Not everything is in your control but your behaviour, attitude and actions are. What’s beyond your power is not important for your flourishing, so make choices to control your life and not be controlled by it.
“The opponent within one’s own head is more formidable than the one on the other side of the net” Timothy Gallway.
The opponent team or the player is not in your control, but your game and moves are in your control and the outcome depends on how you make your moves.
Know your beliefs and biases – Your limiting beliefs and biases serve as subconscious autopilot and you have been living with them without even realizing how they are impacting your life. They define your reality and are responsible for the way you experience the world around you.
Take responsibility – Life is NOW. Past is gone and future is a mystery and you are responsible for how you design your future. Stop being a victim and be in control of your choices, actions, behaviour, and attitude to take on life’s challenges.
How about driving your own life sitting on the driver seat?
Success depends on acknowledging and being aware of your true reality and taking actions to change it to fulfil your purpose in life.
This is part five of a series of eight posts. To know more about the transformation journey and the process watch out for the next post……
Author: Abhishek Budhraja
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