Create Yourself
Recommended “spring cleaning” tips to make space for better management of the self, including health, emotions, mind, money, relationships and legacy.
Your true self is only a fraction of who you are. We are all composites of what other people want – and wanted – us to be, events, experiences and our reactions to them. Very few people took the deliberate step of “house cleaning” and reexamining the contents of their selfhood for their usefulness, performance or desirability.
One of my most favorite quotations is George Bernard Shaw’s:
“Life isn’t about finding yourself.
Life is about creating yourself.”
Each of us has turning points in life. (Some of us have more experience than others. Some encountered turning points or crossroads, some – myself, included – had to start over; perhaps even, multiple times.) And at these points it is helpful to think of this quotation. After all, YOU own yourself. YOU are with yourself 24/7. YOU are the one who manages, benefits from – or suffers from – the contents of your selfhood. YOU are responsible for all results your self produces. YOU – to a large extent – determine what your self is or should be. As the New Year is beginning it’s as good a time as any to either “create yourself” or reinvent yourself.
We may not be able to custom design EVERY aspect of our beings, but many are up to us. After all, how you live, feel, whom you hang around with and how you think is up to you.
Create Your Health
Against popular belief, our lifestyle choices affect our health more than any other factor, including genetics. Our daily choices determine the totality of our health, weight, appearance, energy and mood. If you aren’t physically well, you can’t be great in other areas of life. Redesigning your lifestyle, setting new priorities and establishing new habits is within your reach.
Create Your Emotions
Did you ever ask yourself, how you’d like to feel? It’s a simple question. Kind of obvious and yet, we usually think about changing our mood when it is particularly bad. Why not plan for – and practice! – optimism, high energy and excitement, as the usual state of being? The decision to manage your emotions – so they’ll invite good outcomes, empower and propel you forward – is yours!
Create Your Mind
A hungry mind is a good mind! The major difference between kids and adults, great people and mediocre people is curiosity! Make a point to learn and / or “discover” something new to you, as often as possible! New information is exciting and invigorating to you and an asset in social life. Meeting with the same people and talking about the same old thing is boring, be the one who brings new life into your gatherings. Make yourself the source of interesting and useful information.
Create Your Money
Women in general, and mature women in particular, ascribe magical properties to money. It is there and then it disappears. Many women fear money and equate money with dependency.
Revise your definition of money! The source of money is NOT a person. Healthy ways of acquiring and having money don’t include ingratiating, granting favors, begging, or borrowing. Money is earned, made, inherited or won. It can come from employment, work, sales, investments, dividends, etc.
Having money means safety, stability, freedom and power. You are not afraid of money, you are afraid of not having any. The best way to get over the fear of not having money, to ensure your security, freedom and independence, to assert control over your time, life and destiny is to be self-sufficient.
Money isn’t an abstract. It is tangible. The saying has it that money can’t buy love or happiness which may – or may not – be true. But money CAN buy the most precious things, such as the freedom to be you and owning your time. Financial autonomy is the only way to achieve and maintain stability and freedom.
“I truly believe that women should be financially independent from their men. And let’s face it, money gives men the power to run the show. It gives men the power to define value. They define what’s sexy. And men define what’s feminine.” Beyonce
Incidentally, did you notice that many beautiful and successful women are unattached? That’s certainly not due to their shortcomings! They DON’T HAVE TO be attached or beholden – financially or otherwise – to anyone. Do YOU? If so, change it, QUICKLY!
Create Your Relationships
People who bring you down, are overly critical and pessimistic have negative impact on you. They don’t support or advance you in any way. They are time-wasters who erode your optimism and self-confidence. Ditch them or at least, limit the amount of time you spend with them.
You need people who inspire and challenge you. Surrounding yourself with such people is not only fun, but helpful to your growth.
Create Your Legacy
Fittingly, the last part deals with a legacy. Legacy is what remains after we’re gone. It’s the official summary of our lives. I’m not advocating for making early preparations for your death. I’m urging you to ask yourself now – with an eternity separating you from the date of your demise – who you are, what your life is about, what matters to you most, what would you like to be remembered for? At every stage of life we are busy; often too busy to take time to look at ourselves and our lives. Take a few minutes to think about the meaning of your life, now.
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Once a year – usually springtime – many people (especially women!) get the urge to clean, organize and update. It isn’t called “spring cleaning” for nothing! Following spring cleaning, we feel invigorated and renewed, everything is better, easier and works smoother. When you clean your closet, you get rid of some stuff, sell some and donate some, right? What are you left with? The stuff you love and SPACE. Space for the new, better and exciting.
Cleanup and reorganize some of the contents of your self, I highly recommend the aspects outlined above. Prune away the stuff that doesn’t serve you well. Just imagine results equivalent to spring cleaning: WOW! So much wonderful and so much space for the new, better aligned with who you are and who you are becoming. Life is about growing, but even more so about evolving, becoming the person YOU yearn to be.
The New Year has just begun, it’s not a bad time for a new beginning, this one of YOUR design. You can – and you should – feel giddy about the future. You are alive, you know what you want, what you deserve and the possibilities are endless! Start with some self-inventory, get rid of stuff that weighs you down and hold tight to the steering wheel, the precious cargo you’re carrying is your future!
