“If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present.” — Lao Tzu
If you’re yearning for peace, know this: it won’t be found in a longer To Do List. To get peace in your life, you need a To Be List.
But first, accept where you are in life. Release any shame or guilt around the choices you’ve made in the past. Maya Angelou has said, “When you know better, do better.” But in real life, just because we know better doesn’t always mean we choose better. So let go of any negative feelings around past choices.
Second, rate your life on a scale from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest) in the following areas:
- Spiritual
- Physical
- Financial
- Family and/or friends
- Joy and adventure
- Career
- Romance
- Physical space
- Social
Write down the first number that comes to mind for each life area. Don’t overthink.
Now choose one area that you’d like to nurture and use these 7 ways to invite more peace into your life (courtesy of g2Coach Melanie Foote-Davis):
- Conduct an energetic calendar audit. Time is currency. When you give up your time, you don’t get it back, so how and with whom you spend it is incredibly important. Nurturing an area of your life may mean changing the way you’ve been spending your time. You need to open up space for the good things you’re inviting in.
- Play with the possibilities. Be curious. Allow yourself to dream about what could be. Identify the people in your tribe who can support you in this area and choose a time to reach out to them.
- Create an “I am” mantra. Call up a picture of yourself and repeat it until you believe it.
- Trust the process. Don’t overthink and don’t shut down.
- Detach and allow. Let go of others’ expectations and forgive now.
- Live in gratitude. Be grateful for the little things. For all the things.
- Celebrate all wins. Yours and others. Remember the saying, “When God is blessing your neighbors, he’s in your neighborhood.”