Anyone ever get the urge to do more with their life? To be somewhere better than where you currently are?
Well, I did! The combination of some big things happening (cannot discuss in detail now, but more to come on that later), an executive leadership course (one of the final courses in my Adult studies program at Oklahoma Wesleyan University), and a desire from within to use my degree and knowledge to really make a difference in my life and my daughters life.
So.. now I had this urge and some things that could potentially be of use to me in my life, but it wasn't/isn't so simple. I need to have a plan and a purpose and a WHY for whatever path I choose to take. That is where the leadership course and a book written by Dave Braun and Troy Amdahl, Oola: Find Balance in an Unbalanced World comes into play. It is a great quick read and with a little effort ( okay a lot of effort on my part) I can make changes every day to a greater good, a more balanced life, a dream world so to speak. The leadership course made me realize the things that interest me in life are far from my grasp and the book has lead me to a belief that with the right path and discipline I can achieve my goals.
Digging a little deeper: a little over two years ago, I lost my best friend, my love, my partner, my daughter's father, and my fiancé. I had always believed we should live each day to the fullest, but that became a more prominent task after realizing this life can be cut short when God says it's time. This event has sparked a desire to live a balanced and healthy life. Over the last two years I have grieved and mourned and had to be strong for our daughter. Was it easy? Absolutely not. But finding a way to balance the way I was feeling with the needs of my daughters seemed to push me to continue every day.
So over the last month I have been reading the Oola book and want to continue to balance my life out. They suggest seven keys areas of life are worth balancing in order to stay healthy and happy. The areas are Fitness, Finances, Family, Field, Faith, Friends, & Fun. Towards the end of the book they give a three step method for living a more Oola life (this can also be found at www.oolalife.com ) .
Step 1: Fill out an Oola Wheel. The areas I need to focus on the most are Field, Finances, Fitness, Faith, and Fun. I am not sure what their basis for areas needing improvement, but for me it was anything with an average less than 7 out of 10.
Step 2: Develop a plan to change the key areas where you are wanting to make changes. start with small goals and work up to a bigger goal so that daily we are improving and making progress to a better me.
Step 3: Follow a path- make a conscious choice and write it down for a path that I will take to obtain my goals and alter it with any changes that need to be made along the way.
Just wait for it-- give me a year and I will be a much more balanced and developed version of me.