What Does Your Goodlife Look Like?

Years ago, HGTV had a wonderful television program called The Good Life. Each episode was a different story of someone who had left their full-time job to find their dream of living the good life. But what was a good life for one person may not have been a dream life for someone else. There were guests who wanted to travel, while others wanted to garden, start a homestead, hike around the world, go golfing every day, or live off grid in the mountains. The show host asked everyone how they left their full-time job and attained their good life. The one thing that they all had in common was a sharp vision of what their good life would be. 

Are you looking for your good life? The life that allows you to pursue what is important to you? If I am honest with you, my definition a living a good life has changed depending on the stage of life I was going through. I have always wanted to own my own business and work from home. But in my early twenties I had no idea how to go about that. I was a wife, mom, highly active in my church, and involved in school activities for my children. I worked a part time job and ran my small crafting/sewing business on the side. No business plan, with no clear-cut goals on how to get from A to B. My idea of the good life then was to just run my own business and have a calm life.

In my thirties, I was still a wife, a mom, active in my church, began working full time and went to college, all the while trying to figure out how to keep my business going. I was always exhausted, trying to do everything at once and getting nothing accomplished. Life had not calmed down and my business was on life support. My dream life then was just to have enough strength to make it through the commitments I had made, keep my head above water, all while holding onto my so-called business.

During these times, I would always pray for guidance and a way for me to get back to my original dream of having a good life. How could I have messed things up so badly? Then I realized that I had never really defined what I was looking for – what was my definition of a good life? I had never sat down and clearly defined what my good life would contain? But just as important, I never planned for how to get where I wanted to go! To paraphrase the Cheshire Cat, “If you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you get there?” 

 My mistake was clear. No plan and no goals added up to nothing. I began immediately to make a written plan for my path to success, a way to reach my good life. Since the definition of a good life will look different for every person, I suggest that you write out a clear idea of what you are looking for – like a mission statement for how you want to live. Here are five of the things that I included in my plan to reach a good life:

A life centered around my faith in God and my family.

A less complicated life.

A life with balance and wellness.

A life where I owned my own business.

A life full of lasting memories.

Here are the actions that I took after creating my list:

• Look at all the things you do in a day. Examine the list and mark the things that are tremendously important to you. Cut unnecessary activities out of your routine. This may involve making calls to resign from not so important commitments. Robert Browning once said, “less is more.” Wise man.
• Once you have eliminated unnecessary activities, make a schedule for your new routine. Share it with the rest of the family. Let them know that there will be changes so that life can be less hectic. This will keep you on track while transitioning to a less complicated, less stressful life.
• Decluttering your schedule should be followed by decluttering your things. Fewer possessions that require daily attention will be liberating. There is no need to lower your standards on what you own just how much of it you own. Strive for quality over quantity. Own less – enjoy more.
• Make a conscious move toward the things you want. Wanting to be closer to God and family means spending more time with them. If you want to own your own business, you will need to put action to your thoughts and dreams – like taking a class on business or learning new skills.
• Your good life will not be perfect. Problems and struggles come and go. They may make your plans seem impossible. But you can change plans and adapt. Review your goals often. Put it in your calendar as a standing appointment once a month. Adjust as needed. Always keep moving forward toward your goals. 

My good life is not perfect. I will not tell you that any of these tasks are easy. They take challenging work and determination. Every day I am stiving for a less complicated life – a life that is full of lasting values – my good life. And of course, the best life will be when we are with our God in heaven. “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:13

I would love to hear your thoughts on creating your own good life.