The Three Essential Elements of an Exceptional Life
There is something luminous in all of us, a spark that wants to grow into an exceptional life. A life in which we have health, happiness, and meaningful success. Paradoxically, chasing this dream can lead to a life that’s somehow stressful but without a sense of accomplishment, excessively full yet somehow lacking the space and time for fun and self-care. A life that, despite our best intentions, feels far our beautiful vision – if we haven’t lost sight of that vision altogether.
We’re here to change this trend. It’s our purpose and delight to facilitate a movement of people who are awake to the gifts that surround them, who experience life as a playground, and who are driven to uplift the world while maintaining a balanced existence.
Is this really as easy as just reading about three simple steps? Honestly, no. But if you live by these three guiding principles and do the work involved, you will get there.
Create Space
If you really want to live your dreams, you have to be willing to create space in your life for them. Not just a willingness, a commitment to creating space for them.
Create the space for grace. Carve out space in which you can sit in the stillness (meditation, listening, being in nature, etc.) and hear your soul. This is the most essential space you can create because it’s where inspiration, innovation, and creativity are born.
Create the space for clarity. This is the space for really tapping into what matters to you. Go through the different areas of your life, envision them at their most ideal, and write down what that looks, feels, sounds, smells, and tastes like. Taking the time to do this will enlighten you to what’s worth striving for and what’s not.
Clear out space in your mind. Clean up any places in your live where you are out of integrity so that you can move forward with lightness. Baggage weighs us down and makes it harder for us to soar toward our dreams, so cut the cords by doing the work of forgiving yourself and others for the past, making any necessary communications, and resolving all enduring conflicts.
Create space for the dream. Every day there needs to be space for the big goals to expand from closed buds into open blossoms – and that means saying no to unnecessary things that don’t enliven, delight, or move you toward your exceptional life.
Create space for self-care. You are the best asset you have and you must take care of yourself. This isn’t just a good idea, it’s your honor and obligation as a human being on a mission.
Maintain Structure
If you want to turn your dreams into reality then you must have a solid plan. And not just a solid plan, but a solid plan that you attend to regularly. The blueprint doesn’t build the house. So, set your goals, work backwards to determine the projects you need to do, and then schedule action daily.
Your consistent action toward your goals will help you build trust in yourself to do what you say you’re going to do. Then you’ll start to see momentum build in ways that you can’t even currently imagine.
Persistence is the ultimate power supplement.
Use a calendar to keep yourself on track, setting start and end times for each activity so you have a container for success for the day. If you work off a long to-do list, or a vague sense of what you need to do during the day, then you start and end the day without clear expectations and a way to actually get “done” for the day.
If you relate to your calendar with an attitude of integrity and honesty, you can be liberated, rather than restricted, by the schedule you create. Even if it’s chock-full. Planning the use of your time and being clear about what is on-purpose versus off-purpose for you also helps you create good boundaries around what is worth inviting into your life.
The last part of maintaining a structure for success is to stay on your own path. It’s easy to get distracted by the million shiny things in the world, so chose a direction from your heart and then stand behind your choice. Allowing yourself to get diverted is like pretending that you didn’t actually choose a course already. You deserve to give your dreams the gift of your own focus.
Add in Sweetness
You can accomplish things without sweetness, but it’s unlikely that you will feel fully satisfied and nourished by the experience. And, because you never know how long this journey will last, it’s doubly important that you infuse your life with sweetness all along the way.
We’re not talking about candy and ice cream, but the things that deeply satisfy your soul - to experience the world, to know and love yourself and others, to enjoy beauty, to savor life. Healthy space and structure will enable you to add time for play. Time for art. Time for movement. Time for nature. Time to connect with friends and family. Time for your community. Time to travel. These things are not frivolous. They are not to be put off until retirement. They have to be brought into your life now if you want your life to be exceptional. Put them into your structure so that you don’t skip this essential step.
We like to say that it’s almost too simple a concept for people to take it seriously. Yet the most profound truths are always simple. And this is it: The more sweetness you add to your life and the more you take the time to recognize the sweetness that’s already there, the more you will experience your life as a sweet life. A blessed life. An illuminated life. A satisfying life.
We believe that if we live our lives in a way that feels vibrant, centered, and peaceful, we will create a ripple effect into our communities, effectively changing the world as we know it. Want to live your dreams and change the world? Join the movement.
With Love and Anticipation,
Briana and Dr. Peter Borten