It’s Thanksgiving time (yay, my favorite!) – and it’s a wonderful time to reflect and practice gratitude. To be grateful for the bounty on our turkey-and-yam-laden plates; our family, friends, and health. And for time to put down your toolbelt…and give a little slack to the belt on your trousers.

Time away from the jobsite and time with our families also give us an opportunity to ask: Am I living the life I truly want?

There’s no separation between “work life” and “home life” – there’s just “life.” But too often, we find ourselves chasing goals based on what we think we “should” do – work hard, earn more – only to find the happiness we thought would come didn’t arrive or it wasn’t as meaningful as we expected it to be.

But how do we start to design a different life? One that is truly goal focused, balanced, and inclusive of our families and loved ones?

One place you could start is with Vishen Lakhiani’s “The Code of the Extraordinary Mind.”

His approach combines “The 3 Most Important Questions” and “The 12 Areas of Balance” to help you design and share a life that’s truly fulfilling.

So put down your apple pie-loaded fork (just for a sec) and read on:

The 3 Most Important Questions

What experiences do you want to have? – If time and money were no object and you didn’t need permission, what experiences would your soul crave?
How do you want to grow? – To have your awesome experiences, what kind of person do you need to evolve into?
How do you want to contribute? – If you have the experiences and have grown in these remarkable ways, then how do you give back to the world?

The 12 Areas of Balance

Vishen derived the 12 Areas of Balance from these questions and fit them into three simple categories.

A powerful exercise is to rate yourself 1-10 in each of the 12 areas. Review where you are now and where you’d like to be.

1. Experiences

Love Relationships – What does your ideal romantic relationship look like?
Social Life – What experiences do you want to share with friends, what do they look like?
Financial Life – What experiences would you like to afford?
Quality of Life – What does your home, car, wardrobe, toolbox, workspace, etc. look like?

2. Growth

Health & Fitness – How do you want to look and feel today and 5/10/20 years from now?
Intellectual Life – What do you need to or would really love to learn (e.g. skilled trade, leadership)?
Emotional Life – How do you want to feel consistently (e.g. humble, happy, grateful, focused)?
Spiritual Life – Where are you now spiritually and where do you want to be or discover?

3. Contribution

Career – What’s your vision for your current (or do you want a new) career?
Character – What traits, beliefs, and values do you want to represent (e.g. honesty, bravery, integrity)?
Family & Parenting Life – What can you give to your family that’s special to you?
Life Vision – How do you want to give back to your community?

Create Your Blueprint for the Soul

Fill out your template – Click HERE for the template.
Score yourself in each of the 12 areas 1–10 (be honest).
Write your vision in each column. Untether yourself from others’ expectations to create amazing answers.
Start your transformation. Pick 1-3 areas you’d like to improve on. Adopt small, incremental steps to make improvements.
Test and measure – Revisit every 90 days to track your progress.
Share it with the world – This is the ultimate transparency and makes our dreams real. Far too often, we keep our dreams and goals only to ourselves. Post it on the fridge (at home and in the shop), tell your spouse, crew, manager, etc. This is a fantastic exercise to do with your team, too.

A Thanksgiving Challenge

In between the (obvious) second helping of mac and cheese and the next football game, follow this simple plan:

Gather around with your family and friends.
Set a timer for 60 minutes: 30 minutes to complete the template and 30 minutes to discuss.
Do this exercise together. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of, and provide resources for, each other’s dreams and challenges – and create a shared vision and deeper relationships for the amazing collective year ahead.

Take this short period of time to reflect, reset, and design a life filled with joy, growth, gratitude, and purpose. Your future self — and your loved ones — will thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Coach Darryl and the entire ActionCOACH Milwaukee Team

P.S. Need a partner to help? Reach out to Darryl Feldman, Certified Business Coach to schedule your FREE 20-minute strategy session at darrylfeldman@actioncoach.com or 414-309-3623.

Be Grateful & Build Your Best Life: The 3 Most Important Questions & the 12 Areas of Balance