A powerful technique to help you identify and tweak your life is to write your story up to this moment.  Write it out in whatever manner is comfortable to you - whether in story mode or bullet list.  The point is to list out your experiences, accomplishments, failures, highlights...  whatever, just tell your entire story in a way that you can look at it and determine if you're living the life you want to be living.  If you are, congratulations.  If you're not, take stock and take action.

Most people are going to fall into the sorta / sorta not category.  Maybe they're working in a career they love but are unsatisfied in where they live or their relationship status.  Some are in a blissful relationship but hate their job or financial situation.  Some will see a few items ticked off their 'bucket list' but see a whole lot of others not coming to fruition.  Then there will be the few people that look at their list and realize that the life they're living doesn't resemble anything they've ever wanted or desired.  Depressing?  Don't let it be.

The purpose of this exercise is coming to terms with the reality you created and allowing you to identify where, and maybe some insights into how, you've fallen short.  It will also put a spotlight on where you've shined and fulfilled your desires.

Doing this every so often allows you to better direct where your life will head in the chapters to come.  It causes you to become mindful of the actions you take.  You will better see where your sticking points are and start to learn of ways to overcome them to move you to where you want to be.

Life is a river and its currents will bump you around and lead you into unforseen waters and challenges.  But you are not helplessly floating through it.  Grab the rudder and oars and captain your ship.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain

*original photo by Vivianna Love, stamped with a "me" by me.

It took a little while to get my system tuned in with enough consistency in eating well per the Primal guidelines but once I was used to it - say about a month or so - I began to feel the the subtle differences that various foods had on my body.

Being dialed in on this cause and effect is now the cornerstone of all my eating habits.

I know the staple of foods we have around the house that keep me feeling balanced, energized, and digesting well and continually becoming more aware of how other foods effect my body.  This plays into my decisions on when and how much I'll deviate.  

I'm writing this on Christmas Eve and there will be a goody table in front of me all evening with lots of tempting treats on it.  But by being aware that the sugar is going to get my heart rate up and make me jittery, followed by an energy crash later and general feeling of uneasiness that I'll probably shy away and head to the nut bowl.

Knowing the price I'll later pay makes it easier for me to decide what I put in my body.  I'll cheat from time to time but when I do I know exactly what to expect in advance.

This makes eating easy for me.  It's not a diet.  There aren't a whole bunch of rules and guidelines I go by anymore; I go by how I feel and it so happens that the foods I eat that fall into The Primal Blueprint and other Paleo Diet regiments have positive effects on my body.

It is pretty well established that in general, it takes about 21 days of consistent repitition to establish a new habit.  Couples do little things that annoy each other all the time.  What if we could cut down on those things?  Would it make our relationship a little better?  Would we make ourselves a little better?

I don't know the anwer to this yet.  But the gauntlet has been dropped with the 21 Day Spousal Challenge.

For lisa, I've challenged her to read "10 simple ways to save yourself from messing up your life" (an older lifehack post that I keep on my vision board).  The reason is because she's going through challenges where this line of thinking may help her into the right perspective and deal with it more comfortably.

For me, I have to pick up my clothes off the bathroom floor for the 21 days.

I figure this improves 3 big areas of our lives.

ONE:  We strengthen our discipline muscle.

TWO:  We strengthen our relationship by communicating and engaging in challenges together.

THREE:  We introduce new, probably beneficial, and spouse approved habits into our lives.

On the flipside of that, you could also shape the challenge to NOT do something for 21 days and get a good start on dropping a self-limiting or super-annoying habit.

By engaging in this challenge, you are also demonstrating to your spouse that:

• You listen to their concerns.
• You care enough to consciously attempt the change.
• You show them they are a priority by sticking to the challenge for the full 21 days.

This of course, doesn't mean you should split if the challenge doesn't make it full term.  It may mean that you need to continue to focus and work on your discipline or it may be that the challenge doesn't fit you or is more of a hindrance to yourself than the annoyance to your spouse.  Whole lot of variable but I think each couple could make it work for them.  Start small; start simple.  Have fun.

Your spouse has chosen to share a life with you (at least that's the way it works for the people I'm writing to) and this is a great way to grow together and keep each other motivated.  Don't underestimate the power of the spouse for your own personal growth in life, family, and business. 

If two heads are better than one, imagine what two hearts could do.

The second Kurt Cobain inspired post in less than a month...  I'll take inspiration from wherever I find it (or it finds me).

This one while thinking in the shower with Pandora providing the morning mix.  I have a lot of projects going on and I use this time to set my priorities for what I'd like to get accomplished for the day.  Some tasks are easy that I've done thousands of times but others are newer concepts that I have yet to implement but I think are an important part of the progression.  It's easy to want to put those task at the bottom of the list and knock off the stuff you know you can do and how long it will take - that latter part being a key - uncertainty about how long a task will take (due to inexperience, learning, etc) is a determining factor of where we rank it on our to-do list.

That's a poor reason; especially when that "new" thing may be what gets you to the next level. 

So here's the big secret to starting:  Just start.

I could end the post here but you may not be sold yet with such a simple doctrine.  Here are some simple real-life examples, organized by age for added flare: