If you’re searching for how to live your best life now, or how to become the best version of yourself, you’re in good company. Those phrases are popping up everywhere in Google searches, self-help books, and ads flying across social media.
While I don’t have any idea how these phrases became so trendy so fast, I do have a theory about why they’ve caught on.
We all want to feel better. We all want to do better.
We want more control over the stress we feel and the busy schedules we face, and we want to live a more beautiful life of balance.
As a life coach for many years, I know folks are looking for ways to bring out the best in themselves. That’s why I created a coaching niche around the concept of self-management for my own practice.
I got the idea from the organizational model in business that pushes management responsibility out of the “ivory tower” boardroom and down to the actual employees doing the work. The model encourages personal responsibility for problem-solving, planning, prioritizing, building relationships, productivity, change, and results.
In business, self-management requires tremendous self-awareness and self-discipline. A common benefit of the model is a happier, empowered, engaged, and productive workforce.
We need that in our personal lives, too, not just in our careers. I’d argue that if you can’t achieve personal self-management, you can forget about performing well at work, at least not over the long haul.
So, I put together a coaching model built around the concepts imperative to personal self-management. These six principles form the basis of my coaching practice, MasterPeace Living, Inc.
The principles are self-awareness, self-care, self-direction, self-talk, self-confidence, and self-worth.
We’ll take a look at each of these briefly and see why they all add up to creating the best version of yourself, or, as I like to phrase it, creating a life you love.
Take Stock of What’s Working and What’s Not
The first principle, self-awareness, is about knowing what’s working in your life and what’s not.
If I asked you, “What are your top three stressors in life?” what would you say? Knowing the answer is a great start.
However, most people go immediately into fix-it mode, coming up with a to-do list a mile long to change the problem areas. Have you done this yourself? It’s the idea behind New Year’s Resolutions, most diets, and creating five-year plans. Here’s my problem; here’s what I’m going to do about it; ready, set, go!
And we go for a while. Then something happens; life gets in the way. We end up distracted, and all those good plans get sidelined.
We’re back to where we started, except now we feel a little worse about ourselves.
I suggest a deeper dive into what’s really going on, using an in-depth inventory of your life. See the Wellness Wheel diagram? The seven sectors shown represent a whole-life approach to building your best version of yourself.
In MasterPeace Living, we look at how problems are causing damage in any one part of life. Of course, that can be obvious. It gets murky when you’re faced with the bleed-over effects one area can cause in another.
Exploring these connections brings clarity about solving problems in a way that sticks.
And the inventory doesn’t stop there. We also look at each sector from the angle of those unspoken, inner standards driving you to do what you do.
Whether you are thriving or simply enduring in each sector depends on knowing and living in integrity with your own personal values. Too many of my clients are very busy living someone else’s best life, catering to others with little regard to personal cost.
Take Steps to Create a Life You Love
The second and third principles of MasterPeace Living, self-care and self-direction, provide the momentum for creating a life you love. Once problem areas are identified and standards are set, we equip you mentally, emotionally, and physically to get stuff done.
Self-care means giving top billing to your own mental, emotional, and physical health. If that sounds selfish to you, consider this: When you are the best version of yourself, you have the most to give to others. If you’re not at your best, what you contribute is also lacking. Healthy self-management means wellness for body, soul, and spirit.
Self-direction means staying focused and motivated. And frankly, staying motivated is tough when you no longer trust yourself to do the things you want to do. If you’ve ever sworn off sugar or chocolate or potato chips forever, and then crashed and burned yet again, you know what I mean.
We find ways to get the traction you need to get moving and set up guardrails to keep you on track. That includes accountability and support but also deals with old habits and ways you’ve sabotaged yourself in the past.
Take Control with Proper Self-Management
Self-talk, the fourth principle in my coaching model, allows you to see the relationship between how you think and how you experience life. With proper self-management techniques, you experience a greater sense of control over automatic, negative thinking. As you begin to rewire your brain in line with your goals, you find the energy, creativity, and optimism you need to live with greater intention.
The fourth principle of MasterPeace Living is self-confidence. Believing in yourself is crucial to healthy self-management, but that’s not easy to maintain in our hyper-critical, image-conscious, and materially based culture. And yet, building self-confidence is a skill you can learn.
It’s a matter of retraining your brain and managing your mind. Using tools based on research by some of the world’s top neuroscientists, my coaching program helps you gain the skills to face any of life’s circumstances with greater confidence.
Our final principle, self-worth, explores your identity, your divine design, and your purpose in life. Here you discover how to operate from your God-given personality strengths and make the most of your life experiences, both good and bad. We look for patterns from your past that point to your personal mission. And we help you identify the people, places, and things you find worthy of investing your time and attention.
Creating the best version of yourself and living your best life are made possible by proper self-management. Your life was meant to be a masterpiece. Consider joining my coaching program, MasterPeace Living, so you can begin to create a life you love today.
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