Keys to the Kingdom
It's time to reach out and grab the keys to your Kingdom. Here are our top nine keys to becoming the best version of yourself along the way.
Key 1: Emotional Intelligence
The top priority for all men should be embracing emotional intelligence.
Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand, use and manage your own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathise with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict.
Connecting to your emotions is vital and having an awareness of how you are expressing them is just as important. Reacting to other people’s comments and judgements can be moderated if you are happy and content in your own skin.
Dealing with everyday stress and being aware of what issues this may create is part of wisdom. In the end you are in control of your actions, decisions and consequences. Trying to control other people’s lives is a sign of insecurity, just look after number one.
Key 2: Embrace Fun
Each day embrace fun and have a laugh. Being serious 24/7 adds stress to your life and who wants that feeling?
YouTube provides comedy relief, set up a library for easy access to your favourite comedian.
In the end we are on the planet for a blink compared to nature, finding a little happiness and having a laugh should be our focus. There is abundant time to be serious about living.
Key 3: Accepting Responsibility
Responsibility is in your hands (excluding natural disasters, unforeseen life events and wrong place wrong time events).
You can give yourself the best chance to live a full life by simply being responsible for what you are eating, whether you are getting enough sleep, getting out in the sunshine and/or if you exercise.
Act, do not promise to change, just get going...start with small steps and build a better life. Flick the switch to positive, small treats as a reward along the way is okay however, the goal is to embed positive behaviours and habits that you can sustain for the rest of your life.
Key 4: Accountability to Self
Being accountable sounds easy, until your life spirals in a downward direction. Pointing the finger and trying to blame others for your poor outcomes gives you momentary relief but in the end the buck does stop with you and your decisions reflect the outcomes.
Accountability to yourself is realising that your every action has a risk followed by a consequence. Having the wisdom to evaluate most of your actions will save you from negative consequences. Learning to reflect and activating your brain cells sounds easy however, it can be difficult if emotional stressors are involved.
Key 5: Giving back for your Life
A wise man will always look for opportunities to give back to family, friends, and community. This may involve volunteering for the local fire service or sporting club, joining a service club like Rotary or Lions, or simply keeping your neighbourhood free of rubbish.
Volunteering is food for the soul, it makes you feel better about yourself and your actions. Simple acts of kindness can change people’s lives forever. Be the one who assists the elderly and checks in on your neighbours. It is very simple to do and can make a major difference in another person’s life.
Key 6: Mind your thoughts
Minding your thoughts does not mean placing your hands over your ears and disregarding the self-mind talk. It involves the thoughts you are consciously holding on to and whether they have any relevance to what is going on in your life.
Introducing positive mantras and being grateful for what you have, will go a long way to cancelling all the negativity in our society. Choosing friends who have similar positive core values will make the journey easier.
Key 7: Getting physical
This involves moving, factor physical exercise into your life and your body will reward you big time. Australian men over the past decade have put on a few kilograms, this affects how your bodies cope with movement, flexibility, strength and even can have a detrimental effect on your mental ability to deal with life’s stress.
Get walking, jog, swim, cycle or work out in a gym. As always start small and build up the frequency and difficulty of your exercise routine, no excuses, if it is raining get an umbrella, walk in your lunchtime, just get going...you will feel so much better for changing your lifestyle.
Key 8: Writing your own script
Yes, you are the writer of own life’s script. The decisions you make, the people you chose to be friends with and your life choices are yours and yours only.
Making positive decisions about what you want out of life will attract better outcomes. Visualise what you want in life, write out an action plan of how you are going to get there in a specified amount of time. Set goals along the way, celebrate each positive forward movement. Search for likeminded souls on the same path, seek wisdom from your elders, find a mentor who can assist you in reaching your goals. Positive attracts positive, writing your own script is one of the joys in life, now is the time to start.
Key 9: Be your best
Everything you do in life should be your absolute best effort, you need to fully invest 100 per cent. Successful people have one thing in common, they put in all that they can into every project. You are never going to achieve total success, giving it your best try creates contentment with whatever outcome is achieved.
Learn from your mistakes, life skills are learnt firsthand, adjust the process for the best outcome.
Building a “can do” mind set, in the end, gives you the best chance to taste success in whatever field you choose.
