Are You Living Life on Your Terms?

Whenever I meet someone who is crushing life I get so pumped. It’s contagious.

Seeing someone — in person and not just on a screen — who is living life on their terms is inspiring and encouraging. Are you one of those people?

I recently met someone like this.

I’m not a dog lover, but I promised my daughter she could have a SECOND dog.  I had given her what I thought was an impossible athletic (tennis) goal and she reached it!

So now I have keep my promise! I think one day she’ll be playing against Naomi Osaka!  

Anyways, back to my story…

So, my family and I visited a German Shepherd breeder’s house located in this secluded area on a dusty road on the outskirts of Pretoria (in South Africa).  We were greeted by this friendly older woman named Christel and her two large German Shepherds that were behind a fence in the front yard.

After playing with 3 German Shepherd puppies Christel brought for us, my daughter picked the calmest one of the bunch.

After paying and going over the paperwork, my wife and I engaged in some friendly conversation with the breeder. With a huge smile on her face, Christel said she was originally from Belgium, but loved living in South Africa.

In South Africa, she explained, she could live her dream life (facilitated by a lower cost of living possibly). What’s her dream life, you ask?

She said she always wanted to live near her children and now her two daughters, and grandchildren, lived next door. 

My wife and I would love to stay close to our daughters too one day so we could relate to her joy.

There are so many quotes about “dreaming big” and “reaching for the stars”, but maybe we we’ll be happier if we just identify what we really want instead of superficial stuff that other people want.

When was the last time you asked yourself-

What makes YOU happy?

Sometimes we aim for goals that aren’t really important in the long-term or we might choose things only to impress others.

Even worse, we might pursue things only because that’s what other people want.

Forget about what other people want. Let’s be selfish for a bit.

What do YOU want?

How do YOU want to be living 5 years from now?

What will give you more life fulfillment?

This woman didn’t seem like a multi-millionaire, but she seemed to be truly living her dream life. 

Have you spent any time this year thinking about your ideal life and what tiny steps you can take today to get there? We invest so much time watching media (news, social media, Netflix, etc) but what’s our Return on Investment for that?

As we approach the end of year, don’t forget to invest some time reflecting on what you want to see more of next year in your life. Take out a journal and write about your ideal future, the things you’d like to accomplish, and what actions you can take to move toward that vision.

Living life on your terms doesn’t have to be some crazy goal. But it does require we know what we want.

So, what does living life on YOUR terms look like to you?