Physical
The tangible parts of you, your body, muscles, and bones. The part of your that registers pain, the power-plant that provides you energy, and one of three parts that cultivates and produces your emotions and desires. You only have one, and though science and tech has got to the point that parts of it can be replaces, it is better to take care of the one you currently have.
Neglecting or abusing your physical self can easily effect your mental, spiritual, family, social, community and productivity initially and eventually an indirect effect on your personal finances. The biggest thing is your ability to function, focus, and move or take action.
Not only do I think of this as working out, but also what you put into your body: food, drugs, medication, and the registration of human contact (physical touch). You need all of that, in the proper proportions and at the correct times.
Improvement & Measurement
Simple goals include:
- be able to run a half marathon, or within a set amount of time
- being able to do a number of sets & reps at a specific weight by a specific date
- reach a target body weight – be careful on this one that you understand how this works; my top physical condition also was a period where I almost weighed the most, I weigh a little more today, yet in many regards I am the strongest physically then I have ever been.
- reduce your cloistral, or other lab value
- reduce or eliminate a type of food, drug, or addition that you consume or consumed
One thing that has helped me is actually spending money on education or memberships. Education for some is a cure all, or a natural thing, but learning a different way if often a key. In the medical industry it is widely known that preventive measures are much less expensive then curing or fixing a condition or situation. Joining a gym, school, club, or YMCA helped me a lot, before I would go out running every once and a while, however when we were paying each month for a membership, I wanted to get my moneys worth, and put forth extra effort to work out on a regular basis.
That concept of putting down money plays a part in many areas of our lives.
One technique that I have heard doctors use is to ask on a scale of 1 to 10 how painful your issue is when you come to them with an issue. Well, that is something you can do on a regular basis for energy level. This could be done one of two ways:
- at the end of a time period (say a day) you write down a number on a calendar or spreadsheet with the rating for your day
- when you have a high energy moment, you write it down, or send a txt to your email
Then after a while you take the data you have collected and can see how often you had high points, or good days. This can be good or bad, since having good days can turn into the focus of your life and you forget other areas.
Mental
We are in a world where physical labor is generally less valued compared to what you know. It’s been said you will be the exact same person in five years with the exception of the books you read and the people you meet. Thankfully, “the books you read” is easily transferred to the websites, podcasts, audio, video, or other media that you consume that expands your vision, world view, understanding, knowledge, and/or abilities.
There are two negative actions you can take that generallca will not help you be the best you you can be in this area:
- don’t work on growing
- fill your mind with crap
We all have a limited amount of time and energy, luckily we can work and generate more energy, yet we cannot do anything to increase our time.
How this effects other areas is not as clear cut as the physical and some other areas. It also depends more on other areas.
If you never grow mentally:
- your production will be stagnant
- your personal finances will reduce relative to the rest of the world
- you will have less to relate to with people in the future
- you will not have the best techniques in your toolkit to improve physically or spiritually
Now if you just fill your head with crap, and I am not downplaying the need to entertainment, or relaxation, the issue come in with a reduced amount of time for development in the seven areas, or ability since your only have a set amount of ram in your head. It makes mental growth harder and less likely to happen.
Improvement & MeasurementI don’t recommend any way that your formal education graded your improvement as a standard measurement of growth. Even if you measure your growth by the same methods understand that it is not the ability to have raw knowledge or facts in your head that is a sign of mental growth, it is the ability to understand more, solve more (both number and difficulty level) problems, and envision more options & opportunities.
- read X number of books, or if you are like me – listen though & take notes on X number of books – in a set amount of time
listen to a specific podcast that helps you grow mentally within a week of the episode comes out- work a sudoku, picross, or other puzzle each morning before you go to work
- watch one “how to” video on youtube each week on a topic you want to learn about – I learned how to make sushi form a few videos.
- pick up RSS feeds, or a system to receive emails when articles on specific topics come out
- find a mentor – someone who you want to be like & have lunch with them once a (enter time period here)
Each of those has a time frame, vision, and direction you are going to, but the difference is the way in which you are learning.
Mark Twain basically said:
Don’t let your schooling interfere with your education.
I would employ you, you who are not in a formal school to not let your life or mindset interfere with your education. There are always lessons to learn. Remember, pick the fruit and burn the rest.
