The Game of Life

The game has always been: do more, with less, faster, and better

Where is the balance? There can be none. We have too much on our plates. Everyone says we have to cut back, to do less, slower, and perhaps no better.

Traditional solutions have always been about doing a different amount of each task. To spend less time at work, more time at home, more time with family and friends, and more time relaxing. This is a tough situation—a dilemma that for most is almost impossible to solve.

We have 168 hours a week—there is no more time! We can sleep less—but for how long! We can’t work less—until we cannot pay our bills or risk getting fired! Do we spend less time with the family? Do we eat out or eat packaged frozen dinners, so that we don’t have to spend so much time preparing foods? So how do we solve this dilemma?

There are the physical changes we can make. We can change our priorities and begin to focus on different things. We can put aside some activities and spend more time on others. But there is a limit as to how much we can do that.

Fortunately, there is another answer. It is to utilize the psychological nature of how we interact with the world. The key is to understand and utilize the process of transformation. Transformation is not difficult. It is the process of changing yourself in order to improve your experiences.

Most people are waiting for life to change and become perfect. If you have not figured it out by now, it will not. No, life is not like Berger King. No, you can’t have it your way. No matter what you try to do or what you try to change, life will never go exactly your way.

When your experiences become positive, you will begin to reap the following benefits:
     •  You will enjoy life more fully.
     •  Life will become more meaningful.
     •  You will become more productive.

The process of transformation begins with our ability to regain control of our lives. This requires that we control the following:
     •  Emotions
     •  Stress
     •  Attitude
     •  Self-Esteem
     •  Self-Image
     •  Mindset
     •  Habits

Unless and until we can control these, transforming our experiences and our lives is impossible. Yes, this may seem like a lot. Control of these is essential to the process of transforming your life. After all, it is lack of control of these factors that has created your life today. If you do not like what you have, it is necessary to change something. You can continue making superficial changes, which is what most people will do for most of their lives. Or, you can make a permanent change, which will transform your life.

Solutions to all of these are found in my book Professional Power, Personal Excellence. It provides clear and simple methods to minimize some of the negative aspects of your life. They are part of the first steps in becoming a Self-Navigator™. To read more about this book, click here.

As I mentioned before, you can always continue to make superficial changes or take action and transform your life.

The choice is yours!

   Copyright © 2004 by Gary K. Yamamoto.

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