Rule 3 of our "10 Rules for Life" is to Be Proactive. "Be Proactive" is also Habit 1 in Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Whenever something impacts you, YOU are in control of the response. Effective people choose to take the initiative and act back. The key lesson in Habit 1 is understanding whether you control, influence, or only have concerns about an issue or impact on your life. One of the keys to a happy life is not wasting any of your time worrying about things that happen in your life you have no control…

Whether you are a student, business leader, parent, entrepreneur, Olympic athlete - we all share the need for developing our mental fitness as part of our personal development journey. Strengthening mental fitness improves our ability to manage stress, make decisions and influence the way we think, behave and feel. This is a core component of Rule 2 in our 10 Rules for Life. Muscular Meditation Have you ever noticed how much more clear your mind feels after a long walk? You can improve your mental fitness by creating time for daily muscular meditation - any activity that involves repetitive and…

I recently came across a new Japanese word that I need to share with the Personal Kaizen community. Ikigai (生き甲斐) is a Japanese word that translates to "a reason for being." I love that the Japanese language sees so much importance in this concept that it has its own word! The idea is similar to the French "raison d'être" or what we would call the "meaning of life" in the English language. Ikigai is believed to be the primary reason the people of Okinawa, Japan are in a "blue zone" where people often live to 100+ years old. We believe…