I have been thinking a lot about living an optimal life. Between attending Oprah’s 2020 vision event and hearing her always authentic talk about why now is the best time to be living your best life and knowing of some special people leaving this Earth, as we would say, way too soon- my attention is caught. Have you been thinking about this, too? It sounds cliche, but there really is no time like right now to live the life we know we are meant to live- in all areas.
There is nothing, to me, that describes living our best lives more than the word flourish/flourishing.
From the dictionary:
- developing rapidly and successfully, thriving
- (my favorite) to grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly favorable environments.
I got so excited when I read this definition! Particularly favorable environment! The reason I even ended up finding that definition was that as I was planning my Thrive retreat last June I was looking at the definition of the word thrive. Flourish was used in that definition so I went a bit down the rabbit hole and looked into it. When I shared this word and the meaning with the retreat’s participants, it really resonated with them- and I have been playing around with it ever since.
For pretty much my whole coaching career I have been speaking to clients and groups about their environments- especially when I am talking about mindset. Flourishing connects right into that conversation.
The reason I love flourishing is that for the most part, it is something we can control! Most of us can control our outer environments, and all of us can or can learn to control our inner environment.
Inner- what you think about and the health of your body- the parts you can control. Learning to think in a way that supports you increases your positive mindset and that is something you can work on and control. Your inner body health and flourishing can be affected by many things you can control- your diet, your movement, your rest. We don’t always choose what happens inside, but we can control what we contribute to our health and our inner physical environment.
Outer- your physical environments- like your office and desk, your home and even your car. The places you spend your time can either fill you with energy and support you in your pursuits, or drain you. Have you ever cleaned your car inside and out and then filled the tank? To me, it is one of the best feelings. When you walk into your home do you take a deep breath of relaxation, or do you tense up? Your home should be a place to refill your tank. Having lots of clutter around or having what you see be less than pleasing will sap you and make you feel tired, or restless. One of my favorite things to do in my home and office environments is to have fresh flowers in them. See the picture at the top of this post- those are tulips I bought today in the middle of our biggest snow storm this winter. They have made me smile all day and will continue to all weekend long. In the lobby of our office building, fresh flowers are delivered each Monday morning and beautiful local artwork hangs on all of the walls throughout the building. I appreciate these things and think they contribute to a high vibe energy which helps me to get great work created and finished. For clients who come to my office it is a positive and uplifting environment, and when I work with clients on the phone, it helps my energy to be focused and inspired.
Outer- is also about the people you spend time with and the things you commit to. Spending time in places that don’t make you feel your best, or people who you feel badly around are not going to help you to flourish. This even extends to who you are connected to and following online. If someone or an account you follow does nothing but make you feel badly about yourself and inadequate, maybe that’s not where you want to spend your time.
This week, focus on one part of one environment where you are willing to make a small change. Keep it going for the rest of the month. Tell me about what you decide to do and how it impacted you and I will enter you into a drawing to win the book “Flourishing” by Martin Seligman, the man who started this conversation! You need to do it by February 29, 2020 to be entered. I look forward to hearing what you do!
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