The greatest gift we guys can ever give to ourselves, and to our family and friends, is to live this life the best we can!

When 2016 started, many did the traditional New Year’s resolutions and right away fell into a statistic of failed resolutions that is shared by many around the world. Now I know that it is not on purpose but it is a matter of fact, that many make big promises with little results. Losing weight, kicking habits, or just becoming a better version of oneself is not to be reserved for a once a year event, but instead, to be walked out daily.

I have done this year after year, until in 2015 when I took a different path and chose a word and made it my focus for the year. In 2015, the word was “Simplify” and I made some steps throughout the year to simplify my daily world. However, by the end of the year, I discovered that simplifying my life turned into a lifestyle I wanted to embrace.

Now we enter into 2016 and I found the word “Purpose” saying, “Pick me, pick me” and so I did! Purpose can simply be defined as the very reason we exist.

Now purpose for me as a husband, father, friend, public speaker, coach, mentor, CEO for a non-profit, entrepreneur, writer and podcaster is very important and that is the reason for the title of this article. There will never be a life well lived if the purpose for that life is never found, embraced and then walked out.

Sometimes just some small changes can help us redefine the life we are living and here are just a few ideas.

1. Stop sweating the small stuff. Even though this is an old statement, it is one of great truth. People die daily stressing over things they can’t change. We have got to decide once and for all, “If I can’t change it, I’m not going to stress over it”. Worrying will not change anything BUT our health!

2. Never allow another to decide the value of you. I myself for years based my worth on what others thought about me. When that is the case, then the life we live will be purely based on what others allow. We must take control of our lives and get off the emotional roller coaster once and for all.

3. Living life forward creates a sense of value that is life changing all its own. A great way of doing this is by serving others. It could be volunteering your time in your community, at your church, your child’s school, etc. and as we do this, we soon find that we forget about us and our problems and get a new perspective on life. That new perspective could be all we needed to put us on track to living that well lived life.

4. Be true to you. You’re one of a kind, a masterpiece and so live like it. Stop being a follower of the crowds and start blazing a new trail.

5. Be adaptable and flexible and learn to flow with the waves and not against them. I think that many feel that if they become adaptable then they are giving up control of their own lives. But that’s so far from the truth! Being adaptable or flexible simply means we are flowing with life, which is better, and not becoming like a ship in the ocean being battered from all sides by the waves that surround it.

6. Learn to love you because if you don’t find yourself lovable, how can anyone else! If you can’t stand to be around yourself, then how can we expect anyone else to want to be? Many live life with a love/hate relationship with themselves that seeps out and onto other relationships unless we come to terms with our own selves.

These are of course not the end all answers, but simply suggestions to a new start in living a life well lived.

So today, start living your life on purpose with purpose. It truly is up to you!

This article originally appeared on http://goodmenproject.com/ on January 6, 2016

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