ORLANDO – It sounds like a nearly impossible task, at a time when unemployment is high, jobs are scarce, and people are anxious about their future.
In times like these, is it possible to be “Living an Incredible Life?”
“On the subject of how to live our lives, that has become one of the most important subjects to me,” said Brek Dalrymple, a small business consultant who operates The BrekGroup.
“It’s the most important topic in the world to me,” he said. “It’s how do we relate to our family, how do we relate to our career, and what do you want to do with your life?”
It all begins, he said, with a little perspective. And Dalrymple reached that perspective when he did a little research and, at age 47, looked up the average life expectancy for white men. It turned out to be 75 years old.
“That got me thinking,” he said. “I’m 47. I’m going to live to be 75, and that’s almost 30 years left. Then I figured that I might have only 10 years left of being physically able to do everything I want to do. Then I realized I might be dead within 25 years. And everyone I know will be dead as well. I figured I needed to decide what it is I want to do.”
Figuring out how to Live an Incredible Life isn’t easy, but as Dalrymple noted, it can be accomplished by anyone who starts by putting their life into perspective and figuring out what it is that’s really important to them.
On Saturday, Dalrymple hosted a program at the Orlando Public Library on how to be “Living an Incredible Life.” His advice was to start by figuring out what make you happys – and what’s missing in your life that you’re not doing, what goals you’ve put off because they seem to difficult to achieve, what’s holding you back from doing what you really want.
“I think what prevents people like myself and others I know from having the life they really want is fear,” he said. “I find that it’s really hard to make good decisions in our mind. Why did you stay in that job for so long? Why did you stay friends with that person who was a black hole of emotions? That was wasting time when you could be doing things you really want to do.”
Dalrymple has been there – and done that. He has a successful job in a career with solid growth potential, but something was missing. So he sat down and thought about what he needed to achieve a truly wonderful life. He came to the conclusion that he wanted two things: to be traveling, and to be free of stress.
“I made a list of what I wanted to accomplish in my life,” he said. With that in mind, he then took a very bold step, and told his boss he was quitting within six months. He stuck to that pledge, and then rode a motorcycle across the country.
“I did it again, and again,” he said. “I was a single person with no children. Over the next four summers I was gone.
“Life can be so much fun,” he added. “It’s not about money. I stayed in tents, I stayed in hostels, and I just had the greatest time in my life. What made my life incredible was to travel, so decide for yourself whatever it is you feel like you really want to do.”
Far too many people postpone those decisions because they think it’s more practical to put their dreams and ambitions on hold. And then there’s the fear of failing – something that Dalrymple said we’re all are bound to do at one point or another. But that doesn’t mean any of us should stop trying, he added.
“The bad news for everyone who is a perfectionist is you’re going to fail more often than you succeed,” he said. “But what’s important is they try and fail without letting it bring them down. The ability to keep moving forward and taking additional steps, I’ve found, is the key to happiness for the people I know who are really happy.”
Starting on this journey, he said, should begin with two simple questions: what is it you want out of life, and can you accept yourself and your dreams for what they are, rather than devoting your time to meeting other people’s expectations.
“We need to make a list of the stuff we want to accomplish in our life,” he said. “Then there’s an added layer of determination that you have to have. Part of how to have an incredible life is overcoming your fear – fear of failure, fear of making a decision. It’s just getting over yourself, when you stop worrying about what people think about you.”
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