My Formula for Living

A while ago a young man approached me after his Black Belt test to ask me if I had any formula for living based on my life experience. To tell you the truth, he caught me a bit off guard. I wasn't really prepared for his question and gave him some random ideas and half-baked thoughts. Although he appreciated it, I wasn't happy with my response—it got me to thinking that we probably all should have some kind of formula for living, shouldn't we?

After putting a good deal of thought into this young man's question, I came up with the formula for living that I would have liked to share with that young man:

1. Take great care of yourself. Eat right, exercise, get plenty of rest, and find healthy ways to de-stress so you can bring high value to the people in your life. The world needs us at our best.

2. Treat people right. Value your relationships. It is always better to have friends than enemies.

3. Don't be afraid to chase your dreams. Every worthwhile accomplishment begins as a tiny seed of thought.

4. Be prepared to work hard. Anything worth having is worth working for and rarely do worthwhile things come easily (at least, in my experience).

5. Don't give up. There WILL be roadblocks. When you get knocked down, get back up—even when you don't feel like it… especially when you don't feel like it.

6. Enjoy the process. Life is too short not to have fun. If this is hard for you to do, nurturing an attitude of gratitude is a great place to start.

I wish I could tell you that I always follow my own formula for living and never stray, but I can’t. I will tell you, though, that I am striving to follow these guidelines to the best of my ability. They have made a BIG difference in my life. Why don’t you join me?

This essay first appeared in Dave Kovar's book, “Brief Moments of Clarity” available on Amazon.