Question of the Week #41/ Are You Attempting to Be the Best Possible Version of You?

I am currently leading a courageous and inspiring group of women through some personal growth classes. At our first class one of the younger members of the group gave me the best answer to this question: "Why are you here tonite?"

“I’m here because I want to be the best version of me that I can be.”

I paused for a moment to appreciate the chills I got after she answered, then thought: That is so cool. She’s got it. That expresses perfectly how I feel and what I now try to do everyday.

Don’t we all really want to be the best version of ourselves that we can be?

Well maybe not. I can say that five years ago I hadn’t even thought about it at all. I considered myself too busy and I was too focused on accomplishing everything on my To Do list to take the time to sit still and think about me. It felt selfish, like a luxury I couldn't afford the time to indulge in, so I failed to take time to work on me.

Maybe a bigger mistake is that I really thought I didn’t need to work on personal growth. I was in what I considered a content place-- happily married, working, and doing my best to raise successful kids. I thought self help books and personal growth classes were for those people who had been through difficult times – and I hadn’t. I had experienced no childhood trauma, had never been without a job for more than a couple weeks, was healthy and had never endured a great loss or hardship. I was happy, responsible, and safe. Life was good.

What I see and know now is that it should have been, great. Focusing inward needs to be a continual practice and I had put myself on the back burner. No one was getting the best version of me, and wouldn't, not until I worked on myself to make sure I was firing on all cylinders.

I see now that if I am healthy and whole my loved ones get the best parts of me, not the worst. Don't make the same mistake that I did, take time to work on you and be all you can be. I’ve learned that just going through life safely and responsibly only allows a person a tiny slice of what real joy and real happiness can be.

Take time to cultivate you and the world becomes a brighter, lighter place for everyone.

I'm excited to announce that tomorrow I will be adding a regular feature to my blog called: The Question of the Week.

The Question of the Week will be posted every Friday and is designed to encourage deeper thinking about yourself, your life, your passions, and your strengths & weaknesses. It is my hope that answering them will facilitate personal growth for all who participate.

Why dig deeper?

While I believe that it is never too late to begin understanding yourself, I also believe you should pay attention from a young age to the things that make you go “aha” and fill you with passionate energy. No matter what stage of life you are in, answering The Question of the Week will help you uncover your passions, highlight your interests and help you understand yourself better.  It may even help you determine what you want to be when you grow up, what you want to do next in life, or where you want to be ten years from now. Who knows, the life you truly desire might become clearer.

We all hope for happiness and personal fulfillment in our home lives and our work lives. The first step in achieving them is to truly begin to understand ourselves. And that takes commitment and courage. I challenge you to answer these 52 questions and to invest in your potential in 2013.

Because I know that together we can grow and keep each other on track, I will be answering the questions right along with you. I’d love to create a dialogue around our answers. Feel free to comment on the blog, email me privately, or share your thoughts with me in person if you know me in the real world….. I'm here to listen, to learn and to help.

First Question of the Week posts tomorrow. 7 am. Will you be ready?