Welcome, everyone! I’m excited for this upcoming series on effective living. Let’s begin!
 
WARNING: My posts are the results of a stream of thought on a particular topic. It is based on experience and self-exploration even (and especially) during the most uncomfortable, painful, or unpleasant of situations. I will only briefly touch on shallow concepts as a means to link the implications of big ideas to the big picture itself. I will go deep. This is as much my own exploration as it is an invitation for others to explore.
The aim for these post, like all my posts, is to be precise and to the point, providing insights into big picture concepts as a means for exploration. I will aim to include posts devoted to the practical actions that can be quickly implemented to ultimately help in developing an effective mindset in the modern world. But my objective is to explore foundational ideas first, this will provide more meaning and understanding to WHY the practical actions are considered which will ultimately allow you to modify these actions to best suit you based on your understanding of the bigger picture. This is essentially the approach of addressing the root cause and not the symptoms, this will provide lasting results that have ripple effects throughout multiple areas of your life. This is a mindset-first approach. I promote a lifestyle that I have found to be useful in effective living, it is a life-philosophy, i.e. an interpretation of life.
Remember, the idea is not to achieve a single task and be done, but to use that task as a tool in developing an identity that represents the strongest version of yourself.

Objective

Life can be sectioned into 3 core areas of focus. These areas are social, physical, and mental. At any point in time a daily objective in each of these fields should be near the front of our mind. It is by these daily objectives that we measure progress in our day. The important thing to remember is that these objectives need not be a single task, it is encouraged for them to be aimed at developing a mindset and growing productive habits. This may come in the form of achieving a specific task, but the more long-term objective to have is to reinforce the identity, mindset, and system of habits that will ultimately deliver you where you want to be.
Each day you can have a mission in each of these 3 areas of focus. The mission can be subdivided into simpler tasks, but there should be no more than 3 tasks for each of these areas of focus. The mission should be something that is ultimately tied to the identity that you want to have. There should be challenge and a slight degree of uncertainty with each mission.
The reason there are 3 realms is because at any point in our day we often find ourselves doing something that is more related to one of these 3 areas than the others. There is never a time when we do not hit at least one of these (“Spiritual” is included in “Social”). Later, we will see how all of these are indeed connected and should be thought of as connected (with ways one can improve the social aspect of their life through development of say, the mental aspect of their life); but for now we will consider them as 3 distinct focal points. Ultimately, each of these areas should be thought of as 3 distinct points and our objectives from day to day should address that accordingly. This is because of how any situation in our day falls more in one of these 3 areas than the others, if we have a predetermined mission or identity to strive towards for that area then we will be able to more quickly bring it to mind and act accordingly.
Examples:

• Social
  • Talking to or interacting with a coworker, friend, or partner
  • Waving to a stranger
  • Engaging in spiritual practices
• Physical
  • Readying our body in the morning and before bed
  • Eating a healthy meal
  • Energizing ourselves through walking and other exercise
• Mental
  • Managing distracting thoughts and our own self-criticism
  • Focusing on tasks and sticking to things we said we will do
  • Introspection and reflection as it relates to bigger picture thinking

Next time we will explore a high level overview of each of these 3 areas, each in turn.
Stay tuned! Evolve.

Summary

Progress in anything can be made through deliberate and concentrated action, clarity is a means to make that action more obvious and straightforward. This clarity can be achieved through categorizing life into the three main buckets of social, physical, and mental. Each day should begin by creating tasks or “missions” that will serve to progress you forward in life. These missions should remain at the forefront of your mind throughout the day and any leisure time should go to recalling and pondering them (i.e. think of more ways you can work towards them each day). At any point in the day you should have an opportunity to develop in at least one of these three areas. Actions taken to develop these areas should be deliberate (distraction free, effortful).
 

Your Call to Action

Thank you for reading!
I want to hear from you. What do you think about categorizing life into Social, Physical, and Mental? How can it be applied? In what ways can it be improved to be more reachable to a broader audience? How could it be expanded on? Share in the comments section below!
Don’t put off contemplating what the insights from this article mean, find a quiet location and think deeply about what it might mean for you. Just 10 deliberate minutes can make a large difference, set a timer, do it regularly and you will notice the changes within a few weeks. You improve your ability to think and therefore make effective decisions by spending more time deliberately thinking about the relevant subject. Consider applying journaling and meditation to see more profound changes, these are just more deliberate and concentrated forms of quiet and focused thinking. Slow down, find stillness.
I am always looking to improve my reach and the impact that I have with my writing, please provide your feedback in the comments below.
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