When does your best life begin?

Many of us think that life will just click into place once we’ve achieved our big ticket wish list.

But what if your best life began right now? Regardless of your circumstances or situation. 

I wonder if you’ve heard of ‘post-achievement depression’. Common amongst high achievers, it's a sense of letdown which comes almost immediately after achieving a big success. You could have won gold at the olympics, just sold your business for a huge sum, or got an unbelievable promotion at work … and yet be overcome with a great sense of doom. It can happen for a whole host of reasons - including a realisation that success, as you define it, doesn’t automatically equate to happiness. Rather, people who have reached great heights often report that their happiest times were on the journey to their goals, rather than at the great destination itself. That the trials and tribulations build for an interesting experience and allow for creativity, problem solving and connection with others.

I want to tell you a story about a man I knew, many years ago.

He was self-employed for over 2 decades and, driven by early financial insecurity, worked 7 days a week in the family business. He would never take holidays- often joining his partner and children for just a day a week on UK breaks. His big dream was to retire and return to his native Cyprus, buy a boat to go fishing on and live there half the year, enjoying the island and spending time with old friends and family. It was an idyllic plan. Unfortunately his dream never came true, after 4 years of declining ill health, he died suddenly at the age of 57 from a heart attack on the operating table, whilst receiving what was supposed to be a life-saving kidney transplant. He was meant to have a second chance at life, yet instead never got to return to his native land or make peace with his troubled upbringing. He never got to see his kids graduate, get married and never got to meet his grandchildren. For years he put life on hold to graft, believing that one day he’d reap the rewards of his efforts. And all the pressure of it, the stress, the financial worry ultimately contributed to his ill health and an early death. This man I knew was my dad. And I vowed when we lost him, to live more in the moment. Rather than put off a joyful life, for a day in the future.

Now I challenge you to do the same. To find joy in the everyday. And give yourself time for rest, for relaxation and for enjoyment, whatever that means to you. If we can start to soak up a little joy here and there, then we’ll start to notice more of it. And we really can start living life now. Who knows, this fresh perspective might just help the big things happen, too.