HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? HOW DO OTHERS PERCIEVE YOU? HOW IMPACTFUL ARE YOUR DECISIONS? IS ANY OF THIS RELEVANT?

Antréa Ferguson, MSPH Allison Lane Michelle Trieste Martin Hogg Dan Buerk Michael Weldon Cook Marleen Nijhof Shanee Moret

Whether we are the leaders of our households, leading in our businesses, or just leading our own lives, we should be able to gauge and determine if we are going in the right direction. How open are we to critique? How big is our ego? Are we blinded by our own obsessions?

Are we as well-rounded as we would like to be, or as we think we are? By rounded, I mean in all spheres of the wheel of life: family values, community contributions, financial independence, health targets, fitness levels, spiritual levels.

What were our goals to begin with? Did we, in fact, have any real written goals in each of these sectors? Do we have any mentors who can really tell us like it is?

Why is any of this relevant? Because, believe it or not, there is always someone watching. No matter how small or insignificant the action we may take, there may be someone watching and appraising. But most important of all, we must know how we are doing for our own guidance, especially important to know why we do the things we do.

I have chosen to live each day with intention and awareness, which has led me to be humble and grateful. In turn, this has inspired me to strive to be a better person and continually learn from my numerous mistakes.

Frequently, people ask me about what type of diet I follow, what exercises I do, who are or have been my mentors, what books I read, to name a few of these questions. Of course, the reason is that I am constantly talking about the wedges of the wheel of life, which have to be in perfect harmony for our lives to be serene. This has led me to have a privileged lifestyle which continues to evolve.

It is not easy to help someone unless he/she seeks it consciously, but it is important to always be honest and sincere with our comments and advice. Here is where the ego can be a limitation for people to really hear what is being said, rather than what they want to hear. It takes courage to make changes and accept that there may be a better way of doing things. For that reason, I have, for a very long time, shown my own vulnerability and told of my numerous failures and the valuable lessons learned which hopefully can help others.

My focus is on helping anyone who has fallen to find their inner strength and resilience to regain their mojo and passion. Life is what we make it, and if we lose sight of what is really important, it can become a hollow and meaningless experience. The dreams and enthusiasm of our youthful years can erode into mundane drudgery if we settle and don't follow those dreams. We shorten our lives by looking forward to things instead of being enthusiastic and appreciative of what we have.

I ask a busy "successful" person, what is the name of your second daughter's best friend? What is your daughter's favorite color? When was the last time you all sat down for dinner without any cellphones nearby and had meaningful conversations? These are emotionally charged questions, but they can be the beginning of redirecting our values to what is really important.

Beginning in April, I will be having weekly Zoom talks on the wheel of life. My focus is, of course, being able to contribute to reigniting the embers of your burnt dreams.

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