When I started The Good Life Well Lived movement I wrote a manifesto containing the things that I believed were important for having a good life and living it well.

I have since refined that manifesto and distilled it into seven key points.  I have no doubt that this manifesto will grow and evolve over time as I continue with this work.

Life is busy and it is too easy to get caught up in the ‘busyness’, coasting along as days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months. I want to encourage you to take time out and think, really think about what a good life well lived means to you.

To accompany the Manifesto, I have created The Good Life Well Lived Playbook, to give you some questions to consider and activities to complete to gently guide you in the direction of your own version of a good life well lived.

I have deliberately called this a ‘playbook’ rather than a ‘workbook’. Reflecting on the things that are important to you should not be work,  it should be fun, light and playful.  You can download your own FREE copy of The Good Life Well Lived Playbook.

I’d love to know what you think of the Manifesto and what you would share in your own Good Life Well Lived Manifesto. Drop me a line and let me know. 

#1 EMBRACE YOUR YOUNESS

You have a unique mix of skills, qualifications, qualities and personality.  Embrace your unique ‘youness’ in all it’s gloriously perfect imperfection.

Acknowledge your quirks, be proud of your idiosyncrasies. Without them you wouldn’t be you. Despite what you may believe, you are enough, exactly as you are.

You are WAY more capable than you ever give yourself credit for.

When people praise you, don’t be modest or try to deflect. Smile and say thank you.

We’ve all got an inner critic, it’s that little voice in our head that niggles away and tells us that we are not good enough.

When your inner critic starts to whisper sweet nothings in your ear, smile sweetly, stick two fingers up at it and say ‘thanks for sharing your thoughts but I’m in charge here’.

Stop comparing yourself to other people. They are not you and you are not them.

Head down, eyes in your own lane, the only thing you need to do is BE YOU.

Listen to The Good Life Well Lived Podcast Episode 54 – Accepting Yourself Just as You Are 

#2 YOU HAVE CHOICES

You have choices. I want you to read that again and let it sink in. You have choices.

No matter what situation you are in or how stuck you feel, there are always choices. You have the power to make the best choice for you.

Be curious. Explore the options available and take responsibility for the choices that you make. You are in the driving seat.

The choice you make today might not be the same choice you would have made 5 years ago. It might not be the same choice you will make in 5 years time, but it is right for you today.

Get clear on your own beliefs, values and principles. Use them as your internal compass to help guide your decision making.

There will be things in your life that you can and can not control.  Use your internal compass to guide your decisions about the things that you can control.

Let go of those things that you can not control.

Listen to The Good Life Well Lived Podcast Episode 55 – You Have Choices, Yes You!

#3 SHOW UP AND DO THE WORK

Once you have figured out what you want from your one ‘wild and precious life’ then you need to do the work to make it happen. Every Single Day.

Show up for the people that matter to you. Show up for the things that matter to you. Some days you will find great joy in showing up and it will make you feel alive and purposeful. And some days showing it will be difficult and uncomfortable. You still need to show up.

Don’t let life pass you by. If something is important to you then follow through on it. If you think something is unfair then be brave enough to take action.

As human beings we overestimate what we can achieve in a day and underestimate what we can achieve in a year.

Know where you want to go and then do the work every single day to get you there and you will achieve great things. Every small action that you take in the right direction is moving you forward. I call it the 1% nudge.

We won’t get from A to B in one go. But every step forward is a nudge in the right direction. Even if it only moves us forward by 1% or 0.1% it’s still a nudge and it all adds up.

These little nudges that you make will have a ripple effect. Very soon these nudges and ripples will add up and get you where you want to go.

Listen to The Good Life Well Lived Podcast Episode 56 – No More Excuses, Do The Work

#4 SHOW KINDNESS

Show kindness. Say good morning to the people you walk past every day. Smile at the cashier. Pick up the rattle that the toddler has dropped out of the pushchair.

Simple actions can make a big difference. With one small action you can change the course of an entire day.

Don’t take yourself too seriously. It’s OK to make mistakes and it’s even more OK to acknowledge those mistakes and have a little laugh to yourself.

Show compassion to those who are having a difficult time.

When life is good. Pay it forward. Either with time or with money. When life isn’t so good. Still pay it forward.

Nine times out of ten there will be people in a worse position than you. And when you are in a worse position than others wouldn’t you like to be on the receiving end of some kindness?

Listen to The Good Life Well Lived Podcast Episode 57 – Be More Jacinda Arden

#5 RECOGNISE YOUR IMPORTANCE

In a world of 7.7 billion people it is tempting to feel insignificant.

To your inner circle – your husband, wife, partner, mother, father, brother, sister, children, close friends and allies – you matter. More than you can possibly imagine.

Channel your energy into nurturing these relationships that support you. Make time for them. Let them know how important they are to you and remember how important you are to them.

No matter how busy you are or how distracted you might be always try to maintain a sense of perspective.

There is nothing, absolutely nothing, more important than the relationships in your life and the human connections that you make.

Listen to The Good Life Well Lived Podcast Episode 58 – Spend Time With People That Matter The Most

#6 ENJOY THE JOURNEY

Don’t waste time doing things you don’t enjoy or spend time with people that don’t light you up.

Be passionate about your work and your life. What do you love? What do you want to share with others? Do it like you mean it!

Things will go wrong. You will make mistakes. Learn from your mistake, then pick yourself up, dust yourself off and take the next steps.

It doesn’t need to be a big next step. Remember it only needs to be a 1% nudge.

Life is full of twists and turns, some of them you can control and some of them you can’t. Be open to what comes your way.

We all have a limited time to be alive. Enjoy it and embrace the seasons that you will travel through on this journey.

Accept the season that you are in, don’t fight against it, there’s little, if nothing that you can do to change it.

Enjoy the good times and appreciate the lessons that you learn from the more difficult times. Every day is an adventure, if you choose to see it that way.

Listen to The Good Life Well Lived Podcast Episode 59 – Enjoy the Journey Even If You Are Terrified

#7 BE GRATEFUL

You are a living, breathing human being on planet earth. You live in one of the most exciting and influential times in the history of the world.

Stop thinking about the things that you don’t have in your life and start appreciating all that you do have.

Cultivate gratitude. Make it a daily practice to help you keep a positive attitude and celebrate the magic moments in your good life.

Life is good. Live it well.

Listen to The Good Life Well Lived Podcast Episode 60 – Be Grateful It Will Change Your World

Share your details with my little birdy below and I will give you immediate access to The Good Life Well LIved Playbook, where I share the entire manifesto, along with reflection questions and exercises to get you thinking about your own good life well lived.