Contrary to popular belief, Elvis hasn’t left the
building. He’s just hiding in the
bathroom and gazing back at a lot of miserable people from the other side of the
mirror.
How do I know this?
He used to stare back at me every morning while I brushed my teeth, telling me, "You ain't nothin' but a hounddog. Cryin all the time." as I prepared for yet another exhausting day.
These days (and for the most part) he has moved on and doesn't hang out as much. And I'm glad for it. I didn't want to end up like Elvis - a man who society may have called successful but also a man who paid the ultimate price too early in life due to an out of balance life.
Before leaving though, he taught me a few things about the importance of life balance which led me to this revelation: Life consists of many different forms of income.
Sadly, I now see how broke some people are.
So what are some of the different incomes in life? Below are a
few of the important ones I notice people often overlook and neglect.
1) Emotional Income – Your emotional income often comes from
daily habits and behaviors. If you begin
each morning reading motivational materials or practicing skills you are
passionate about, your emotional income increases. If you begin each morning reading the
obituary and allowing the local news to tell you how bad the world is and why
it’s getting worse, your emotional income decreases. Choose behaviors and habits that motivate you
emotionally!
2) Time Income – Everyone has 24 hours a day deposited into
their account. You can’t save it for
tomorrow or next week or next year. And
whatever you don’t spend each day you lose at midnight and can’t get it
back. Time is fleeing. It really can’t be saved for later no matter
how many infomercials and services promise to “save you time!”
3) Relationship Income – Do your current relationships make
you feel rich or poor? As is said, we
are the sum of our relationships. Better
relationships create a better you while toxic relationships have the ability to
limit your potential in all areas of your life.
On a personal note: I truly believe
a child needs at least one parent fully engaged in their life. Yep, we all have to make money but children
need an engaged parent more than better clothes, a nice cell phone, 200
channels on TV, and a cool car. And if
giving up one income and right-sizing your life is what it takes to make this
possible, do it! In the long run, the
return will be well worth the investment.
4) Spiritual Income – Too many approach spiritual income
with an entitlement mentality. Just
because God loves you, he doesn’t owe you a big house, Mercedes in the
driveway, or happiness for that matter.
To increase your spiritual income, you must make an effort to seek Him
out.
5) Health Income – Want to feel good in your 60’s and
70’s? Start in your 20’s, 30’s, and
40’s. That Big Mac may taste good at twenty-five
years old but it won’t feel good at sixty-five years old. Investing four hours a day sitting on the
couch because you want to at thirty-five years old usually means you will be
sitting on the couch at sixty-five years old for hours a day because you do not
have the health to do anything else. The
point? Put the required work into
creating healthy habits now and reap the benefits of that work in your golden
years. Strive to be like my piano
instructor who continues to mow her lawn at eighty-nine years old!
6) Financial Income – If you are not making ends meet, you
always have a few options. Increase your
income by getting another job or second job, go back to school and learn a
more in demand trade, or decrease your lifestyle. And find no shame in seeking government
assistance for a while if needed while making an effort to better your
situation. (But don’t see government assistance as a permanent form of income
and upgrade your car or phone since “Uncle Sam” is now buying the groceries.)
However, if you have a great income but find yourself still
focused on making more, you risk decreasing other incomes in your life. Are you simply trading your relationships,
health, or valuable time for more money you actually don’t need? What does it matter if you are making
$150,000 a year but trading your health, relationships, and all of your time
for it? Those are parts of your life
that, once gone, can’t be bought back no matter how big your bank account gets.
7) Charitable Income – What is your life producing so as to
make the world a better place for the next generation? Are you sharing your time? Are you sharing your money? Are you sharing kind words and encouragement?
Are you sharing your talents? I truly believe the more you give, the better
the return. And study after study has
proven that giving and happiness go hand in hand.
Nonetheless, proper giving means to practice giving with what
you have to give, not what you want to give.
For example, if you have $200.00 in the bank, a $180.00 power bill due
tomorrow, and three kids depending on you, you can’t afford to give $150.00 to
a local homeless shelter, even if it makes you feel good when they call you a
saint!
But you can afford to share some of your time and
encouraging words. Remember, give what
you can afford!
What are a few takeaways?
1. Successful
people understand the importance of balance in life.
2. Lose the cultural idea of success and invest
your energy into creating personal success!
Everyone who owns a Mercedes is not necessarily successful just as
choosing to drive a ten year old car does not mean you are unsuccessful. If you disagree, just study the lives of Elvis,
Michael Jackson, Chris Farley, and Marilyn Monroe. All were outstanding talents living out of
balance lives and, in the end, paid the ultimate price for it much too soon.
3.
Personal success, in a nutshell, is answered by
one question. Am I happy? If the answer is no, what incomes do you need
to increase? What incomes are you putting
too much emphasis on? What steps can you
take to create balance which, in the end, creates happiness?
4. Take the Elvis test. Look at yourself in the mirror in the morning. What do you see? Do you see balance, contentment, and a
sparkle in your eye? If so, high five
the person in the mirror, congratulate them for living a life of uniqueness
and purpose and living "T.C.B." or Taking Care of Business! (A favorite motto of Elvis.)
What if the person staring back at you looks
exhausted and depressed? What if the expression
on the person’s face in the mirror resembles the expression of a person
drowning? What if
Elvis is staring back at you saying, “You’re decisions are killing me!!” If so, make changes beginning today.
Why?
Elvis may be the King of Rock n Roll, but he was also a slave to a
life he chose not to control that, in the end, took his happiness and ultimately ended his life much too soon.
And that makes him no different than the average person who chooses to exist in misery each day, living an Elvis impression that's spot on, but convinced
the outcome will be different.
I’ll go
ahead and tell you, it won’t.
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