5 Secrets to Living an Abundant Lifestyle Tip 1

Karie’s first secret to living an Abundant Lifestyle

Lets first discuss what the definition of Abundance is before we decide if we want to be living an abundant lifestyle, am I right?

Definition of Abundance is to live a Full life, in all major key areas. An abundant life is not being financially wealthy and suffering spiritually, physically and emotionally. Abundance is a true balance of constant overflow and having “enough” in all major areas of what makes us feel “whole”. Picture a large fountain, filling up 5 other smaller fountains that all represent an area in your life, and all of them are overflowing. Water is constantly moving and flowing in and pouring out, … it’s the art of giving and receiving.

With my 5 Secrets to Living an Abundant Lifestyle Tips, I would like you to do some self-evaluation and see where you are “on empty’ and work on those areas first. Eventually you will see your life start to overflow with abundance in all five areas as you achieve balance.
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Living an Abundant Lifestyle Secret #1

Health

It does not matter how much money you have or how famous you become, when your health goes sideways, everything goes with it.

I say this because I’ve had my share of health challenges and days where I didn’t feel like getting out of bed. I also have had days where I climb mountains and hike towards the sky feeling more alive than I’ve ever felt in my whole life.

Why would I choose Health to be my #1 secret? I share this with you because it is your platform, your vehicle to living a truly abundant lifestyle. If your body, mind and soul are not functioning properly you will not enjoy the wonderful moments in life fully. Which abundance means to be FULL… or overflowing with, remember?

So how do we create an abundance of health? See my key bullets below, not a lot new information here, but I will create my own spin on it and show you that it’s achievable.

• Eat Whole Foods
• Exercise regularly
• Drink Water
• Sleep
• Moderation

Eat Whole Foods

My definition of eating right could be the exact opposite of yours. So let me clarify by taking it one step further. This step is not complicated. I have always educated my clients with simplicity. It knocks out the confusion and overwhelm. Cut out as much as possible the foods that are found in the center of the grocery store and food that you can buy from a drive through window. That’s a good start. Now lets take it a step further. Why am I picking on the grocery story layout? The outer aisles tend to have produce, milk, eggs, whole grains, meat, cheeses, and other forms of whole foods. Whole food definition is food found in its natural state without alteration from man. Anything loaded with preservatives and altered in a lab to recreate what nature has made isn’t recognized or easily digested. Always picture yourself as a beautiful creation from God and whatever he created for your consumption has my stamp of approval. It’s when man tries to duplicate God/creation, that we see bouts of disease, cancer and other health challenges. Eat whole foods… simple. Got it? Good… moving on.

Exercise Regularly

A body that stays in motion always craves more motion. Don’t choose to join a gym if that’s not your choice of exercise. Make this fun. If your favorite pastime is catching up with your friends for a beer, then turn it into catching up with your friends for a run, bicycle ride, walk, or hike. I like to turn my social activities into exercise opportunities. If you don’t have any friends that like to exercise, then maybe you need to pick a new circle of friends? (More about that in secret tip # 3)

I feel that its very mundane going to the gym and choosing a cardio machine that will require staring at the sweaty man in front of me or worse a TV in the distance where I have to read the captions. DULL! So I suggest signing up for classes. Spin class, zumba, hot hula is a recent favorite of mine, boot camp, cross fit, anything that is a minimum of an hour long and will hold your attention for that length. Also helps to be in a classroom where you can’t wimp out and stop halfway through.

Drink Water

Your body, once again was created for the land of milk and honey. Ok, you get my point. Why would you drink something that was made in a factory with dyes, poison, carbonation, sugar, artificial flavors and last but not least a ton of sodium? Or, you can flush out your body and re-hydrate with natures #1 choice, water. If you can’t stand water, cut up fruit such as lemons, limes or oranges. The citrus is another added benefit for your body anyway. That’s a long list too, so add lemons. I suggest adding more water to your diet gradually. I make it easy to continually drink all day by filling a large glass with a straw by my desk. For some reason the straw makes it simple as I’m on the phone all day and can take quick sips.

Picture water as a flushing component. Removing toxins with pure fresh flowing water, like a beautiful river flowing from the mountaintop. Strive for purity. This mental image helped me when I made the switch to consuming almost 95% of my liquids as a form of fresh water.

Sleep

This one is REALLY important. A good nights rest will determine what day you will have tomorrow. An abundant lifestyle is not one that is full of sleepwalking and grumpiness. Women surprisingly need less sleep then men. I think that God knew we were going to be up with crying children often. Men need on average 7-8 hours of sleep, women are closer to 6-7 hours of sleep. This does not include infants, children and comatose teens. You’ve heard how sleep deprivation can make you feel intoxicated. What is worse is that you’ve deprived your body of a chance to rejuvenate, create new blood cells and recharge. Sadly, you never catch up on sleep loss either.

My best advice to you is to treat yourself like a toddler with a great sleeping schedule or nightly routine. If bedtime is at 11pm and you arise at 6am. Then start to wind down around 10pm. Do your nightly ritual that may consist of a shower, hot bath. Light reading is fine, this isn’t a time to tackle that self help book complete with a workbook. That activity along with watching the news or any other stimulation will make it more difficult for you to turn your mind off. Sleeping environment of choice is a cool, dark room. If possible, where an eye mask and use earplugs. Soft music helps and candle light. Sounds romantic doesn’t it? Now enjoy your blissful sleep. When you have a ritual down you will notice that you will start to awaken before your alarm. That is a good thing, this means your internal clock is functioning properly.

Moderation

I’m not going to start preaching in this last section but I will get serious for a moment. When you consume a product, drug or drink that you know is harming you, this action tells the universe and others that you have a sense of low self-worth. Ok, that’s the nicest way I know how to sugar coat it. You may tell yourself that you are rewarding yourself with that piece of chocolate, the after dinner cigarette or tall glass of wine, and in moderation that’s fine. When it starts to trickle into a habit or a level of abuse it is looked at by many psychologist as a form of suicide, a form of punishment. When I struggled with low self worth, I ate whatever was in sight almost to the point of throwing up. Now I ask myself before I consume too many drinks or go back for that 2nd cookie. Is this a true act of self-love? I’m better than this, I deserve the very best fuel for my body and I’m worth saying no to that offer of dessert after dinner. Place yourself high up on a pedestal and get in the habit of subconsciously telling yourself that your self worth is higher than that 3rd beer. I think you get the picture. Moderation is key with all consumption and habits. Be careful not to let them turn into vices. Be mindful of what you’re telling yourself and control those thoughts. That will create a strong habit of good choices.

That, my friend, concludes my first secret to living an abundant lifestyle.[/restrict]