Leading a fulfilling life
One year on from having a full hip replacement (with titanium implants) I am grateful for making a full recovery, which many people have said is ‘remarkable and inspirational’
However, like overcoming any adversity or major change in your life, it has been an emotional roller coaster of a journey. Therefore it is a good time to reflect and share my learning to benefit others. This is not just for those who will go through similar operations but anyone looking to achieve a fulfilling life.
Lifelong learning
We often go into things blindly don’t we? Even though I have a number of close friends and family who had full hip replacements, I was somewhat unprepared for what came next. So, like most things in life there are always learning opportunities. Why? Because learning never stops, it is for life.
My top 10 ‘lessons’ for leading a fulfilling life
- Your health is everything as without it you have nothing. Therefore exercise daily (even if it is only a short walk) and eat wisely
- Listen to your body, it rarely lies but like your mind, it also benefits from being stretched
- Follow through – you don’t achieve anything in life without taking positive action. How you discipline yourself and approach your life and challenges (e.g. my rehab) will play a big part in achieving a successful outcome. In my case this is a full recovery
- Mindset is key – you are what you think and feel. Don’t let negative or unsupportive people rule your thoughts. I was told ‘you are unlikely to be able to play tennis to the same level again, so stick to social doubles’. They were wrong. I am playing singles and also better than ever – therefore if you believe you can achieve it!
- The importance of setting clear goals and intent -most people rarely set goals and if they do they don’t set their intent with it. I set my goal of resuming battle with my highly competitive singles partner singles within 10 months and my intent was to still give him a good run for his money. I achieved this ahead of schedule and I am still ahead on wins!
- Spend quality time with people who are important to you, whether family or friends as life is too short and it isn’t beneficial to have regrets, is it?
- Having fun and laughter is medicinal so get plenty of it! It is a sad reflection of life that many of my clients say how little of fun they have in their lives
- Enjoy the wonder of nature, even the simple things in life like the birds, trees and countryside, embrace them rather than taking them for granted
- It is more important than ever to do work you love and leading a fulfilling life. I see frustration and unhappiness at the heart of so much ‘stress’ and it’s killing people inside and out
- As much as I love my work, I have realised there is no need to work excessive hours as there is always tomorrow and wouldn’t it be better to have time to enjoy points 1-8?
And a bonus point for good measure
In the infamous words of the great Brian Tracy ‘there are no traffic jams on the extra mile!’
If you always aim to treat people above and beyond what they expect, you will stand out and make people feel happy and valued, which is key to leading a fulfilling life!
