People think that life is a puzzle to be solved. They believe that there are specific solutions to all of life’s problems. They get into trouble when they cannot find the ONE SOLUTION to a challenge or problem they’re facing. They feel like they’ve failed as a result.

Do you know how easy it is to sell things to people who believe that their life requires an instant answer, and that everyone else in the world knows what the answer is except for them?

Let’s say you don’t like your job. Maybe you’ve been there forever, maybe you’ve only been there two months. But it’s not for you. You wake up filled with dread each morning, you suffer the daily commute. You duck your head in your cubicle and count the minutes until your keepers let you out for the night.

And then you start reading all these books and stories about great things others have done. Quitting their jobs and opening pancake houses. Starting their own fitness centers. Ahh, but you can’t do that. They must know something you don’t. They have the missing puzzle piece. You have your paycheck, and that’s good enough. Right?

For all the times you’re left wanting and searching… that’s your doubt and negative self-talk taking the upper hand. When we convince ourselves that we’re down and out on our luck, we empower others to control our own happiness. Often, we lay out money in the name of finding the answers that elude us.

• We attempt to fill the empty spaces in our lives with expensive toys, status symbols and possessions.
• We try to buy our way to other people’s attention and affection.
• We spend countless dollars eagerly picking through what the “gurus” have to say about living right and wondering why we can’t seem to get it together.
• We believe that other people know better than ourselves what we need and what would make us happy. Think doctors, therapists, child psychologists, dieticians, even celebrities! (How would a celebrity possibly know what it’s like to be you?)

Life isn’t a puzzle to be solved. It’s a mystery, and a constantly-changing one. We must realize that life is meant to be lived, not solved. The secret to the mystery is figuring out how to live YOUR life – to develop evolving, creative philosophies and approaches that work in the context of who you are and where you plan on going.

Slow Down FAST is an integrated process for living life that:

• Allows you to uncover your personal values and motivation,
• Presents specific opportunities for change, and
• Gives you the tools you need to achieve success in your life, personally and professionally.

It’s my hope and goal that every life coaching client who walks through my door comes away with a newfound sense of personal power. I WANT my clients to know that feeling of pure freedom. I can’t wait for the day when they open their eyes and recognize that life is to be lived alive, awake, aware, and in awe.

I wish everyone could wake up each day as I do, knowing that each moment is a gift… that great relationships are precious and few… and that part of the joy in living is conquering obstacles, facing challenges, and growing from these experiences every day.

Life is not a race, a game, and most of all, not a puzzle that someone else has already solved.

Are you ready to Slow Down FAST?

Thanks to FitBuff.com for including this article in the Total Mind and Body Fitness Carnival, to 24 Hour Paradigm for featuring this post in the Day Shifting and Paradigm Blog Carnival, to Anja Merret for publishing this article in the Blog Carnival of Observations on Life, and to The Tall Poppy for featuring this article in the Living a Real Life Carnival.