We all play multiple roles in life whether as a parent, spouse or financial services advisor. Is there a secret to juggling all these responsibilities and still finding time to do what you love?

I am often asked how I manage to do all these things excellently. Being excellent doesn’t mean everything is perfect. Rather, it means what we do gives us the feeling of contentment and happiness that we are looking for in all areas of our lives.

Abraham Maslow, a psychologist, said that human motivation is based on people seeking fulfillment and change through personal growth. With our innate desire for growth, sometimes we work so hard, we discover that we grew in some aspects of our lives but not in the important ones, so we harbor regret and guilt, which hinders us from growing even more. 

I graduated as a licensed optometrist in the Philippines. Just like any fresh graduate, I was looking forward to the next chapter of my life as a professional. I took my first job but realized it was not something I wanted to do. I quit, joined a direct selling company and realized I loved sales. So, I poured my heart and soul into that business. I can say I grew personally and physically, but I sacrificed my social, family and spiritual lives. I was too engrossed in business activities and did not take the time to seriously check myself in other areas, especially on the financial part. Turns out that I was not able to save enough money and got into debt.

This was a wake-up call. From then on, I strived for the proper balance in all aspects of my life as advocated by the Whole Person concept. I created action plans for each area,
yet initially there were too many action plans, and I was overwhelmed by the many new habits I was trying to build. So, I made this challenge doable with the help of some life hacks that helped me accomplish more. We tend to make life complicated, but when I found the key to simplifying, I was able to achieve more with greater ease. Here are the steps to simplify and achieve more in every area of your life.

Step 1: Dream again

Create a long-term vision of what we want to be in the following areas of our lives:

• Physical — How do you want to look and feel? How fit do you want to be? How does your wardrobe look, and what impression do you want to project about yourself? 
• Spiritual — How is your spiritual life? Do you want a more peaceful life? How do you want to feel inside? 
• Personal — Are there skills you need to improve on? What do you want to do for yourself? Are there characteristics that you want to improve on?
• Relational — This area can be divided into family and social. What are your dreams for you and your family?
  Do you want more friends? To build deeper relationships?
• Financial or lifestyle — How much money do you want
  to save? What countries do you want to explore? What’s your next car? Next home? 
• Career goals — Do you want to be a lifetime MDRT member? Attain Court of the Table? Top of the Table? Be an agency leader? What do you want your brand to be in the insurance profession? Do you want to focus on a certain niche market?

Capture your aspirations by laying them out on a vision board, mind map, or use other visualization techniques that put you in the mental state where you can see yourself achieving your vision. Just be specific with your aspirations and clear with what you really want to see. 

Step 2: The details

Create action plans for each area of our life. List clear, detailed actions or to-dos that can be applied right away. The simpler,
the better. 

Step 3: Plan a dream calendar

Plot the road map to your dreams right away and mark your long-term (five years from now and longer), annual, monthly, weekly and daily goals and to-dos.

Step 4: Don’t wait

For any action you can take right away, do it now. 

Step 5: Fix and celebrate

Start a success journal. As you take time to find something you can improve or celebrate, you learn how to level up yourself in business and in all other areas of your life. 

The comfort zone is our enemy. What got you here won’t get you there. The solution to not being stuck is to keep moving forward no matter how difficult. T. Harv Eker, a bestselling author, speaker and money manager, said, “How you do something is how you do everything.” If you move forward in some areas of your life, other areas will start getting better too. Be your own cheerleader. Do not be a victim of your circumstances. We all have a choice, and we are responsible for our choices. Have a great journey. 

View Garcia’s presentation at the 2022 MDRT Global Conference on mdrt.org.

Find more about MDRT’s focus on the Whole Person concept as part of the Health and Wellness core value at mdrt.org/about-MDRT/whole-person.