What is the purpose of life? That’s one of those big questions. People answer it in different ways and some people never figure it out. Steve Pavlina declares that the purpose of life is to:

1. Discover and accept ever deeper truths.
2. Learn to love more deeply and unconditionally.
3. Develop and express your creativity.

He points out that these three activities lead to wisdom, joy and strength which are in fact the end goals of life - to be wise, joyful and strong.

He does in fact say quite a bit more than this but if you make these three items part of your life goals you are definitely going to be headed in a good direction.

Ok, so I have made a habit of incorporating self-reflection into my life, not just at major milestones but along the way. I have not yet developed the habit of a regular review. This article at Marc and Angel provides 20 questions to ask yourself every Sunday. It seems pretty long and involved but I guess if done regularly the answers might well come easier. I can see where thinking through things in this way would help move you forward.

1. What did I learn last week?
2. What was my greatest accomplishment over the past week?
3. Which moment from this past week was the most memorable and why?
4. What’s the #1 thing I need to accomplish this week?
5. What can I do right now to make the week less stressful?
6. What have I struggled with in the past that might also affect the upcoming week?
7. What was last week’s biggest time sink?
8. Am I carrying any excess baggage into the week that can be dropped?
9. What have I been avoiding that needs to get done?
10. What opportunities are still on the table?
11. Is there anyone I’ve been meaning to talk to?
12. Is there anyone that deserves a big ‘Thank You’?
13. How can I help someone else this coming week?
14. What are my top 3 goals for the next 3 years?
15. Have any of my recent actions moved me closer to my goals?
16. What’s the next step for each goal?
17. What am I looking forward to during the upcoming week?
18. What are my fears?
19. What am I most grateful for?
20. If I knew I only had one week to live, who would I spend my time with?

Though I do think my brain is great (heh heh), it can always be developed even further. This article I found on My Super-Charged Life has some tips on things to do to exercise your brain. Some of my favourites:

1. Read a good book - Reading a book stimulates the imagination as your brain draws mental pictures.
2. Be a continual learner - Seek out new experiences, skills, and knowledge and challenge your brain to improve its abilities.
3. Recall old memories - Old picture albums can tap into your brains memory banks.
4. Make beautiful music - Music is a great workout for the mind. Nuff said.

I came across this great list of money-free ideas, ie. ways to spend time without spending any money. The author of the article has a money-free weekend every couple of weeks with his wife and they are not allowed to spend any money (besides money already spent on utilities). So no renting videos or going out to eat. The list has some fun ideas, some of which I do or have done including starting a 101 in 1001 list (which in itself is a good starting point), baking homemade bread or just learning stuff.

P.S. Speaking of my 101 list, I am slowly making progress. I have only completed about a quearter of my list with several more in progress. I am running out of time in my original 1001 days but no worries, maybe I will start another when that’s up.

Came across a new (to me) blog yesterday, called My Super-Charged Life, all about living life to the fullest. So far the content is pretty interesting like this article on doing the right thing.

Have a big decision to make? Follow these tips and you can be pretty sure you make the right choice, be it career, school, relationships, whatever.

1. Know your core values - Know what you believe in.
2. Take a clear look at the situation - Separate emotion from facts.
3. Trust your gut - Listen to your conscience.
4. Do the right thing
5. Stick to your guns - Stand by your principles.
6. Prepare for the consequences and expect resistance
7. Review your actions - Learn from situation.