I turned 25 this year. 25 is a significant number in that it’s a quarter of a century and therefore a good point to reflect on where you are, what you have experienced and the trajectory that your current habits will take you for the rest of life*.

*However whatever age you are, it worth taking time to stop and reflect on what you are doing, where you are going and to take a more conscious approach to life.

When I was a kid, I was lucky to have experiences that helped me determine the life I want, from my chosen career to finding the things that bring me joy. Having always being a fan of writing down my every thought and inner musing – in diary or note format – I wrote them down.

So I am going to be brave and share some of this with you.

Excerpt from my Life’s purpose:

1. To live a life that help and inspire others to achieve their best and utilise their innate gifts.
2. To make the world better, more sustainable so we share and use the world resources fairly. 
3. To live my life so fully and show love to myself, to others no matter how different they are from me. 
4. To be so authentic that others can be themselves too and to show others that whatever challenges they face it can be overcome it and the struggle can have meaning.
5. To share my passion for music, art, dance, science, engineering, ancient history, mythology and to use these interests to bring light and laughter into people lives. 

Excerpt of my rules:

1. I will not drink alcohol
2. I will not engage in activities that don’t make me any better or help those around me

19 years later – a lot has changed. I have being through 20 years of education, started a career and yet I am still grounded by these principles that constantly help me make decisions and create the life I want.

I was recently chatting with my colleagues one day and it became clear that my outlook was unique as I had previously assumed everyone took this conscious approach to life.  So I thought I would share my tips for anyone who would find them of value.

So I am going to break this down to try it for yourself:

• Determine your own your moral compass for life. Think through what you think is right and wrong for yourself and write it down.

Trust me this will help make decisions making a breeze saving you lots of time.  And as time is the only true commodity this is good! 

• Determine what you want from life. This is a big task so I suggest breaking it down into sections – Career, Health, Community, Family, Relationships and whatever else you see fit.

This is so important – as once you know what you want then you can ask yourself this question ‘Is what I am doing now going to result in the life I want in future?’  This is your litmus test to determine how you spend your time and effort.  

• Now when you have the big overarching goal – we need a plan for implementation. I recommend you break each section goals into bits. For example if your goal was to get a promotion – what do you need to make that happen – update CV, Linkedin, undertake Skills gap analysis, build network, build the missing skills through reading, courses or qualifications. Then create a programme with the activities in your diary calendar leading up the goal end date.

This key here is to build enough time for activities and also include the repetitive task in your calendar. For example if the goal was to learn guitar in a year. Then the calendar would have to recurring practice sessions. As the key to long term success in anything is consistence.

• And when you get it right – Please acknowledge and reward yourself, reward yourself. I think when you celebrate your wins, you get more win as you reinforce your own good behavior.

I really hope this help. This is simply what I do and I know there must be millions of other ways to do this but all I advise is that you do something.

Life is so precious and our time is limited and so please live everyday with purpose.

However, whether your goal is to make a stranger smile, making a million pounds, be the best in your field or to change the world, please always remember to be kind to yourself.

It’s me Ayo advocating for a life lived purposeful Xx

This is my most personal blog post to date and I would really appreciate your feedback on what you found useful.