When I began thinking about the seven actions of life, I knew health would have to be one of the key components of this framework. When trying to define my health as an action, I started with words like diet and exercise. The problem is that these actions are just a part of a person’s health. There’s no denying their importance, but health is much more than this.

Then I considered the action of living. Living involves so much more than just the actions we take to keep our body strong. Living, to me, encompasses our physical and mental health. The action of living means to take on life fully prepared, both in body and mind.

Our mental health is a matter of how we view ourselves and the world. Being content with where we are in life and feeling powerful about our ability to affect our future are key to a healthy mind. And our mental health directly affects our physical wellbeing.

Maintaining good physical health means respecting that our body’s are finely tuned organisms that need proper care. Here is where we must recognize how our diet (what we eat) and exercise (what we do) play a critical role in keeping our body healthy. We can choose to ignore these matters and do as we please, but our body’s will suffer the consequences. This is one fact that I know all too well (see my Living goal).

For many of us, health only becomes important after we survive a serious illness, see a loved one pass, or find that we are not able to do things we once were. What has happened in your life to help you realize the importance of health?

[Photo Credit: Abdullah AL-Naser]

There’s no debate, Albert Einstein was a smart guy. The renowned physicist’s resume includes a PhD from the University of Zurich, a 1921 Nobel Peace Prize, member Prussian Academy of Science, Time’s Person of the Century, and Gallup Polls’s fourth most admired person of the 20th century. Al also had a Peace Prize, chemical element, photochemistry unit and asteroid named after him. Oh yeah, then there’s that Theory of Relativity thing.

But education wasn’t always a breeze for the physic’s superstar. As a young child Einstein struggled because of early speech problems. He dropped out of high school and later failed a school entrance exam. Albert was a huge fan of learning, but no lover of rote education. He once wrote that strict, structured education was the enemy of creative thought and the spirit of learning. Einstein said, “Learning is not a product of schooling, but the lifelong attempt to acquire it.”

Learning is the continued pursuit of knowledge. Unfortunately, many of us stop seeking ways to learn after our formal education. It may be our arrogance that there is nothing more we can learn or ignorance about the benefits of lifelong learning. Actively searching for ways to increase our knowledge and abilities makes life more interesting and less challenging.

Lifelong learning is more than just a neat idea. It is vital to doing your best and achieving life goals. Learning is the fuel that moves us from where we are to where we want to be.

So look at your own life; where would you benefit from a little more learning? Is there a skill at work or a recreational talent that could use improvement? Maybe there’s something you just have an interest in and want to know more? So, take a class, rent an educational video or talk with an expert. There are multiple ways to learn.

Most of us think of work as the time we spend earning money to enjoy the rest of our time. Or, as the bumper sticker with the seven dwarfs said, “I owe, I owe, so off to work I go!” And there’s no denying it, for most of us, work is a necessity in order to have money. But shouldn’t work be about more than just money? And what about those who don’t have or need a paying job; how is the action of work important to them?

To start with, let’s broaden our understanding of work. Work is not just our employment. Work is where we invest our time in order to add value to our lives. A stay-at-home mom adds value to her life by raising her children. The charity volunteer finds value in giving support an important cause. Work is an investment of our time and, therefore, directly related to investing, another of the Seven Actions.

The benefits of our work come in many forms: money to spend, activities that interest and challenge us, relationships, and a sense of worth. Not everyone experiences all of these rewards, and sometimes these benefits become less meaningful over time. Job dissatisfaction is a growing concern. We feel “burn out” when the benefits of the job do not outweigh boredom, stress, exhaustion, or other work related negatives. Career changes are the common result of these periods in our lives. (For more on career changes, visit UTurnAhead.com).

Since work is a part of everyones’ lives, we should find ways to optimize our rewards for work. We must find employment, volunteer activities, or other investments of our time that provide a feeling of value. Absent of other income, our work must be able to sustain us financially. And we have to maximize the positive relationships and pleasant experiences from our jobs.

I strongly believe that we are in control of the benefits we get from working. Too often people fall victim to believing that their employer is the reason for all their woes. “If only I was treated better, paid more, or given that promotion.” Sorry, I just don’t buy it. If this job doesn’t provide enough of what we need, we have the ultimate power. We can find other, more rewarding work. Blaming our boss or the company we work for is just keeping us from the benefits we really deserve…or recognizing those that already exist.

So, what value do you find in the work you do?

[Photo Credit: ForestForTrees]

[If you've been following the Seven Action Series, the next post in the series will appear on Monday.]

After writing that last post on the important of play, I figured it was time to share my personal goal for the action of playing.

Goal: I will spend at least one hour each week in an outdoor recreation activity (not including normal exercise).

Since getting involved in blogging and working on projects around the house, I haven’t taken much time to get outdoors and enjoy some of my favorite activities. I haven’t been taking time to play. So, I’ve set a goal to get out for at least an hour each week.

So, what is it that I like to do? I really enjoy backpacking and hiking. I also enjoy taking the dogs to the local dog park. Another favorite is disc golf. Our local park district installed a course near our home last year and I immediately began playing the sport that I hadn’t played for years. This morning I went to the course to play in our regular monthly tournament after taking a two month break. I think my 1st place win and a new personal best were signs that I need to get back out and start playing regularly.

So, once a week I will be taking at least an hour to do something I love. And on occasion, my wife or sons will double the fun by coming along. So, taking time to play is on my list of life goals.

When we think of play, we usually picture children. But play is valuable to adults as well. When we were young, play was our social networking, our way of learning, our exercise and our escape. The same is still true in adulthood, but may of us have forgotten how to play. More importantly, we’ve forgotten the value of play.

Play is taking time away from our work and our responsibilities to do what is pleasurable and not required. Play is our break from obligations, our time for renewal and our retreat from the serious. Play brings back the adventure and joy of childhood; that feeling of release.

Play can be passive, in the form of entertainment such going to a movie or listening to a CD. Play is also recreation, activities requiring involvement and action such as playing tennis or going fishing. Play diverts our attention from the drudgery of the day by engaging our mind and our body. It can reduce stress, improve health, and strengthen relationships.

Some of us don’t spend enough time engaged in play. We focus our investments of time and money into the business of life; forgetting the importance of play. I have had the opposite affliction…spending too much time at play. Letting my recreation get in the way of my obligations. So play requires balance.

In order to benefit from the Seven Actions, play must be a part of our formula. That means understanding the value of play and making it one of our priorities. Enjoy life, take a break, and renew yourself. What do you do for play?

Over the next week or two I will be posting a series on the Seven Actions. Each post will define one of the actions and explain its important in our lives. The first in this series is investing.

Investing is the act of using something in order to receive a benefit or advantage. Usually we think of an investment in terms of future returns. But investing can also provide immediate benefits. For example, when we invest time in attending a movie, we get the immediate pleasure of enjoying of movie. We may also get a future benefit from interesting discussions about the movie.

Simply put, investing is putting something in and order to get something out. We invest time at work to get a paycheck. We invest money into a car to get transportation to places we want to go. Every use of our money and time is an investment, even if the return is not significant, or beneficial.

When we spend our time or money, we expect to get a benefit or advantage. But like investing on Wall Street, some investments just don’t deliver. We may buy a product that simply doesn’t work, and we get no benefit for our money. We may invest time in helping a friend get a job, only to have that person quit a few weeks later. Investing is making a decision to spend time or money on something that we believe will provide us a benefit.

Giving our time and money for charitable reasons is also a form of investing. First, we invest in the belief that the investment will benefit those we are helping. We usually chose to invest where we believe our resources will make an important impact. Secondly, we invest in order to gain the self-appreciation of knowing we are helping. Like our mothers said, it feels good to help others. It is an investment in anticipation of that good feeling. And there is nothing wrong with doing good to feel good. Giving is one of the most important investments we can make.

To get the most out of our time and money, we need to consider the investments we are making. If we choose to watch a television program instead of playing with the children, we need to understand where we are placing our investment and where we are choosing NOT to invest. Our investments define what we believe to be important. What investments did you make today? Did your investments best represent your life goals and values?