Master the 7 Areas of Life to Live a Full Life
If only we were taught these we would be more empowered. Master them and master life.
Late last year I stumbled upon a secret, or to put it more accurately stumbled across a life truth that for the most part we are never taught.
At least I never remember anyone teaching me!
But this truth if applied to your life can radically transform your existence and how you go about setting goals and even your overall values.
If you are familiar with my writing then you’ll know I am an avid student of self-development and human potential.
As a student, I am committed to creating a better me and encourage you to create a better you.
Along the journey, I've been on I came across the idea of mastering seven areas/dimensions of life.
I credit Tony Robbins and Dr. John Demartini teachers of personal development for introducing me to this idea.
It may not have originated with them but they talked about it so I like to acknowledge them.
Your 7 areas of life to master
So what are these seven areas/dimensions of life to master?
They are:
- Health ( mental, physical, emotional, sexual, & spiritual)
- Vocation (career, business)
- Finances (money, financial literacy)
- Relationships ( family, spouse, and other relationships)
- Personal Development (mindset, emotions & character)
- Social (how you show up in the world)
- Spirituality (connecting to a higher power or to something bigger)
Disclaimer- You can have more than seven areas if you want. But remember not to overdo it or it gets overwhelming. I personally think seven is a good number to stick to.
Why you need to master these areas
If you want to live a more fulfilled and higher functioning life that allows you to live more congruently then mastering these areas is a must.
They are important to human life and existence and therefore adequate attention should be paid to them.
You can’t afford to just dabble in them, they require mastery.
In fact, it can be said that a life well lived is a life in which these areas are flourishing and are in balance.
It’s fair to say that for the large majority of the human population, a lot of these areas are on auto-pilot.
That is there is no intentional thought given to them and so these areas are just left to be.
Then people wonder why they are not happy with their life!
Here is a great quote to ponder from Dr. John Demartini:
“Any area of life that we don’t empower, somebody else will overpower.”
Master yourself first
I believe it's important you do some soul-searching & work on mastering yourself before you can master these areas.
This is the foundational work so can't be skipped.
You need to spend time getting to know who you are at your core, finding your purpose, what you stand for, and your overall principles and values.
It's incredibly hard to master 7 areas of life if you haven’t mastered yourself first!
You wouldn't know what you want in these areas and that will lead to so much frustration and confusion.
So what does mastering these 7 areas even look like?
So now that you know what these areas are how do you about mastering them?
Well think of it like this — in school, you have subjects to study and become competent in. You are allocated homework and exams.
The same principle applies here.
Your homework and exams are your life lessons in these areas.
Unlike subjects at school, these subjects are about the game of life.
They impact your life on a much grander scale than school subjects.
You need to be the pupil who takes initiative and makes them work for you.
To make them work you need to develop systems and structures in your life that allow you to deliberately work on them.
It should be added that you can also work closely with a coach or mentor to assist you with this work.
Develop goals for each of the 7 areas
So to master these areas you must systemize and structure your life in such a way that you can work on each of these areas.
Naturally, you won't be able to work on all these areas at once as life often requires you to just focus on a few areas, sometimes just one.
But overall over the course of a year, you need to be putting your deliberate attention and focus on all of them.
This is where goal setting comes in. Goals allow you to be intentional and create a life by design not by default.
The greatest irony of human existence is that people customize their homes, phones, clothes, etc., but never take the time to design their lives.
Of course, you won't be able to design everything as life has so many variables that are outside your control but you can still exert some control.
When you start setting goals in each of these areas that’s when you are in more control & these areas become active, not passive.
You become an active not passive participant in life.
Create a vision book
One way to be intentional and put emphasis on these areas is to create a vision book around these areas in which you set out the:
- What (what it is you actually want)
- Why (why you want what you want )
- When (when you want it)
- Where (places, locations, etc)
- How ( your plan of action)
Remember a vision book shouldn't be something that makes you feel bad if you haven't got to where you want in life.
It should act as a motivator, call it a dream book if you like of your deepest desires and wishes.
My vision book is a simple journal that I have divided into these seven areas and have written notes of how I want these areas to be like.
It's a roadmap, a blueprint for my life that inspires me and helps remind me of my deepest goals.
Use it like this and it will work for you.
Review and measure progress
The economist Peter Drucker once said “You can't manage what you don't measure” and this couldn't be truer with what’s being said here.
These seven areas will just go on autopilot if you simply write out what you want in each of them and never then look at or review them again.
It all comes back to taking consistent action and being intentional about your life.
Many people just read books, go to seminars, workshops, etc., and get all fired up, and then do nothing.
That just causes enormous frustration.
So to avoid this implement a plan of action for your seven areas and then review & measure your progress:
- what’s working
- what's not
- what can be fine-tweaked or changed
- what can be removed ( perhaps no longer relevant)
I generally tend to review my seven areas and goals each Sunday morning as that’s when I plan my week ahead.
Often just a quick glance over the seven areas shows me where I am in my life, and where I want to be. It's such invaluable data & insight.
Your life is what you do with it
Remember you want what you want in these areas for a reason.
Your desires come from the essence of who you are at your core.
So you need to honor that.
Don't just dismiss them or sell yourself short.
Have a ponder on the following Dutch proverb:
“Your life is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift to god.”
Powerful isn't it?
Even If you don't believe in God, you can still hopefully appreciate the depth of this proverb.
The truth is life is what you make it even with so many variables working against us which we can't control.
But you have a responsibility to still do your part and do it well.
Create something the creator or your mama, papa, etc. would be proud of.
Stay away from dream stealers
There are a lot of dream stealers in the world. That is people who don't support you and don't encourage you to think big.
Please don't share your goals and dreams with people that don't support and uplift you.
These people can stop your destiny which you need to avoid at all costs.
Always surround yourself with people who uplift and inspire you to be the best version of yourself.
You’ll go a long way in life with such people.
Become the pilot of your life
I love airplanes and aviation so I like the metaphor of being a pilot of your life.
That is to fly your plane, and not just rely on the autopilot.
The only time you want to use autopilot is when it's reinforcing your good habits and behaviors.
But don't be on autopilot with these areas of your life or else you’ll most likely end up with things and people who are not right for you.
Awaken the leader in you
I honestly believe that by paying more attention to these areas you’ll awaken the leader in you.
Leadership comes in many guises.
It's not just confined to the boardroom or the political arena.
A loving mother raising quality children is a leader.
Remember leaders are into mastery not dabbling.
They generally have a vision for each area of their life and consistently work on these areas.
Final thoughts
Remember mastery is a lifetime pursuit, it's not something that you just get over and done with.
It's a never-ending journey but a truly rewarding journey.
It makes you an active not passive participant in life.
It's okay at times to be passive ( eg: feeling lost in life) but for the most part, you've got to be in charge — driver of your car, pilot of your plane, etc.
The seven areas require your full and active participation on a consistent basis.
To recap here they are:
- Health ( mental, physical, emotional, sexual, spiritual)
- Vocation (career, business)
- Finances (money, financial literacy)
- Relationships (family, spouse, others)
- Personal Development (mindset, emotions & character)
- Social ( how you show up in the world)
- Spirituality (connecting to a higher power or something bigger)
Through structuring and systemizing your life in a way that allows you to actively work on these areas you can absolutely master your life.
You don't need a Master's Degree from a university to make this work.
Most people at university at best even if they graduated with top honors have never mastered their life and at best live an average & mediocre life.
I have a Master's Degree in Media & Communications and can honestly say it did nothing for me. Just gave me a huge debt to pay off!
If I had a rewind button I wouldn't have done the degree, I would have instead gotten a Master's Degree in the game of life.
To Creating a Better You,
Sandra D
3x References to help you (not affiliate links)
- Journals (for creating a vision book)
- Documentary: Life by Design
- Book: Designing Your Life