A Life-Changing One-Minute Audit

Article Title: A Life-Changing One-Minute Audit
Author Name: Doug C. Grant
Contact Email Address: doug @dougcgrant.com
Word Count: 859
Category: Motivational/Inspirational
Copyright Date: 2002
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A LIFE-CHANGING ONE-MINUTE AUDIT

by Doug C. Grant

You've got to use this audit to believe it. The darn thing
really works. And it's free.

You can take one of those psycobabble type audits with a
ton of personal questions and complicated scoring systems.
But you'll still end up with essentially the same results
on the bottom line.

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOU'RE HERE AND NOW

To know where you want to go you must first know where you
are. In other words, you can't get from here to there if
you don't know where 'here' is.

Most Life Audits attempt to establish the 'here' by having
you answer a battery of personal questions. But unless you
have a severe emotional problem best left to a
professional...or you prefer living in a total state of
denial...your knower already knows where you are right now.

For example, if money is in short supply in your life and
it's a source of unhappiness, you know it. You may prefer
pretending otherwise, but once you get past the fantasy you
realize there is an uncomfortable hole in your pocket. You
can answer a thousand questions and chart the answers on a
complicated scoring system but the bottom line will still
come out the same. You ain't as rich as you'd like to be.

HERE'S HOW THE ONE-MINUTE LIFE AUDIT WORKS

It forces you to look at major areas of your life and ask
yourself, "Does this particular area add to or subtract
from my happiness?" Then you track your answers on a simple
scoring page you can download free off the Empowered
Maturity web site.

Simple? Of course. Effective? Absolutely. Unless you
insist on thinking that something black is actually white.

It's all so deceptively easy that you may be tempted to
label it too childish. But remember, the really great
truths of life are dirt simple. It's when intellectualized
that they become complicated.

For example, in the Bible there was a commander of a great
army who was told by God's prophet to wash in the Jordan
seven times to be healed of leprosy. (2 Kings 5) At first
he refused because the process was too simple. He wanted
ceremony and hand waving. But when finally convinced that
simple would work, he was healed.

HOW TO GET YOUR ONE-MINUTE LIFE AUDIT...FREE

Go to the Empowered Maturity web site at
http://www.dougcgrant.com. Click the Site Map in the left-
hand panel and move down the Site Map to the link 'Life
Audit'. This is a PDF (Acrobat Reader file) It's free.
Print it out. There's no obligation. You won't even be
added to a mailing list unless you subscribe to the bi-
monthly Empowered Maturity Page.

Start at the top of your scoring sheet and work your way
down through all major areas that apply to your life. At
each stop ask yourself, "Does this area add to or subtract
from my happiness?" Record your answer by drawing an 'X'
through whichever expression, smile or frown, that doesn't
apply. For example, if your job contributes to your
happiness, 'X' out the frown and leave the smile.

Remember, don't try and analyze, hedge or complicate your
answers. You can say to yourself, "Well, some days my job
contributes to my happiness and some days it doesn't."
That's true of all of us. But you know without fudging
whether your job is adding to or subtracting from your
happiness on an overall basis. Put down the answer that
feels right. It will almost always be on target.

When you've finished the audit, add up your smiles and
frowns. Bingo. You have an instant picture of your
life...happy or not.

You could use a far more complicated audit with a lot of
personal type questions. But I can almost guarantee the
bottom line will still come out the same.

But there's more. The audit will also quickly point out
areas in your life that could use some smile work. If
you're as smart as I think you are, you'll start planning
activities and setting goals to turn those frowns around.

PRINT OR DUPLICATE EXTRA COPIES

Take the Life Audit now. Remember, it only involves about
one-minute. Date the sheet.

Mark your calendar for a follow-up audit in three months.
If you've been persistent in working on your goals, you'll
be pleased to find that some frowns have become smiles. Of
course, as sometimes happens, you may also find that some
smiles have become frowns. That's life and that's why a
quarterly audit is so important. And with the One-Minute
Audit you have no excuse for not taking it. The audit is
too simple and fast.

Do yourself an enormous favor. Print out and take the One-
Minute Happiness Audit right now. It might well turn out to
be one of the most important minutes of your life.

___________________________
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Get more facts, techniques and information about living
healthier, happier and being more
productive. Subscribe Free to Doug C. Grant's bi-monthly e-
zine, THE EMPOWERED MATURITY PAGE. It's directed toward the
over 50 Crowd but good reading for anyone wanting to boost
their life up a notch or two. Subscribe at:
mailto:empoweredpage@smartautoresponder.com