It is true that life moves at lightning like speeds. Numerous times during any given day, we make decisions that affect the course of our lives. The problem I have seen, is we make those decisions so quickly, mostly without any real thought, and they may not be contributing to increasing our quality of life. In fact, they may be contributing to decreasing our quality of life at almost every level.

So, what determines how our life works out? Furthermore, what can we do to increase our quality of life?

Firstly, what determines how our life works out, depends on, you guessed it, us! We determine our quality of life, but, no one gave us an instruction manual of how to do it. I believe that our quality of life is based on the meaning we give to any given situation in our lives, and how close that meaning is congruent with our human needs and desires. What do I mean? Well, I hope this story can illustrate it. There was a man named Lester Levenson, who you may have heard of. His story is very popular among his peers.  “Lester Levenson was a man who had mastered life’s greatest challenge. In 1952, at age 42, Lester, a physicist and successful entrepreneur, was at the pinnacle of worldly success, yet he was an unhappy and very unhealthy man. He had many health problems including depression, an enlarged liver, kidney stones, spleen trouble, hyper-acidity, and ulcers that had perforated his stomach and formed lesions. He was so unhealthy, in fact, that after having his second coronary, his doctors sent him home to his Central Park South penthouse apartment in New York City to die.

Lester was a man who loved challenges. So, instead of giving up, he decided to go back to the lab within himself and find some answers. Because of his determination and concentration, he was able to cut through his conscious mind to find what he needed. What he found was the ultimate tool for personal growth—a way of letting go of all inner limitations. He was so excited by his discovery that he used it intensively for a period of three months. By the end of that period, his body became totally healthy again. Furthermore, he entered a state of profound peace that never left him through the day he died on January 18, 1994.

What Lester discovered firsthand is that we are all unlimited beings, limited only by the concepts of limitation that we hold in our minds. These concepts of limitation are not true; furthermore, because they’re not really true, they can easily be released or discharged. Lester’s experience made him understand that not only could he practice this technique himself, he could teach others how to do it as well. As a result, he began working with people, both in small groups and individually.

Since his discoveries happened so quickly and without warning or preparation, he had no language to describe his discoveries and what he was experiencing. The first place he looked for an appropriate language to use to help others was in the Bible. And he became good friends with several evangelical ministers. He then went on to read many books both from the west and the east in order to find the right language to be of service. He eventually settled on his own unique way of describing his experience and his own unique ways of sharing this experience in a useful way with others.

Lester believed strongly that personal growth was not dependent on any external source, including a teacher, and he did not want to be anyone’s guru. But, because of how elevated people felt around him, despite his protestations and attempts to keep it from happening, many of Lester’s students insisted on seeing him as a guru. So, in 1973, Lester realized that his teachings needed to be formalized into a system that he could allow others to teach—leaving him out of the equation. A way to transform his powerful techniques for personal growth into a non-sectarian do-it-yourself system was devised, which is now called The Sedona Method.”

So, what are three steps we can use to change our quality of life? First, we have to choose to make the change. Lester decided that he had to make his life better and that he could make it better. The alternative, was a choice that would have probably killed him! So, step one, is to choose to change your quality of life. The second step, is to take action or to make a change. To do this, Lester Levenson focused on the feelings that were hurting him, and decided to release them. And it worked! He began to get better and never looked back. But why did he never look back? The reason is in this final step. Step three, is to continue to condition steps one and two. Why is this step so important? The easiest example I can give, is that if you were to be physically fit, you would not just exercise once in your life and say, “OK, now I’m fit for life!” That’s not going to help you. You need to keep it up and make it a positive habit! Life is in constant change, therefore, we need to make the right decisions daily to keep up. If your life is not working, choose to make it work and take action to make it work. If that does not work right away, try again, or find out what works from others, instead of reinventing the wheel.

So, in summary, the three steps were:

1) Decide to make a change

2) Take Action

3) Make steps one and two a habit!