[callout]This is a guest post from Tom Elliott. Tom is an inspirational speaker, comedian and magician on a mission to help people live life more fully. When he’s not traveling, Tom loves spending time at home with his wife Natalie, daughter Abigail and his cat Jeffrey. You can find out more about Tom at www.tom-elliott.org or connect with him on Facebook or Twitter. If you want to guest post on my blog, check out my guest post guidelines and submit your post.[/callout]

Life is full of pressures and commitments that distract us from investing in the core elements of a life well-lived. The problem this presents us with is that we then miss out on a life of wholeness that is available to us. If only we had a bit of discipline and advance planning, we could live life more fully.

Failure to invest in these 5 areas will often result in a sense of dissatisfaction in life or feeling drained.

Take responsibility for putting the big life rocks in first. Then you’ll begin to find a life of wholeness.

Here are 5 key areas that you should invest in and not neglect:

1) Social – Invest in your family and friendships. Though a business book, Matt Bird’s book titled “Relationology,” has a great strategy for managing your relationships and maintaining contact with a large group of people. This helps me to be intentional about my contact with key relationships.

2) Physical – Exercise is a key factor to a good day. I’ve slacked on this one recently and I’ve noticed the difference in my motivation levels, my attitude toward life, and my productivity. Get even 30-40 minutes a day of exercise and you will be thankful you did.

3) Emotional – What activity fills your time of replenishment? How often do you take time to do the things you enjoy? Perhaps it’s walking, photography, music, painting, or something else. Our hobbies and interests play a big part in our approach to life. In his book “Simplify,” Bill Hybels says, “When you decide that you never want to live on empty again, you start paying more attention to the replenishment side of the equation.”

4) Intellectual – A key characteristic that I believe everyone should maintain is the art of being teachable. Seek to learn, seek to gain wisdom from others, and take time to soak up information on a topic or skill you are passionate about. Stay teachable. They reckon it takes 10,000 hours of practice/learning to be a genius. How close are you?

5) Spiritual – If you are not a person of faith, this is perhaps the most neglected. For me, this takes the form of an hour of quiet time each morning. I feed my soul on the words of Jesus and spend time in prayer and worship. For you, this may simply be taking a moment of quiet to reflect on your day, on what really matters in life, or on people you care for.

I believe that when these 5 areas are truly invested in, we can live a life of wholeness and satisfaction.

[Tweet “Put the big life rocks in first. Then you’ll begin to find a life of wholeness.”]

We are able to live unto Jesus’ promise of “life in all its fullness” (John 10:10).

I’d love to hear from you…

[reminder]Which of these do you find the hardest to invest in? Which of these do you need to create more time for?[/reminder]

photo credit: The sunny selfportrait via photopin (license)