8 Essential Components to Create Your Aha! Life

What is an Aha! Life? What does it look like? How can I create My Aha! Life?

Frequently, I receive these questions or similar ones from followers, coaching clients, or others that I speak with who are interested in their personal growth and development and want to live their best lives.

When I first started writing my blog over three years ago (Whew! time has flown) I published this article, What is the Aha! Life? In it, I wrote that the Aha! Life has two defining elements: your life’s Aha! Moments and your Highest Aspiration.

I explained that we all have pivotal moments in our lives that give us insight into who we are, what we value, and our personal truths. Those are life’s Aha! Moments. I also mentioned that while we aspire to achieve many things in life, there is an aspiration that supersedes all others.  The Highest Aspiration is not a goal we achieve, but a mission we live. The Highest Aspiration is to live a life of meaning and purpose.

I’ve grown since then.

Those two defining elements are still central to living Your Aha! Life. However, over the years since I wrote that article, I’ve learned more and that is the reason for this update on the components of an Aha! Life. Aha! Moments and Highest Aspirations give us clarity, and that’s huge. They help us know ourselves more deeply and truthfully, and they help us make better decisions about the things that matter. But they don’t tell us how we can grow toward or what we can do to create our best lives. That’s why I decided to explicate eight essential components of Your Aha! Life. They are self-belief, integrity, service to others, relationships, positive mindset, healthy achieving, resilience, and flow.

Anyone can grow and develop in these components. Thus, anyone can live an Aha! Life. 

I want to help you flourish and live Your Aha! Life. The eight components are not exhaustive, but they are compelling and have shown up repeatedly in studies on human flourishing, in my conversations with others, and in my own personal experience. So I share these with you and commit to expanding upon these components in Your Aha! Life writings, resources, and experiences.

The Eight Essential Components to Create and Live Your Aha! Life

As you craft your best life, think about the extent to which these components are present within you/your life, and how they can become strengths:

1. Self-belief – when a person thinks positively about themselves and their abilities. Another term often used interchangeably with self-belief is “self-efficacy,” coined by psychologist Albert Bandura. It’s your belief that you have what it takes to create the life you desire. 

2. Integrity – to live undivided from your personal truth. To be whole and complete, fully aligned with who you are, your values, and your beliefs. You are living in integrity when what you believe, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

3. Service to others – We are here for more than ourselves. We are here to serve others. Wholehearted service is the single source of fulfillment in your life. It is personal, meaningful, and it has ripple effects into the world. When you serve others from your whole heart, not expecting anything in return, you often receive more than the recipients of your service.

4. (Positive) Relationships – we are hardwired for connection to others. Positive, healthy relationships are those connections that help us to know ourselves better, to develop feelings of love, compassion, and empathy, and an appreciation of differences.

5. Positive mindset – to look for the good in life. Even during tough times, you can spot the silver lining. Those with positive mindsets are optimistic and hopeful about the future. “When we are positive, we engage in positive thinking, have positive emotions, and engage in positive behaviors like kindness and generosity.” (Tchiki Davis, Berkeley Well-being Institute)

6. Healthy achieving – to consciously pursue goals with an appreciation and respect for the process. Healthy achieving is striving for excellence not perfection. The pursuit is aligned with personal values and is not tied to your self-worth. “Perfectionism is other-focused: ‘What will they think?’ Healthy striving is self-focused: ‘How can I improve?’” (Brené Brown)

7. Resilience – the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties and excel despite them. Having resilience is knowing when to ask for help, committing to self-care, and recognizing the request for assistance is a sign of strength.

8. Flow – to be completely immersed, focused, and involved in an activity or task that brings all of who you are, what you know, and your skills to bear. Living in a flow state is to live with your whole being, stretching and growing toward your highest self and personal mastery, learning, and contributing your gifts and talents to the world in a way that brings you deep joy and fulfillment.

As you reflect on each of the eight components, assess where you are currently. For each, evaluate whether the component is a strength, development, or weakness. If a component is a weakness, consider one small step you can take to move toward development.

Onward!