Life Audit

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'A bad carpenter blames his tools' is a proverb we are all familiar with. And this attitude is seen in many individuals who moan and groan and whine about why they feel discontented or frustrated with their life. They are those who have thousands of reasons not to do something about it rather than that one reason why they can.

Life is a sport. A game. A race. And as in all games winning is important. What you want as a prize for winning the game, you have to decide. But do we know what is the criterion for a win? In sports it is highest score, match point, bull's eye and so on. In life it is an aim, a goal, a vision.

Goals!Goals!!Goals!!! Many of us wander in and out of life goal-less; sometimes we work towards that goal which is pre-determined for us by someone else. So when you come to a stage in your life where you think, ''hmmmm...where did all those years go?'', "what have I achieved?" - it is time to take a Life audit.

What is life audit? It is a balance sheet of the life you are leading. Just as you would pay your dues to the tax man, you must also pay your dues to your own self. The 'me' in you, the 'I' in you. There maybe area/s in your life that needs 'balancing' out. And to find out, which is the root cause of unhappiness or discontent in your life you need to conduct an audit.

For example you feel unhappy about a relationship or friendship - do you need to rekindle the romance with your spouse, do you need to mend a friendship or break away from it? Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10. Give a 10 for the most pressing issue, like giving full marks to the answer you were looking for. Pick the one that's staring at you and get to work.

By applying the 80-20 principle you can get maximum benefit from minimum time. In short, work out where the hours go and what or who takes the most of your time. This way it will help you decide on the priority - do you keep it or do you discard it? You can live the life you want if you practice time management - make sure every minute counts.

Like any other changes you want to make to your life that requires 100% commitment and dedication, life audit will also require you to make that choice. Sometimes you may need to stand outside your own self and take stock of each day. You will get a perspective of how your life passed you by. Soon you will realise whether the choices you made were right or wrong and once you have done that you will be able to take control of your life and live your dreams.

Abraham Lincoln said, 'You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.' Go on, take a life audit, take your life in your hands and turn it round for the better or best!