#368: The Inspirational Secret to Achieving True Personal Growth, Happiness & Fulfillment

Kevin Lowe: We're talking about achieving a life that's full of both happiness and fulfillment.

Kevin Lowe: Because today we're diving into how you can design a life that not only lights you up at the moment, but fuels you for the long haul.

Kevin Lowe: So if you, my friend, are ready for a life of happiness and fulfillment, well, then you've come to the right place.

Kevin Lowe: It's episode 368.

Kevin Lowe: And hey, if you want to take things to the next level.

Kevin Lowe: Be sure you grab Today's free resource called 14 Nuggets of Wisdom for a Better Life.

Kevin Lowe: You want a better life?

Kevin Lowe: Combine a little happiness fulfillment with these 14 nuggets of gold?

Kevin Lowe: Well, my friend, you are going to be well On your way.

Kevin Lowe: To the best year ever. Be sure to check out the link at the top of today's Show notes or.

Kevin Lowe: Head on over to the website, GritGraceInspiration.com to grab that free resource right now.

Kevin Lowe: And with that, I turn it over to today's episode.

Kevin Lowe: I hope you enjoy.

Kevin Lowe: Hey, I'm your host.

Kevin Lowe: Kevin Lowe, and you are listening to Grit, Grace, and Inspiration. To be sure that we are both on the same page when talking about both happiness and fulfillment, it might seem like an odd place to start, but today we're going to start off in the garden.

Kevin Lowe: So if you can just play along.

Kevin Lowe: I want you to Envision a garden in your mind.

Kevin Lowe: Whether it's full of vegetables, Flowers, or maybe both.

Kevin Lowe: I want you to think of this garden as your life. So now, with the garden in your mind, when we think about happiness, Happiness is the colorful flowers. It's the butterflies flying around in the garden.

Kevin Lowe: All it takes is just one glance at all those beautiful flowers, all the magnificent colors.

Kevin Lowe: And you're filled with happiness, With joy.

Kevin Lowe: But now, what about fulfillment?

Kevin Lowe: Fulfillment, it's the thing that's not so flashy.

Kevin Lowe: And yet it's vital.

Kevin Lowe: It's the roots, the soil, the stuff that is not seen so easily, but in fact, it's the stuff that makes happiness possible.

Kevin Lowe: The roots, they're what ground you.

Kevin Lowe: They're what gives you stability. They are what Gives everything else.

Kevin Lowe: The ability to flourish.

Kevin Lowe: So now that we have an understanding of what both happiness looks like in this garden of life, paired with what fulfillment looks like in this garden of your life.

Kevin Lowe: Why don't we dive a little bit deeper Into this idea?

Kevin Lowe: And we're going to divide your garden up Into four sections. Basically think of it like four quadrants.

Kevin Lowe: I believe is the correct terminology. The reason we're Dividing it into four sections is, well, we're going to see where you're at right now in life. What section of the garden are you in?

Kevin Lowe: And maybe even more importantly, what part of the Garden do you want to be in? In one of the sections of your garden is.

Kevin Lowe: The area that We're going to call low happiness and low fulfillment. So basically, I.

Kevin Lowe: Want you to Imagine this section of the garden that has been forgotten about.

Kevin Lowe: The weeds have overtaken everything.

Kevin Lowe: Some of the plants, well, most of the plants are dead or dying.

Kevin Lowe: There's not much happening here.

Kevin Lowe: This, my friend, is the danger zone.

Kevin Lowe: Where both joy and happiness, fulfillment, they're all lacking. They're all missing.

Kevin Lowe: That is the sad part of the garden. Now let's move to the next quadrant.

Kevin Lowe: This is where we have high happiness, but low fulfillment.

Kevin Lowe: This section, oh my gosh, It looks amazing. You think to yourself, man, this is the section of my garden I want to be in.

Kevin Lowe: The flowers are blooming. The vegetables are bursting.

Kevin Lowe: But the roots are shallow.

Kevin Lowe: The soil isn't strong, and all it takes Is a gust of wind.

Kevin Lowe: And everything can be blown over.

Kevin Lowe: This is a section with happiness, but lacking fulfillment.

Kevin Lowe: Now, if we keep Walking through the garden and we go to the next section.

Kevin Lowe: We reach low happiness, But with high fulfillment. Now, this is the quiet part of your garden, the section that might not be bursting full of color, but you know that it's doing well.

Kevin Lowe: You know it's growing strong because, well, maybe here it's more seasonal. You.

Kevin Lowe: Know it's not The right season for the flowers to be blooming. And yet you can just tell when you reach down into the soil that the soil is good.

Kevin Lowe: They have water. The soil is moist. The roots are growing.

Kevin Lowe: The stalks of your plant are alive and well.

Kevin Lowe: So here there's a powerful sense of its potential. It's purpose.

Kevin Lowe: You know that it's doing okay.

Kevin Lowe: Finally, I.

Kevin Lowe: Want you to Walk into the fourth and final section of your garden.

Kevin Lowe: This is where everything has finally come together.

Kevin Lowe: We're talking about high levels of happiness and high levels of fulfillment.

Kevin Lowe: This is where the garden is flourishing.

Kevin Lowe: The flowers are blooming.

Kevin Lowe: The vegetables are growing because the roots are strong. The soil is pristine.

Kevin Lowe: Everything here is just working beautifully.

Kevin Lowe: This, my friend, is the sweet spot.

Kevin Lowe: It's the part of life where both happiness And fulfillment meet. It's where everything comes together. It's the place in our lives that we all want to be.

Kevin Lowe: Where both happiness and fulfillment coexist with one another.

Kevin Lowe: Whether you need to rewind And listen back, I hope that you can picture this garden in your mind and you can understand where you are right now.

Kevin Lowe: Do you have a life full of happiness?

Kevin Lowe: Or maybe is happiness lacking? Do you feel fulfilled in what you're doing? Or do you not?

Kevin Lowe: Figure out where in the garden you are.

Kevin Lowe: Well, then we can begin to chart a direction to get you to the part of the garden where you want to be.

Kevin Lowe: Where it's both Levels of high fulfillment and happiness. Okay.

Kevin Lowe: Now we're going to begin to shift gears. because there's another element to this idea of finding this balance between happiness and fulfillment.

Kevin Lowe: So we're going to get out of this metaphor of the garden and we're going to get to a little bit more exciting stuff about.

Kevin Lowe: The ride of life. I'm talking about the ride of life, The moments that excite us, the moments that make us feel alive.

Kevin Lowe: It's like you're on a roller coaster. You're going through the double loops.

Kevin Lowe: You are out of your mind excited.

Kevin Lowe: You're screaming, but it's out of joy and pure happiness.

Kevin Lowe: This is thrilling. It's unpredictable.

Kevin Lowe: But you know, it's not long lasting. You know, it's not forever.

Kevin Lowe: It's just for a moment.

Kevin Lowe: Now, instead, I want you to envision, instead of on a roller coaster.

Kevin Lowe: You're on a train, Chugging away, going down the tracks. It's not all that fast.

Kevin Lowe: But it's slow and steady.

Kevin Lowe: This is fulfillment. This is a dependable force that's driven by your principles.

Kevin Lowe: Your morals, your long-term dreams and goals.

Kevin Lowe: It might not have the excitement and the adrenaline of the roller coaster.

Kevin Lowe: But what it does have is the ability to build resilience, the ability to keep you growing stronger as you chug away, going down the tracks. But now here's The part that I want you to understand.

Kevin Lowe: We're not here to choose. Well, let me rephrase that.

Kevin Lowe: I don't want you to choose one or the other. I don't want you to choose to be on a roller coaster or to be on the Slow train ride. I want you to have it all in this life. So the question we ask is.

Kevin Lowe: Well, how do we achieve that balance? How do we keep the balance?

Kevin Lowe: Even if we think we might have both happiness and fulfillment.

Kevin Lowe: How are we sure that it sticks around? Well, I have A couple of tips and ideas to get you started.

Kevin Lowe: First and foremost, get clear on what is important to you. What matters in your life?

Kevin Lowe: Your principles?

Kevin Lowe: Your morals? the things that are the bedrock to your existence.

Kevin Lowe: When you can get clear On this and you can be sure that.

Kevin Lowe: Everything you do is in alignment with who you really and truly are, that, my friend, is fulfillment.

Kevin Lowe: My second tip is to set meaningful goals, stuff that really and truly matters to you.

Kevin Lowe: Maybe it's not flashy.

Kevin Lowe: Maybe it's nothing that you're going to be posting on social media about.

Kevin Lowe: But it's important to you. And when you have that set, I want you to be sure that you align your daily actions with whatever this goal is.

Kevin Lowe: And when you align these daily actions with your values, With your principles, it's absolutely.

Kevin Lowe: Sure to create A sense of purpose in your life. It's fulfillment and happiness coexisting in one.

Kevin Lowe: Now, if we've got enough fulfillment cranking down.

Kevin Lowe: What about happiness?

Kevin Lowe: Well, my tip for you to.

Kevin Lowe: Be sure that You're having happiness in your life is to celebrate the little things.

Kevin Lowe: I want you To begin to celebrate all the little wins that happen throughout the day.

Kevin Lowe: And you can combine this with just an overall sense of gratitude.

Kevin Lowe: One of the most powerful Ways that you can ever start your day is to wake up with gratitude.

Kevin Lowe: I start every day with a simple prayer. I thank God for the blessings I have.

Kevin Lowe: Now, some days it might just be as simple as me thanking God for the home that I have.

Kevin Lowe: For the bed that I slept in, for the air conditioner that's running that kept me cool at night.

Kevin Lowe: But maybe sometimes it goes deeper than that. It's me thanking God for my family, for the dreams and the goals that I have, for this desire to do more with my life.

Kevin Lowe: I encourage you to fill your heart, Your soul with gratitude.

Kevin Lowe: To be grateful for the things that you have, be grateful for the dreams that you hope to come true.

Kevin Lowe: So If you can combine Both gratitude with this idea of celebrating the little stuff and the big stuff, my friend, happiness is sure to fill your life.

Kevin Lowe: My fourth tip, which I have a total of five, so we're almost through, but tip number four is tougher than any of the others.

Kevin Lowe: And that is to begin to view challenges from a different angle.

Kevin Lowe: I want you to understand that growth oftentimes comes through the challenging parts of life.

Kevin Lowe: If you want to go back to our garden metaphor, Every challenge you're put through.

Kevin Lowe: Every storm that you endure, it helps your roots become stronger, to grow a little deeper, To keep you grounded because you know things are tough.

Kevin Lowe: As I said, the challenges in life, none of us want them to happen.

Kevin Lowe: But at the end of the day, In this life, I found challenges are all but certain.

Kevin Lowe: We're all going to face adversity in one way, Shape, or another. And so the.

Kevin Lowe: Thing that we Can do is begin to understand that even though it hurts in the moment.

Kevin Lowe: In the long run, It's building us into bigger and better, stronger versions of ourselves.

Kevin Lowe: My fifth and final tip is connections.

Kevin Lowe: I want you to Begin to invest in relationships that nourish your soul, that bring out the best version of you.

Kevin Lowe: You know, there's some relationships we have with people who they bring us down.

Kevin Lowe: They maybe bring Out the worst in us.

Kevin Lowe: No, we don't want relationships like that.

Kevin Lowe: We want relationships that bring out the best in us.

Kevin Lowe: That better us, that have us living to a higher version that we even thought possible.

Kevin Lowe: This, my friend, is another amazing key to you achieving both happiness and fulfillment.

Kevin Lowe: Is when you can surround yourself with people who build you up, who remind you how amazing you are, who have you striving to create your Best life possible.

Kevin Lowe: Bringing it all together, I want you to understand this.

Kevin Lowe: Those little moments of joy, yeah, they might light up your day.

Kevin Lowe: But you have to understand that it's the steady feeling of fulfillment that will anchor your soul.

Kevin Lowe: That will get you through the toughest times in life. When you are able to combine Both happiness and fulfillment, you create a garden where the beautiful flowers, they have roots that dig deep, that keep them strong, that even in the mightiest of winds, they are strong as can be.

Kevin Lowe: They're not blown over because they have both happiness and fulfillment on their side.

Kevin Lowe: So I guess.

Kevin Lowe: I would love to Turn the table on you and ask you a question.

Kevin Lowe: What are you chasing In your life? Are you just chasing after the highs of happiness?

Kevin Lowe: Or are you pursuing a life of fulfillment, looking at the long-term goal, The bigger picture of it all? If we go back to the happiness and fulfillment garden.

Kevin Lowe: Where are you standing? What quadrant are you in?

Kevin Lowe: Here's the thing.

Kevin Lowe: That I want to remind you before I end is that if you haven't had anybody tell you this, I want you to know that I believe in you.

Kevin Lowe: Because you're here today listening to this very podcast episode, because you've made it all the way To the end.

Kevin Lowe: I know that they are wanting to create a better life.

Kevin Lowe: You.

Kevin Lowe: Want to show Up as your best self for not only just yourself, but for your family, for your friends, for your community.

Kevin Lowe: And that's what I want for you as well. And I have to believe That it all starts by us getting clear on.

Kevin Lowe: Being sure that we're living A life full of both happiness and fulfillment. If today's episode resonated, if it made you think of someone.

Kevin Lowe: It would mean the world to me for you to Share today's episode with them. because, well, if we can have a world that we live in where.

Kevin Lowe: More of us are Pursuing both happiness and fulfillment, well, my friend, that's the world I want to live in.

Kevin Lowe: Until next time, I'm your host, Kevin Lowe, and this, of course, was another episode of Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.

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