The dictionary defines practical as 1) of, relating to, or manifested in practice or action; not theoretical or ideal and 2) capable of being put to use; useful. To me, when something is practical, that means that it makes sense and is useful. The wheel is practical. A spoon is practical. A spork, on the other hand, is a stroke of pure genius. I love just about anything practical. That is why I often get frustrated when I read a lot of "practical" self-help books.

Maybe I am just not smart enough, but as someone desperately searching for self-help in many "practical" self-help books, I must admit that I get pretty frustrated with the relative lack of concrete, practical advice for the average person. As an example of what I am referring to, here is an excerpt from a self-help book that I recently read that claimed to be "a practical guide to self improvement":

"He saw himself in everyone, but nobody saw him as themselves. And he realized that everyone was dreaming, but without awareness, without knowing what they really are. They couldn't see him as themselves because there was a wall of fog or smoke between the mirrors. And that wall of fog was made by the interpretation of images of light - the dream of humans."

What? With all due respect to all of these authors who are unquestionably smarter than I am, I read "practical guides" like this and I have no idea in the world how to make changes in my life to make it more fulfilling. Many times, I don't even know what they are talking about! After all, how does one alter a foggy, smoke-filled, dreamy existence that is merely an interpretation of light in order to have the patience not to shout at your 5 year old who doesn't seem to register anything you say until you've said it 37 times? Sadly, I do not know. And I actually read the entire book. So not only did I not get any help, I also felt like a complete failure. Well played, self-help book. Well played.

So I developed live NOW for my own personal self-help. All I really wanted was to enjoy my life, so I focused my energy on identifying practical things that I - an average human being - could do on a daily basis to live a more balanced life. I knew that I needed to prioritize the present, but I also knew that I needed tools to keep me on track. My obsessive-compulsive, insecure, controlling, "charming" side has a tendency of popping up more frequently than I would like, so having strategies for keeping it in check are critical. Plus, life has a way of continually challenging all of us. Without the right practical tools, I felt destined for failure.

Let's face it. Life is hard enough without fogging things up with smoke and mirrors. In upcoming posts, I am going to try valiantly (jury is still out on my writing ability) to share with you my story and the practical live NOW strategies that have helped me. I am hopeful that you can easily put some of these into practice in your own lives. I will probably also occasionally bore you with tangential opinions that have nothing to do with anything. I am also fairly confident that I will rant from time to time like a crotchety old man. Through it all, I only hope that I can, in some small way, help you live NOW!

To learn a little bit more about me click here.