Welcome to the Best Life Practices website! This non profit was set up to offer people the opportunity to learn from the best when it comes to quality of life. You can search and browse best practices by individual or category. New content will be continuously added. You can also review others’ posts/perspectives and participate in the discussion by adding your comments to the group. Lastly, be sure to check out our blog which offers additional content and discussion opportunities to those interested in what we’ve got going here. Thank you for visiting and email us if you have any thoughts to share!
Gary Player on Family: Communications - In Africa, we have this thing called the indaba. It’s a custom where members of a tribe or community will gather around a sitting area and discuss what needs to be discussed. We incorporated the indaba concept in my family. A time to air out our issues. Anything on your mind, talk about it, don’t keep it inside. It can get fiery but it is so essential for a family to communicate openly like this.
Jacqueline Novogratz on Perspective: Be interested instead of trying to be interesting - My mentor years ago told me three things. First, he told me to spend less time trying to be interesting and more time being interested in people and the world. Think about that. He also told me do not worry about what other people think of you because the truth is most people are too busy focused on themselves to think about you. Lastly, realize that there’s a whole series of great opportunities out there brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems.
Maria Otero on Family: Embracing your extended family - One of the things that has really helped me in family relations has been to help the kids connect with their extended family. We’ve really made a concerted effort to be able to do that so that those relationships are really strong. In raising the kids, we’ve always been able to say, you’re not just responding to your immediate family. There are all these other people that are supporting you and that believe in you, that are looking after you. So you are also accountable to them. And the uncles, aunts, grandparents are present enough so that their opinions are important. Every year we spend Christmas Eve with my family in Washington and every Christmas afternoon with my husband’s family in Knoxville. Every Christmas morning at 6am, we pack up the car and drive nine hourse to my husband’s side of the family. It has became an important ritual. We let out kids open some gifts, we let them eat McDonalds on the way.
Richard Barnson on Getting Things Done: Carrying notebooks - People have given me a Blackberry and all kinds of electronic devices over the years but I have always written everything down in school notebooks. I jot down key words in my notebooks and later I can find a previous note and recall entire conversations. This has benefited me a great deal when I needed to prove a point later. But my notebooks aren’t just conversations. I also jot down my thoughts. Anything I see and hear can spark an idea in me. I write it down at once and often look back through old notebooks to gain fresh ideas to to see what I might have missed. I would advise people to keep a notebook with them at all times. It’s a great habit to get into.
Sol Amon on Getting Things Done: Dealing with people - People tell me that I am good at the psychological aspect of dealing with people. I do think that to accomplish things in life, you have to know how to deal with people. And that means dealing with unique people in different ways. Understanding what statement or delivery might motivate a certain person to go down a certain path. Sometimes I say, “Now what would you do if you were sitting in this chair?” Let their mind work. I also use questions a lot as a way to direct my employees in a more decent way than if I am simply telling them, “Go do this.” The way you talk to people is important. If you’re nice and genuine to people, they’re going to be nice to you. For every action, there’s a reaction.
Tom Skerritt on Health: Tai Chi - Tai chi and breathing exercises. A sense of relaxation is a great state in which to experience most everything. The sky is bluer. The wine tastes better. Pain is less.
Warren Brown on Perspective: Confronting your fears - I think a lot stems from your ability to confront and deal with your fears. Fear is a natural human state. It’s an emotion but we need to realize it is a natural state that must be dealt with. Fears tend to rule our lives, to dictate what our actions are. And you can’t get a total control over them. I mean, you will remain afraid of something, but to gain confidence about confronting your fears, I think that’s one of the first things to master in life to reap all it has to offer.
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