Happy New Year!  This is my final week away and I’m happy to introduce you to Pat as my guest blogger.  Pat is another blogger who writes about and explores many SMART Living ideas that we can all use to create a happier and more meaningful life.  She also has a lot of wisdom for those of us entering the “third act” of our lives and readily shares it on her blog  Retirement Transition. Thank you, Pat, for filling in for me and for explaining how we can create happiness by design and then put that design into action.

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As we enter this New Year, I ask myself, how can I better live my values?

I’ve often said that our life will happen, either by design or by default, and it’s our own responsibility to make it what we want it to be.  Personally, I want to design my life at this stage.   So I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what I want this stage of life to look like.

But there is design, the plans and intent–and then the real action, or what you actually do. Sometimes intention does not turn into behavior. At this time of year, that can become very apparent with New Year’s resolutions!

So it’s not just about designing your life, it’s about activating it as well. [Read more…]