Paying bills, shuttling kids, working, cleaning, cooking, organizing... the list of "to-dos" goes on. Too often, it gets in the way of the "F" word. FUN!

I remember a chapter in Richard Carlson's Don't Sweat the Small Stuff... and It's All Small Stuff" that said, “Remind yourself that when you die, your ‘in-basket’ won’t be empty.” I think of this often when I'm saying too much "no" to the fun in my life because of the full in-basket.

Last month, we did the 4QL July Plank Party (Body quadrant) and had great success with it! We had dozens of people chiming in on our facebook page about their strengthening core. It was fun to see the photos people posted of themselves planking at work and at home.

This month we are nourishing the Mind quadrant with the 4QL August One-Fun-Thing-A-Day Party. Do one fun thing for yourself every day. Some days you might indulge in a few hours of fun and other days it may just be a few minutes. Sometimes it might be by yourself and other times with your family and friends. Try to make it happen. It's good for your health.

When my mom got the email with the subject line about the Plank Party, she told me she was excited because she thought the email was going to be filled with cedar plank bbq recipes. I can only imagine what she thought when she saw the subject line of this email!

For me, I know this month will be filled with bike rides on my cruiser, playing with my dog and snuggling with my cat, trail running with friends, "free" reading, going on vacation with my husband... What fun will your month be filled with?

Does this sound like a challenge for you or do you already make enough time for fun? Comment below!

Be sure to forward this on to your friends and family who you think need more fun in their lives!

Be sure to get your free eBook to find out how you are doing in each of the four quadrants, plus get practical tips including 5 Steps to Mindfulness, 12 Tips for Fad-Free Eating, 6 Ways to Closer Connections, and 9 Ideas to Detox Your Home. Sign up in the box at the upper right of this page.

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Dina Colman, MA, MBA is an author, healthy living coach, and founder of Four Quadrant Living. Dina has a private practice helping clients live healthier and happier lives. Her book, Four Quadrant Living: Making Healthy Living Your New Way of Life, guides readers to make healthy living a part of their daily lives, leading to greater health, vitality, and happiness. Contact Dina at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Have you ever been both sad and happy at the same time? Today, I am.

After two-and-a-half years of being on this journey of writing my book, today I am sad and happy at the same time. Today is the day that I say goodbye (in some sense) to my constant companion. I just sent an email to the publisher to say, "It's done."

Technically it's been "done" for months—except that every time I reread it, I find more edits. Move this sentence here, change this verb tense, delete this sentence. As a Type A and perfectionist, when is "done" really done? I've had the excuse of time since we were waiting to get endorsements in for the back cover. The endorsements are in and if we are to stay on track for our October 1 publish date, I have to let go at some point. And that point is today.

I thought today would be a day I would feel elated. "Whew! I'm done with writing the book!" Instead, I feel a mix of emotions. I'm sad, happy, scared, excited, nervous, exhausted, relieved, and more. I no longer need to say "no" to plans because I have to go work on my book. The words on the page are set. 

It's one thing to share my book with a few friends, but it's another to be putting it out there for public consumption for praise, critique, or indifference. Yes, I did send the book to some key people for endorsements, but I didn't actually expect to hear back from them. I mean, I was hoping... I've been overjoyed with getting some amazing endorsements from Ken Wilber, John Robbins, Danny Dreyer, and more, plus a Foreword by Dick Bolles.

Of course, I know I will be spending as much time with my book over the next few years in trying to let others know about it, but it will be a different kind of time together. The intimacy of just me and my book is gone. I'm definitely excited to share it with all of you (and will let you know when it's officially available!). I'm just allowing today to be a day of letting go, of saying goodbye to one stage of the process and hello to the next.

Has there been a time in your life when you felt both sad (for what you were leaving behind) and happy (for what was to come) at the same time? I'd love to hear about it.

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Dina Colman, MA, MBA is an author, healthy living coach, and founder of Four Quadrant Living. Dina has a private practice helping clients live healthier and happier lives. Her book, Four Quadrant Living: Making Healthy Living Your New Way of Life, guides readers to make healthy living a part of their daily lives, leading to greater health, vitality, and happiness. Contact Dina at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Last weekend, I met up with my business school friend, Kate, who I haven't seen in years. When I asked her if she would be going to our next reunion, she said only if she was in a good place in her life inside and out. When I asked her to elaborate, she said that she would go only if she was feeling good about how she looked and what she was doing with her life.

I asked her if the reunion were next month, would she go—meaning is she happy with where she is RIGHT NOW? She said she wasn't sure. She felt that everyone who would be there would have these impressive careers and she wasn't sure that she measured up. Was the measurement for success simply a prestigious sounding job? Her implied answer was "yes."

I get it. I used to feel this way. I remember "preparing" for a high school reunion I went to a few years back. Did I have cool looking business cards with a story behind all of the great things I was doing? I remember that feeling and it's not a good place to be.

Now I have my own measurement of a successful life. Success is balance, health, happiness. It is spending time with friends and family—and spending the time means having the time. It is running the trails near my house. It is playing in the yard with my husband and dog. It is having time for myself. It is exploring new places in this world. It is appreciating my life. It is helping others and having a purpose. I could go on.

When I met up with Kate, she was in town for a girls weekend with a few other friends from school. I went out with them Saturday night and then spent time with Kate the next day. When I saw her that next day, she said, "All of the girls said you were glowing. Why do you think you glow?" I thought for a moment and then replied, "Because I am living authentically!"

I feel at peace with where I am in life. I don't worry anymore what others think. When I go to my next business school reunion, I'm pretty confident I'll be the only one that is now a Healthy Living Coach. I'm okay with that. In fact, I own that. It's who I am. It's what I'm passionate about. It's how I help people. It's how I make a difference in this world. It's how I have actively chosen to create my life. In my opinion, anyone that is actively choosing their life is a success!

If your reunion was next month, would you go? If not, is it because you aren't happy with your life or because you believe others would think you had not amounted to much? If it's the former, make changes today. Live as if your reunion is next month. If it's the latter, how can you change your mindset to be proud of the life that you have chosen for yourself? How can you redefine your measurement for success to coincide with the life you are happily living?

Do you want to glow at your next reunion? If so, live authentically!

Be sure to get your free 47 page Getting Started Guide: Taking Your First Step on the 4QL Journey by signing up for our newsletter at the top right of this page. It is filled with a 4 quadrant health assessment as well as health tips for each quadrant including 5 Steps to Mindfulness, 12 Tips for Fad-Free Eating, 6 Ways to Closer Connections, and 9 Ideas to Detox Your Home.

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Dina Colman, MA, MBA is an author, healthy living coach, and founder of Four Quadrant Living. Dina has a private practice helping clients live healthier and happier lives. Her book, Four Quadrant Living: Making Healthy Living Your New Way of Life, guides readers to make healthy living a part of their daily lives, leading to greater health, vitality, and happiness. Contact Dina at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.