What does it mean to Live Big®?

What does it mean to Live Big®?

What does Live Big mean? Some may interpret it as meaning “spend big”, “live large” or a recommendation to some other form of overindulgence. But Live Big is about the size of your life, not the size of your wallet. In crazy economic times, it can sometimes be difficult to remember the areas in our life where we can Live Big without spending (much, if any) money. But if we can find the place of gratitude for what we have, we can find joy in the most mundane of places, and, hopefully, at least get our minds off of how scary the world can feel at times. We offer these ideas for your consideration. And we will be updating this page with additions from anyone who wants to participate, so please send us any ideas you might have.

Walk the dog (borrow one if you don’t have one of your own)
Read all those books you’ve been collecting, meanwhile drinking all that tea that has accumulated in your cupboard
Continue to make your Charitable Contributions
Have a book swap party with everyone bringing a few books they’d like to swap and a refreshment
Use Netflix’s “Surprise Me” feature to watch something new
Play cards or a board game with someone fun
Watch a comedy routine and laugh the day/night away
Dance
Look at old pictures and marvel at how great you still look
Watch a thunderstorm – on a porch if possible
Volunteer at an animal shelter
Feed someone’s parking meter
Throw a Board Game Night at your house for friends, family, neighbors
If you find a tails up penny, turn it over for someone else to find a heads up penny
Print the photos you’ve been meaning to get off of your phone and put them in a photo album or scrapbook
Have a special story time with your children or grandchildren
Put a puzzle together
Give yourself a beaming ear-to-ear smile for five minutes, just because you’re alive. A big grin triggers a flood of serotonin and endorphins, creating a virtuous cycle; literally creating happiness where none may have existed before
Give special attention to your spouse
Hug your pet
Visit a restaurant, winery, or brewery and taste the new releases
Get an almost free vacation through a home exchange
Read a book to your child – Mo Willems is hilarious
Clean out your closets and donate good, usable clothing and shoes to the Homeless Shelter program in town
Go for a walk with your partner or friend and enjoy discussing the day
Go out to dinner and a ballgame with good friends
Hug someone (be careful, in general it should be someone who you know)
Get on Zoom or FaceTime and call friends all over the world
Watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “Love Actually” or some other super feel good movie
Write a letter to a soldier
Teach a teenager how to balance a checkbook
Journal
Burn an aromatherapy candle
Do a craft (find something on sale at Michael’s or another craft shop)
Make somebody laugh
Donate blood
If you have a premium streaming service, invite your friends over to watch shows they might otherwise not get to see
Go to the library and check out books and/or other neat accessories
Feed someone’s parking meter
Be a Big Sister or Big Brother
Make a quilt
Organize a silly 2k or 5k walk/run in your neighborhood
Take silly/pretty pictures just for fun
Plant some flowers or vegetables and watch them come up from seed
Discover a new park and go for a hike
Stare at the spring flowers
Kiss your spouse
Write a letter to someone you love
Another happy movie to watch: About a Boy
Listen to a feel-good playlist during your commute to work
Eat a square or two of Lindt 70% Cocoa Dark Chocolat
Volunteer at the Homeless Shelter program in town. Gain gratitude that you aren’t homeless and can help others
Teach a class of 3-5 year olds
Don’t live in worry for your future – enjoy today
Remember, if you pray, why worry? If you worry, why pray?
Trust your financial planner to help optimize your financial goals
Listen to songs from different periods in your life
Start a gratitude journal (every morning/evening, write down 5 things for which you are grateful)
Write a poem, or at least read one
Make a game out of cooking dinner for a week using only ingredients already found in your pantry or freezer (adding fresh vegetables)
Exercise
Breathe, pray, meditate
Volunteer
Listen to music
Make a hobby out of finding free weekend activities and planning outings with family friends
Get fresh vegetables from a farmers’ market
Catch a snowflake on your tongue
Give a stranger a compliment
Pay a true compliment to someone who annoys you
Match all your mismatched socks
Create something (stained glass, a photo album, a collage)
Color – with a child, by yourself, outside the lines
Visit monuments and museums in your area
Bake some bread or cookies and share them with a neighbor or friend
Take a leisurely walk around a new neighborhood in your city – be a “tourist”
Smell the spring flowers
Hug your spouse
Call a friend and tell them you value their friendship
Pay it forward, volunteer, it comes back tenfold
Take a yoga class
Pet a dog
Volunteer at the Food Pantry and serve meals to homeless and underprivileged communities
Instead of going to a photo studio for family pictures, set up a “studio” at home and have a friend take the pictures
Live simply – less stuff means more room for life
Be grateful to have a good job (or just a job)
Feel empowered when using a debit card instead of a credit card
Be grateful when matching funds remain a part of your financial plan

What does it mean to Live Big?