According to the good folks at Oxford who spend their time gathering, researching and defining the meaning of words (something I appreciate….) “smart” is an adjective, meaning it describes something. In this case, the ‘something’ is you. It describes you. You’re the subject of everything we do here at SMARTLife, you’re the whole point! 

We’re here to help you work through the topics and questions presented, and hopefully move toward a SMART Life and away from DUMB choices. So what do we mean by that? 

Back to Oxford, “smart” is defined as “having or showing quick-witted intelligence.” 

The folks at Cambridge, not to be outdone, add a helpful line: “intelligent, or able to think quickly or intelligently in difficult situations.” 

“Able to think quickly or intelligently in difficult situations” that’s the working definition of smart in the context of SMARTLife.

The second definition provided is: “(of a device) programmed so as to be capable of some independent action.” OK, I know “of a device” is a reference to gadgets and machines like “smart phones”, “smart tvs”, smart whatever devices we see around us. But the brain is also a wonderful ‘machine’ and can be ‘programmed’ in a multitude of ways. One way we describe this is “perspective”. We have a default perspective, mostly without realizing it. It’s just the “way we see things” or “what this means to me.” 

Another amazing thing about our brain is the ability to analyze, compare, to reflect. And further still, more amazingly we can use this ability to analyze, reflect and compare the perspective we have with other perspectives which we discover. The discovery can come many ways, but ultimately we can become aware of an alternate perspective through reflection, trial and error, listening or reading about the experience of others. Exercising this rational ability to compare, evaluate and learn from the experience of others is also part of what we mean by “SMART”. No need to repeat mistakes and take the long way around for every experience in life. That’s the “programmed to be capable of independent action” part. SMARTLife is an attempt to offer some input for you to consider in becoming capable of your own actions. I also like to refer to this as your power of choice. Whoever does whatever, whenever, for who knows why – you always have your power of choice. You are capable of “thinking intelligently in difficult situations.” You can always make a SMART choice!