When is the last time you asked yourself what you truly desire from this life of yours?
One of my teachers introduced some thoughts to me over the past year that I hadn’t really considered, and I was able to quickly make the connection as to why I hadn’t. We have all of these markers and goals to strive for when we are young. Finish school, go to college or develop a trade, start a career, find a mate, perhaps have some children, pets, buy a house, and plan out yearly vacations. If we achieve most of these things by our thirties (and those are the things of heart’s desire), what do we have left to strive for besides retirement?
In fact, the classic board game really does play out exactly this way. I’ve played it often.
The gap between “life accomplishments” and retirement is one that we can quickly get lost in, toiling away at maintaining our achievements until our mid-sixties if we’re lucky, right? It’s also what I’m referring to when I say I hadn’t even considered it before because I realized I had been doing just that. Going through the motions of life. Just maintaining.
Sure, there have been wonderful upgrades along the way. Salary growth, nicer houses and cars, all of the fun stuff that we look forward to doing with our hard-earned money. I hadn’t spent a lot of time just writing out all of the things I want from this life (and not all of those things are material). In so doing, I can truly apply focus to them and bring those hopes, dreams, plans, and schemes to life.
Completely changing my career is something I wouldn’t really have considered last year. It just so happened that the universe sent me a very clear message that I was ready and willing to receive. The deeper I get into life coaching, the more I realize the endless possibilities beyond my work and that I can create so much more for myself and everyone around me.
Try this really fun exercise: write down fifty things that you want out of life. On your list, include material things, places to visit, people you’d like to meet, even the minor conveniences you’d like to add to your daily life. I am very aware that it is challenge for most of us to come up with fifty, but that should be your target. Go big with this! Pretend you’re a kid again with big dreams and unshakable faith in your ability to have anything that your little heart desires. This is why I think it’s so fun to do! When’s the last time that you allowed yourself to dream of having every little thing that you want in life?
It is not my intention for this to come across in a materialistic manner, although I would challenge you to remove all judgments of yourself and others for these wants because there is absolutely nothing wrong with having them. Again, this should be done through the lens of the “sky is the limit” mentality. What would that look like for you?
What relationships would you have? Don’t be afraid to visualize what that would look like for you if you don’t currently have the deep, meaningful connections that feed your soul. If you did, what would that look like?
Visualization is a tremendously powerful activity. Try it on and see how it feels. Close your eyes and walk around in your mind with that feeling. I assure you, it feels absolutely fantastic. I also assure you that it works.
I leveraged this very thing for the last three homes that we have lived in. Though plenty of people have to move frequently for job assignments and hopefully, they enjoy it, we are not those people. Moving is a big deal and we don’t like to do it too often. So the easiest way for me to illustrate how this works is the way that I feel when I walk into the next home that I know I’m supposed to live in. There is this wonderful feeling of completeness combined with excitement. I want to see more and explore, can’t wait to see what’s behind that door, and envision what it would be like to sit outside on the back deck or patio.
There’s always that one house for me out of several that we tour when it’s time to move. For the next few days while negotiations are happening, I am so relaxed about it and just continue to visualize walking from room to room, taking in how I feel in each one, remembering it and reliving it. I don’t even consider any of the alternatives in my mind. I only focus on exactly the one that I want. It has worked every single time.
It’s also possible to do this with something you don’t have yet, something or someone you haven’t set seen yet. It does take some concentration, but what you’re doing is setting your intentions and letting them be known. Don’t wait around for the mystery to present itself. Know exactly what you want and you can have it.
I challenge you today to come up with your wish list, to write it all out, and to channel your inner child – the one that doesn’t know of any limitations or any reason at all why dreams wouldn’t come true. Revisit your dreams with curiosity and true intention. There’s no reason you have to remain on autopilot with the life that you know. That’s just settling in to a zone of comfort which is the opposite of where you need to be if you really want to experience transformation.
May your dreams be the sweetest!
photo credit: withnaomi Dreaming .. via photopin (license)
Sunny and Raw 