Do You Know What You Want?

“I’ve often said, The number one reason people don’t get what they want is that they don’t know what they want?”
           

                      T.Harv Eker Secrets of the Millionaire Mind

                                                                                                        

How many of you feel like most days, you just get up and do what’s in front of you?  You spend the majority of your time with cooking, cleaning, shopping, going to work, and taking care of others.   Who has time to create a life that’s ‘on-fire’?  And the truth is, most of us haven’t even taken the time to decide what that kind of life would look like anyway.  I, for one, hadn't.

I hope you took the time this week to come up with a description of what your ideal life would look like because just that ‘knowing’ is the first step to actually creating it.  This week we’re going to focus on the ‘knowing' of what we want. 

 

Listen to Janet Attwood, one of the authors of The Passion Test: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qESq7Ob-whk

Perhaps you're not as clear about what you should be doing with your life as Janet.  But in their book, The Passion Test, the authors have us make a list of things we are most passionate about.  They tell us to think about what gets us excited when it comes up in a conversation.  What is it that when we’re doing it, we’re feeling an exhilaration!  What is it that we most look forward to, that gives us the greatest satisfaction…. that we dream about accomplishing? What is it that when we’re immersed in it, the time just flies by and we sense deep within our guts that this is what we were put on this earth to do.  What are the things that without having or doing them, our lives would feel incomplete, unfulfilled?    These things are our passions.

So take the vision of your ideal life (homework from last week) and break it down to 10 things that you are the most passionate about. Oh yes….and one more thing….write them down as if they were already present in your life. Now remember…this is your ideal life…so think bigger and raise your bar of expectations!

Here’s some examples to get you started: 

 

I am…

 

·         successfully writing and having books published

·         working in a nurturing environment

·         enjoying perfect health with lots of energy, stamina, and vitality

·         enjoying the large proceeds from the business I created.

·         having an open, and exciting relationship with my husband

·         spending time (quantity and quality) with my family

·         regularly enjoying the friendship of motivated, exciting and positive  friends

·         traveling around the world

·         spreading my faith daily to those God puts in front of me

·         singing on the stage in front of hundreds of people, being recognized as an  international artist, or regularly performing in ‘dancing with the stars’

·         finding joy in working in the business of (…..) which I created.

·         finding fulfillment in sponsoring a home for homeless moms and children

·    feeling extroadinary satisfaction in serving others

·          competing at a national level

      ................................. It's time to create your own list.

Now, taking the advice from The Passion Test, let's take our personal list and determine the top five things we would most want to have in our ideal lives.  Once we have selected our top five, the next step is to put them in the order of importance. 

Go back and look over your list, reword some of the phrases to better portray your desires, then when you have them close to what you believe would be your ideal life, write them down on five index cards (all five on each card) and place them around the house, workspace, car, etc…so you can look at them throughout the week. 

 

So what's the worst thing that could happen if you try this?  If you want to make changes on your cards ….go for it…it’s your ideal life....you know what you want!

 

I'd love to hear from you. Email me at: smallsteps4bigresults@yahoo.com
.

 

 

A Life on Fire

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                                                                                                                         "Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so you shall become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil."                             James Allen

I’ve been focusing on taking small steps for the last few years of my life…in fact this month, I’m beginning year #3 of my blog.    If you weren’t with me from the beginning let me review my initial purpose of creating my blog: to take on the challenge of becoming 60 with the idea that making small changes in my life could bring big results.  With 62 now peeking around next week’s corner, I find myself even more invested in making the rest of my life as good as it can be.  In fact….I’d like to be on fire, loving life and believing that I am fulfilling the purpose I was put here for! 

As I picked up the book, The Passion Test, and began reading it, it seemed to underscore the very ideas  I have been pondering and questions I have been asking. 

But before I go any further I’d like to involve you in this process as well…..so I created this ‘life scale’.  Now before some of you ‘young ones’ think this is an exercise for the aged let me assure you, it’s one for all of us.  Where does your current life fit on this line? Think about it for a minute, then try and describe why you picked the place you’re at? 

 

0          1           2           3           4             5             6            7          8           9            10

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Yucky!                 Not good                     Mediocre-                     Good -                  On-fire!

Terrible              but guess it                just settling for               I’m content            Passionate
                      could be worse              many things in life                                       Loving Life

I’d love to reach through this computer and hear what you have to say…to listen to your thoughts and ideas and find out where you are right now in your life.

But Let’s just suppose you’re not at 10….. have you ever thought of what your life ‘on-fire’ would look like.  What your days would feel like if you were loving life and filled with joy and passion.  What if you were regularly using your God given talents, certain you were aligned with your destiny and focused on fulfilling your purpose?

In their book,  The Passion Test, authors Jane and Chris Attwood lead their readers on a journey of insight and discovery with the purpose of doing just that.  But it’s only ‘discovery’ if we are willing to put in the work.  So how about it, are you interested in the possibility of cranking up the volume in your life, of stepping forward and asking for more?

If so, here’s our first assignment: Imagine what your ideal life would look like.   Remember this is your ‘ideal’ life, so there are no barriers right now….don’t think small…think big…dream the lofty dream ..what if you could have it all! What would ‘all’ be for you? Think in terms of your relationships, your career, your calling, your home, your lifestyle?  Visualize your perfect life and then put that picture in writing.  (You are still writing in your journal, aren’t you? If not then read/reread blog from 6/24.)

If you find yourself stopping short and thinking small because you feel too selfish, too inadequate, too silly...it just sounds too impossible, or just too much to ask for?  Remember…this isn’t real …it’s imaginary, at least for now.  The only limits there are in this 'ideal' world, are the ones that you are placing there.  So don't be a woozy...go for it!  You have a whole week to work on it.  No fair being only an observer on this exercise…step up and give it a whirl.

I'd love to hear your comments: post on the blog or email me at: smallsteps4bigresults@yahoo.com
 

Off on Another Journey

"Slow down and enjoy life.  It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast---you also miss the sense of where you are going and why."  Eddie Cantor

I've been traveling most of the summer, spending time with our children and grandchildren. They are spread around the country so it's no easy task to make the trek.  It's been such a blessing to have spent the last six weeks visiting them, being inspired by each of them and participating in a slice of their lives. It caused me to slow down.  How can you not 'stop and smell the roses' when you have six granddaughters all waiting to point out the scenery they don't want you  to miss.  Like many parents, my children and their families are my passion.

One day while in North Carolina, I got an invitation to join in on a trip to the library.  My four year old granddaughter just recently received her first 'very own' library card.  She sleeps with it... and carries it around with her during the day. Now there is a child that understands the power of reading!

When we arrived at the small community building , we spent a good amount of time walking up and down the isles in search of children's books. While the two year old was busy pulling books off the shelves, my other granddaughter and I were searching for a book on bees.  My daughter's backyard had seen a barrage of swarming bees suddenly making their homes in holes in the grass. These bees appeared a bit aggressive and kept the kids from enjoying their usual daily backyard play. It seemed a perfect time to teach the children more about these very interesting insects. So we scanned the shelves until we found two colorfully illustrated books about bees.   Did you know bees have two stomachs?

As my granddaughter was proudly producing her library card to check out her new found treasures, and her mommy was scooping up the baby and the dozen of books she had strewn across the floor, I found myself perusing the shelves of 'for sale' books: $.50 for hard back, .25 for paper back....( My frugal nature is always drawn to these fabulous deals).  I  came across a title that interested me and I started to read the front jacket on the cover, when the 'story time' lady strummed her guitar and announced it was time to meet up in the children's room for library hour and join the fun.  I couldn't pass that up, so I laid the book down on the top of the shelf and hurried to be with the children.  I smiled as I walked through the door and saw Ms library lady getting us immediately involved...When was the last time you shook your sillies out?

Some 30 minutes later we came out, and although the children were tired and ready to go home, my daughter asked if I wanted to buy the book I was looking at.  I walked back to the shelf and it was no longer where I left it so I said..."It's OK, let's just go home".  At that moment an efficient looking woman with a bun and a library cart passed by... I mentioned I had just been looking at a book and had placed it on the top of the shelf...did she know where it might be?  She was quickly able to show me where she had re-shelved it.  I couldn't very well not buy it after having bothered the nice lady... so I anted up my 50 cents, and I like my grandchildren, left the library with some loot.

Later that evening, after having read and reread books about  bees, Ruby's dream of becoming a veterinarian, a blue elephant story, and Calliou's latest adventure,  I  collapsed in bed and began reading the first few pages of my book.  I knew as my eyes began scanning the introduction, that my picking up this book was what Julia Cameron calls 'synchonicity'. 

Here's how the book began:   "What does it mean to live a passionate life? Exciting, fulfilling, thrilling, on fire, purposeful, turned on, motivated, entertaining, easy, fun, unstoppable. We'd all like to feel our life is purposeful.  We all want to be passionate about what we're doing, to be excited about how we spend our days, to love our lives, and to feel we're making some valuable contribution."

After reading the first page...I was in. I hope you will be too. I'd love to share my insights about this very titillating, and thought provoking topic of living a life with passion.  Best if you pick up your book now, so you can read along as we work our way through it.  The title is The Passion Test by Janet and Chris Attwood. (About $8.00 on Amazon)
http://www.amazon.com/The-Passion-Test-Effortless-Discovering/dp/B001H9LDOK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1375912746&sr=8-2&keywords=the+passion+test+by+janet+attwood



Post your thoughts on the blog or email me at smallsteps4bigresults@yahoo.com