I am often greeted by enthusiasts who are giddy about life, exploration and traveling the world. The light that shines gives me warmth, and I find eternal gratitude for meeting gypsy souls with a desire for the unknown, much like myself.
Up until the point where I ask, “What is your big picture? What are you chasing after?” And more often than not I am given the dull answer of “IDK.”
*Insert awkward emoji face* Huh?
I am all for living in the moment, being present, doing your meditations and completing your breathing exercises. But what does that all do if you are not giving yourself any direction? Exploring and traveling is fun, but eventually that will end, and again you will be back to square one.
This is totally fine if you’re into that. Life runs in a continuous circle and ending up at the beginning happens to all of us, time and time again, but when does that begin to feel like enough already?
This is the moment were we fall victim and follow the rules of society. Naturally we do what is “easy” for us. We follow the plan that has already been mapped out for us. We feel obliged to go to school and get a degree so we secure that “stable” job. We get down on ourselves for being 30 with no kids and no significant other. We complete it all and SURPRISE still feel empty inside. We are often misguided, confused and lost – damn it, we just don’t know why!
Here is why:
You are not being clear with yourself with where you want to go.
Ray Dalio says,
“Dreams + Reality = A Successful Life.”
We must be grounded in reality in order to create a successful life. This means DECIDING what a successful life will look like.
“Some people want to change the world and some people want to operate in simple harmony with it and savor life,” Dalio says.
There is no right or wrong answer. But you must take a moment and ask yourself where do your desires lie?
The funny thing is we often get caught up in feelings of well, what if I don’t know right now? DECIDE. Your big picture can change as times go on. Hopefully, as you age, you grow with wisdom and experience. Of course your goals will change and expand as you do.
For example, when I first went about creating my dream life, I looked at the people who I wanted to be like. For me, this was Rachel Brathen a.k.a Yoga Girl. She has a huge social media following because she is unapologetically herself, documents her life and is simply vulnerable and real.
That’s all I saw at that moment, so I went on the undertaking of doing that.
Well, this did not grow my following as I expected. I couldn’t understand what I was doing wrong. I’ll tell you what it was, I was so unclear in my VISION, my big picture, that I didn’t even know what I was doing or why I was doing it. So, I circled back to square one and asked myself why I wanted to follow in her footsteps.
Well, first off she lives in Aruba, she’s a world renown yoga instructor, and she didn’t really create many online products to get there. She was vulnerable to her social media platform and hosted yoga retreats. She wrote a ton and was featured on huge platforms like Yoga Journal. For a while, that’s what I decided I wanted to do. But again, I lost my clarity and sense of purpose and again was back to square one.
Brathen continued to open her own (huge) yoga studio, buy a plot of land for her dog shelter (Sargent Peppers friends), created 109 World – an organization that does mission trips around the world, and hosts retreats and yoga teacher trainings.
I didn’t realize that THIS was the life I was searching to create. I didn’t realize until I was asked the question, who EXACTLY do I want to be.
Try this – Get yourself right:
Shake your tailfeather, do burpees, watch a funny video, do whatever it takes to get yourself in a playful, happy state of mind.
Free yourself of distractions, take a big deep breathe and…
I want you to write to EXACTLY who you want to be.
Write this in the present tense. You are already that person.
Trust, that everything you desire is already within you.
Imagine that it’s ten years from now. What do your life and business look like on a day to day basis? Tell yourself you are already this person. From the way you look, where you reside, to the beliefs you tell yourself DAILY, who is this person? What do they do for work? What makes them stand out from all the rest? What do they BELIEVE is true in order to make their life a success? How much do they make a year? How much is in the bank?
(Write this to the penny.)
This might feel silly to you.
DO NOT tell yourself you can’t do what you vision.
DO NOT stress over the path to get there.
Have fun! This is the part you should feel really giddy about.
THIS IS YOUR DREAM!
Remember:
No dream is too big.
&
The words of the great Napoleon Hill
“The (wo)man of decision cannot be stopped. The man of indecision cannot be started. Take your own choice.”
