THE ROAD AHEAD: WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT?

When you think about what you really want to do and accomplish, how do you feel? Does it excite you, scare you, or a little of both? When I think about what it is that I want to achieve I get both excited and butterflies at the same time. These little thoughts start to go through my head" yes, you can do it", "but what if I can't"? and back and forth they go.

Success can be scary as different thoughts and scenarios enter our mind.  How will this person react to it? How will I react to it? What if my friends don't like my new success? and so it goes on. But you know what? I truly believe that we were not put on this earth to just live small. When we accomplish things there is a ripple effect that benefits others,often in ways that we could never have imagined.

Here is an exercise that I did recently and I invite you to do the same. Ask yourself this question.

What do I want? What do I really really want, and how do I go about getting it? Then sit quietly with your pen and paper and work it out. You deserve to live the life that you want.

This poem by Marianne Williamson says it all perfectly. I hope it inspires you.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is not our darkness, but our light that frightens us.

We ask ourselves "Who am I to be so brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are we not to be?

Your playing small doesn't serve the world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us;

It is in everyone!

And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear our presence automatically liberates others!

MAKING EACH DAY COUNT: LIVING THE LIFE YOU DESIRE

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"The best way to predict the future is to create it". Peter Druker

I remember watching my brother and his wife one day when I was going through a difficult patch and thinking to myself, "you know life works so well for them, they really do have life nailed". Then it occurred to me that they have life nailed because they have made life work well for them.They are where they are because they have planned, set goals and then they have gone to work on their plans. The result is a pretty good life. So completely unbeknownst to them they taught me some valuable lessons on how to take your life in the direction that you want it to go. I say thank you.

Below are some of these valuable life lessons that they have taught me.

They plan and know their why.

They plan. They set goals and then they plan how they are going to accomplish those goals. Those goals have ranged from investment properties paid in full, to taking a years sabbatical to travel with their daughter, to  my sister- in-law having just completed her law degree and starting her articles.

They take action

 Once they have put a plan into place, they act upon it,and continue the necessary action with discipline and consistency until their goal is achieved. They know that a dream needs to be acted upon.

They are willing to pay the price.

They are willing to pay the necessary price to make their dream or goal a reality. Often our plans and dreams fall by the wayside as reality kicks in and we begin to realize that our dream life is not going to happen without some sacrifice and dedication. Lets be honest, very little if anything that is really worth having comes easy. It takes some sacrifice, work and discipline.

They make each day count

As they work towards their goals, they continue to make each day count. Enjoying life does not stop because they have a goal and are focused on making it happen. They still find pleasure in everyday life and make each day count.

I would like to end with a quote. When I told them that I would like to share the lessons that I had learned from them, I asked if they had an ultimate dream or goal in life for now? Here is their answer.

 "Not sure if  we have an ultimate dream or goal. If anything we just want to live a life that is full and interesting. My one insight into life has been that the vast majority of ones life is lived on the day to day and so we have sought to make that day to day as alive as possible".

Each on of us is unique with dreams unique and special to us. What is your most precious dream, and what price are you prepared to pay to make it a reality? My wish for you is that you live an extraordinary life.

LET LIFE BE EXTRAORDINARY

Do you ever get that feeling deep down inside that you are just bursting to do something different? Something extraordinary? Like myself, and so many others, do you catch yourself looking at people who are living their dream, living life on their terms, and think to yourself  how lucky they are. Finding yourself secretly wishing it was you? In reality however, the chances of luck having played any part in their success is very small.

 Success doesn't just happen. You have to plan it, work for it. Therefore you can be certain that the person who is living their dream, living life on their terms, is doing so because they had a dream, a goal, and then went to work to make it happen! They did not think long and hard about their dream only to put it on the back burner never to be seen again, because they believed that dreams like theirs do not come true for people like them, that they only happen to others. Nor did they collapse back onto their favourite sofa when they realized that work and probably some sacrifices in the beginning were necessary. Instead they went to work to make it happen, despite any deep fears and uncertainty that they were feeling.

  This realization is powerful and important for us, because it enables us to open up our minds to the reality that all these amazing possibilities and opportunities are there waiting for us, if we are prepared to put in the work and effort to turn them from dreams into reality. Unfortunately, this is where most of our dreams die, because too often, when we see what is involved we walk away. 

Don't let that be you. Don't let that be me.