“I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life. The problem is that I can’t find anybody who can tell me what they want.” – Mark Twain
Week Four
Identifying and connecting with your dreams is a way to get excited about what life has to offer. This week’s questions are about all the amazing things that you could be working towards experiencing. Once you start, you will be surprised by all the possibilities and ideas that you have. Making a concrete list, or dream board, or scrap book, grounds your intentions firmly and provides you with a set of goals to keep in sight. Then, you can challenge yourself with making them a reality. To create your wish record, select the format you wish to refer back to, and then consider the following:
1) What is the one movie or book you enjoy watching or reading over and over?
We respond to narratives, so any story that touches you this way can really inform you about your desires and aspirations. What are the underlying themes or premises of the stories you have identified?
2) “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending” – Maria Robinson. In other words, what is of interest is not who you were, but who you are now, and who you are becoming.
a. If someone made a movie out of your complete journey (past, present and future) what would the lessons be?
b. What things made the difference?
c. Where is the drama, self-pity, hatred, anger, or frustration and where is the peace, happiness, love, growth, joy, or transcendence?
d. Which of these experiences do you choose to give power to?
e. How would you be remembered?
f. What are the things that you did not get done so far, that have yet to come?
3) Find as many ways as possible to fill in the blanks in the following sentence:
“If ……………….. was not a constraint, I would be …………………”
Examples to fill in the blanks 1) confidence, writing a song for Sara Bareilles. 2) time, growing a beautiful garden to share with the Dali Lama. 3) money, driving a Ferrari through every state in America.
What do your sentences tell you about the ways in which your give yourself permission to explore?
Take your time. Feel free to daydream and connect to what is at the center of your heart. Keep filing in the blanks over and over until no more ideas come up. Write down the primary constraints that hold you back from doing the things you have identified. This provides you information about possible limiting beliefs or aspects that need to be tackled in order to reach your goal.
4) Now take some time to declare your intentions and identify all the things you would like to do and be. These commitments could range from volunteering in your neighborhood, to completing a triathlon, to giving away one million dollars. You are about to create your list of dreams. Every item on this list drives you and is relevant to the plans you make. Write down everything that you have ever thought about being able to do. Consider the following questions to help you build your list:
a. Which activities, events and pursuits would you really like to experience or be a part of?
b. What do you wish you could do for or with friends and your larger community?
c. What do you yearn to be able to do with members of your family? Think about individual people you are close to.
d. What would you love to do for your own personal growth and development?
e. What goals do you have for your health?
f. What would you like to have in your physical environment? Think about the places where you live and work and how your experience of them could be improved.
g. What do you most want to do as part of your work?
h. What are your financial desires?
Every time you think of something go back and add it to your list. You may find there are some things that could be long term goals and others that you could accomplish fairly easily. You may want to break your list into subcategories such as places to visit, sports, contributions, skill development, projects etc. Once you have it, keep it in a safe place as a written or digital copy and use it for reference. You can take a look any time that you feel you have nothing to do or to see how much you have accomplished. Engaging in this provides you with a reference point for all the things you aspire to do. Pick the one that has the most appeal to you and add one step to your calendar that will bring you closer to making it a reality. When that is done add another item. You will be surprised how many things on that list you will complete over time.
Putting the time aside to consider each of these questions benefits you by increasing connection to your possibilities. We have unlimited choices available to us and on each and every second we are making decisions that unfold in our daily experience. Do your choices provide the daily experience that you want with all your heart? With all the possibilities identified your decision might be more difficult, but it is definitely more informed!