“There is only one true success. To be able to live your own life in your own way.”
– Christopher Morley
Most people look at the Richard Branson’s and the Elon Musk’s of this world and see them as super successful.
But what if you’re not “most people”? What if you light up over other stories about more tangible, more heart-warming activities that touch your soul?
For example, maybe you read a story about a man who spent his whole life planting trees and created a huge new forest that stabilized the soil, attracted a whole new generation of wildlife, and helped address the climate change issue, and thought, “WOW! That is awesome! I wish I had done that.”
Or maybe you read a story about a woman who sold everything she had to start a Dog Sanctuary, where she took in all the dogs that people had thrown out, nursed them back to health, trained them, and found forever homes for them with loving families, and it made you cry, and you thought, “I wish that was me.”
What Do You Want?
In the real world, the vast majority of people are not interested in climbing the corporate ladder. Nor are they really interested in being a multi-millionaire. Profit, power, and prestige don’t interest them.
What they are really interested in is doing something they love, something that they can feel passionate about, something that makes them want to stay up late and get up to start early because they absolutely love what they do. Something that their soul yearns for and makes their heart sing.
But most of those same people feel trapped in a job they don’t like, working way too hard for too little money. Most of them have too much month left over at the end of the money, and they are sick of it. Worse still, they have no idea of how to get out of it, so they feel trapped.
Are you like these people?
For things to change, YOU have to change. But how can you do that?
Here are 10 things you can do to move away from what you don’t want and toward what you do want:
1. Avoid putting up with things, circumstances, or people that make you feel bad. Life is short. Let go of it all, starting today. Take one step at a time. Make a conscious effort to eliminate everything in your life that doesn’t fill you with joy or inspiration.
2. Pay attention to what catches your eye, piques your interest, and causes you to think. Take notes on all of those things – where you saw them, what it was that got your interest, and how you feel about those topics. Somewhere in there is a vibrant future for you.
3. Design your ideal day. What time would you get up? What would your ideal home look like? Where would you live? What would you do with your time? Who would you spend time with? How would it all make you feel?
4. Collect stories of people who inspire you. Start making notes on hobbies, activities, or careers that you feel you would like to explore. Start doing some research. Then find someone who is already doing that and go talk with them.
- Buy them coffee, lunch or interview them. Ask lots of questions. Take good notes.
5. Once a week, take everything you’ve thought about, collected, and researched and put it onto the table like a jigsaw. Look for all the commonalities in what you’ve discovered. Think of it like a treasure map that you need to complete to find your fortune.
6. Think about starting a part-time business that you could run from home. Something that would give you a sense of freedom, independence, and an income independent of your job. Even if it’s only modestly successful, you could use the income to fund your passion.
7. If you don’t like your job, think about changing it for something that might move you a little closer to completing your treasure map. Maybe, by leveraging the income from your home-business, you could take a part-time job doing something much more enjoyable.
8. Remember: Change can only come from making decisions and taking action. Practice being decisive. Practice taking action. You’ll notice that your confidence will rise in proportion to the number of decisions you make and the number of actions you take.
9. Gain clarity. By now you will have at least some awareness on where your future might be waiting for you and what it might look and feel like. What you need now is clarity. The clearer you get on everything the easier it is to move toward it, and as soon as you move toward it, it will move toward you.
10. Hire a coach. Find a coach to help you bring all your ideas into focus and into reality. It will not only be the smartest investment in yourself that you’ve ever made, but it will also be the most permanent and fulfilling.
Life is here for us to enjoy, not endure. Find out what it is that your soul yearns for and what will make your heart sing. Others have done it, why not you? Take it one step at a time, one day at a time, and pursue this adventure we call Life.
Create your own treasure map and make a conscious, determined effort to follow it. There will be twists and turns along the way, so expect them. Now is the time. Make that decision and act upon it NOW!