This is part two in the series of using your internalGPS. Last week was all about looking back over the past year and understanding where you are now.
- Where are you now? Current location – Last week
- What are your irresistible destinations? – Today’s post
- How do you overcome obstacles – January week1
- Celebrating progress and success – January week2
The paradox and challenge is to be grateful and happy with your current location and be committed to a new destination at the same time. See this prior post about being committed but not attached: “Navigating Success with Strong Commitment & No Attachment…” Needy desire (or even worse: desperation) for a better location will repel your dreams and keep you stuck. As you visualize your new destination it is important to first be in a place of acceptance and gratitude for your current location so that you can enjoy the journey and have an abundance of creative energy. A little anger or frustration as a jolt to get going, “I’ll show them!” is OK, but, that negative jolt will not sustain you over time (see next week’s post on obstacles).
Successful people reach their big destinations (or goals) through their emotional mind. If your motivation is purely logical then you’ll be much more likely to give up or become side tracked by other priorities. See this prior post on “Clarifying Your Purpose” and how to activate your emotional mind to identify that big destination or your ultimate purpose.
Another way of stating your destination is a clear vision statement of where you want to be. I speak to groups about being more positive and productive and explain how these words alone are not a clear vision, you need to describe in detail what it looks and feels like for you to be more positive and productive. It is personal for you and the more detail you can imagine the more your brain will make your vision a reality. Remember to keep in mind the instruction from last week about if you were suddenly gone due to a fatal accident, “what would your friends and family say about how you lived?” This question will help you align your vision or purpose with your values (See this post: “What Is Your Purpose” for a list of values).
Once you have your big irresistible destination or purpose clear, then create smaller goals that you can reach in three to six months to support the bigger destination. Make them a stretch but reachable. These goals may change based on new information but it is critical to start with a plan and then adjust (rather than having no plan at all).
If you have had these goals in the past and did not do them then consider changing them or doing some analysis on what has been in your way. Again, if there is not a strong emotional pull then you will be stuck regardless of how logically you argue that you want it. A common example is a goal to exercise more and yet you never (or rarely) make room in your schedule for more exercise. If you set this goal because you know that logically your health will be better, then you are in big danger of forever talking and thinking about exercise and not doing it. If you have seen a loved one have a stroke or other disease and saw them suffer and lose contact with their loved ones then possibly you can shift to a desire to spend more time with those you love as an emotional pull to achieve this goal. It is very personal for you; what works for me may fall flat in inspiring you.
Take some time to really think through your motivations and the benefits to reaching your goals. Only create goals and a big destination that excite you as you put them into your internalGPS and start on your journey. If you feel some dread and hesitation about going forward then you may need to adjust your destination. If you feel some fear, notice whether it is exhilarating fear like when you were first learning how to ride a bike (the new or unknown) or is it more like the fear of being stuck in an old elevator (danger!). People who live their dreams still feel fear but know the difference and push forward through their fear of the new or unknown.
If you still have some dread or hesitation then you may be living someone else’s dream. Make sure it is your irresistible destination and that you are driving, not in the passenger seat. Overcoming those pesky obstacles will be the focus for next week!
Happy New Year!!
photo credit: markbult via Flickr creative commons