Your life isn’t a series of accidents. Everything you’ve done and everything you’ve experienced up until now has gotten you to exactly this place, this moment in time. And it’s from here that you look and move forward.
The question is, forward to what?
The answer hinges on you. Your choices, your intentions, and your actions create your destiny. Will the rest of your life be one replay after the next of what came before? Or will you act to create a life of value and purpose with the days you have left?
If you’re willing to set your course in a valued direction, start with a commitment. The commitment isn’t that you’ll always achieve every goal or get what you want. That’s an impossible dream. We all fall short once in a while. The commitment is simply to go forward in new, potentially more vital ways as best as you know how.
So, right now, ask yourself if you’re willing to do something new. Say it out loud. Write it down. Tell someone about it. Ask others to support you on your new path as you take one bold step after another.
Stop setting “dead goals” such as I will be happier today, I will be aware of all my mistakes or I will live no purpose. These goals have seemingly beneficial outcomes, but no real actions, no real consequences if missed. No one can see these goals or their efforts including you! Therefore they often go neglected, forgotten or forgiven.
Choose “living goals” instead. Living goals get you going, and if they’re rooted in your values, they will take you forward. Going forward means some kind of change: doing less of one thing and more of another, or stopping one behavior and doing something else instead. The key word here is “and.”
Even if your values around say, health lead you to decide to quit smoking, you need to build in activities you will do instead, something healthy or vital to replace smoking and keep you moving in the direction of better health. Or if you choose to cut back on your work hours, you need to find another purpose for that extra time. If working less is in the service of a value, how can you fill those hours with activities that lead you in the direction of that value? The point is that you are doing, not behaving like one of the Dead Players.
That’s how to create a life worthy of a standing ovation.
Peace and Love, Jim
