When you realize that you can have anything you want and do anything you want, what if you then find yourself overwhelmed with choices and ideas? It can be a challenge trying to narrow things down because for many of us, it’s the first time in our entire lives when we are thinking about what we want to do without others placing barriers in our way. Or ourselves, reverting back to the old stories we tell ourselves about our potential and our values.
I don’t know about you, but I have been trained all of my life to constantly adjust my ideas smaller. Don’t be dreaming too big now!, they say. Because what I want is going to require effort that I may or may not be able to put forth. So I have shied away from things that were absolutely possible, for fear of failure. It was not actually fear that I couldn’t do it, the fear is just that I wouldn’t have enough desire, discipline or stamina to do it. The thing is, none of those things is static. We can choose to strengthen or improve, and there really isn’t anything stopping us.
I love to hear the question, what would you do if money didn’t matter? But it’s hard to answer! Some of us never do find the answer, or worse, never ask the question. I am literally asking the question right now. It’s time for me to make a big bet, on myself. There is some risk involved, but because the thought of passing up an opportunity of a lifetime, and just living with the status quo and wondering “WHAT IF?” would be like death by a thousand tiny cuts.
My favorite and easier way to overcome the stagnation of imagination (ha, ha, a rhyme!) is to go down a list of questions, starting small, that help jog the memory and create sort of a path to help answer the big question.
Start with this: name at least 6 or 7 of your favorite things, with a couple of words or sentence about why. They can be random. I’ll start.
- Wind chimes – sound beautiful
- Salty air -energizing yet peaceful
- Pineapples and mangoes – my favorite fruits
- Bright canary yellow – my fav color
- Honeysuckle – my all time favorite scent, plus you can taste the nectar
- Hummingbirds and fireflies – pretty creatures that are amazing
- Large gold hoop earrings – look so cute on me
- Glitter – sparkles add razzle dazzle to my day
- Dancing – frees my spirit
- Long summer days – when it stays light at night in the far north
And then think how you can experience more of these things in your life. It doesn’t need to be one action per item. One action could cover many or one item can have multiple actions. Now it’s your turn, share in the comments if you want:
