From Doing-Time into Living Your Higher Vision. Part 1
Does it feel like you are doing-time in your personal and or work life? There may be aspects that still inspire or engage you in some way. But would you rather be doing something else. You may feel stuck or obligated to continue what you are doing until something big changes.
On a personal level, are you hanging-in there until your kids complete college?
With business, are you hoping for hope the big project gets wings which will then enable the landslide payout to your bank account?
Or are you just stuck in circumstances?
The repetition of decades in a career can create blinders to any inspiration for considering what we want to do now. It can seem impossible to create moments for stepping out of the pace of our day-week-month to consider what we honestly think, feel and want.
So most of us don’t know where to even begin, as if we could then summon the bandwidth to do anything about it. We forget the about the clarity and aliveness when we are doing what we love.
But it is all there hiding in plain sight! We’re going to brainstorm this a bit and, as always, keeping it simple.
Let’s begin by giving your situation some context. Create a block of uninterrupted time, 30 minutes or more. Find a way to step away from the noise. Walking works for me.
Consider these 4 core questions.
First, in your current situation, actually ask yourself, "what is working for me?" Then ask “what is not working for me”?Keep it simple. What is your purpose and motivation in your situation? How is it being served - or not? Notice any pattern of your thoughts and feelings about it. Briefly note this information.
Now for the second question to ask yourself, “what else would I love to be doing?" This helps uncover your desired situation. You may find realizations emerging over the next few days and weeks. Do your best to contain judgment or pessimism. This is a discovery process. Engaging it can ignite your inspiration that over time you can organize and develop.
I love the Martin Luther King quote: “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just the next step”.
Continuing to the third question, ask yourself, “what is the potential value of my desired situation?” Linger with this. How would this change the experience of your life and those you care about?
The fourth question to ask yourself is: “what happens if I don’t do anything about this and nothing changes”? What continues or increases about your current situation. Specifically, how will this continue to impact you? Drilling into this question can give you the insight and inspiration to proceed with this process for changing your life.
Okay, let’s look again at your current situation. It's where you are now. What are your motivations for doing it? What expectations and needs does it meet, or hopefully will, at some point. What are the major frustrations that have you counting the time until it changes? For example: waiting for the big payout, protecting your investment or something important to you, seemingly stuck in circumstances, or what is preventing you from moving forward?
What is the real, honest-to-god, potential for your current situation to progress into your desired situation? Are you basically doing well but some changes could make a difference. Or do circumstances require you hang-in there for a bit longer, and if so what can you do to incorporate some of the desired situation into your day and week? Or do you realize it is time to reevaluate and figure out what you really want to do, along with the transition into actually doing it.
Returning to your desired situation now offers the opportunity for uncovering the life you want to be living but is still hiding inside you. It’s likely buried under decades of shoulds' and can't's, along with years of fixed beliefs, perceptions and ways of working. But it is there and in its way has been calling for your attention.
We spend decades focussing on the achievement of success in our finances and career. So creating the space for realizing what is personally important to us now requires a major shift in mindset. While maintaining the life of our current situation, we need to create the space, structure and support for unleashing the life inside us that is ready to emerge in front of us.
Find the ways to step out of the pace and pressure. This creates the conditions for sensing what’s important to you now, in your personal and work life? This is a new chapter in your life. How have your interests and circumstances changed.
Dream time is best served w/o judgment. It is a gradual and progressive process. There will be areas of past interest you may revisit, as well as new areas in which you will experiment and discover how it might be what you are looking for. Scheduling time for this over weeks and months gives the opportunity for it to percolate and emerge.
Again, this is your life. Continue giving yourself permission to discover what your heart wants. Learn to shift gears, enabling more personal time for exploring and enjoying. Being playful can open awareness to see what has been lingering in the background for a while.
These 4 core questions offer a starting point for creating your desired changes, one step at a time. It gives context for where you are in your current situation which can then guide the plan and strategy for understanding and progressing into your desired situation.
Reorganizing into the life you want to live is an adventure. It entails vision, motivation, a plan, as well as the willingness to employ your capabilities for relearning along the way.
Simply maintaining your current situation, or generating the change into your desired situation - it’s work either way. Have you noticed how the process and results are remarkably different when what you are doing is a labor-of-love.
Creating a major life change can be an ongoing process.
After all, what’s it all for?
I look forward to your insights, comments and questions. Your responses and interests contribute to these articles.
Reflections about your current and desired situations.
1) In your current situation, what is working for you? What is not working for you? What keeps you engaged in it? What is missing?
2) What else would you love to be doing, your desired situation? What is your motivation? How would that change your life?
NEXT WEEK’S ARTICLE: From Doing Time into Living Your Higher Vision, Part 2
We’ll further explore these core questions and strategies for transitioning from your current situation into your desired situation
otan@otanpatrickford.com 1.973.229.7174 https://www.otanpatrickford.com
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Unwavering Heart: 5 Keys to Living with Fierce Authenticity, 2014
Unwavering Heart: 5 Keys to Becoming your Destiny, 2017
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