How clear and inspirational is the image that you came up with for the new you as your Week One assignment? What ran through your head as you wrote it out? Are you hearing echoing in your head…. You need to… you should… you have to…. It is time that you…. NO, NO, NO! This really is about you. Your wants, your heart, your soul not what other people expect of you. As we progress from here, you need to keep refining a vision until you have something that really resonates with you. Also, don’t do something like reach $1.0 MM in savings”. Sure $1.0MM is exciting but it is so abstract that your brain has nothing specific to really focus on. That is fine as a thing goal later on but right now we are talking about personal transformation not goal attainment. Who is the person that you want to be? How well can you see that person in your mind’s eye and does it seem like that really is the person you are meant to be? If so, it should feel comfortable not fake. Play the hand you are dealt not the hand that you wish you had. What is the best version of you that you can imagine?
This Week’s Talk
For Episode Two, we focus on realizing that without the journey you cannot get to where you want to be. When Scrooge is talking to Marley’s ghost, and the ghost informs him that he will be visited by 3 spirits, Scrooge says he would rather not. Marley tells him… “Without their visits… you cannot hope to shun the path I tread”. He is warning Scrooge that he is bound to end up as Marley unless he accepts the visits and goes on the journey to see what he needs to see in order for him to change.
Unless you have some sort of extreme experience, the journey is in itself insignificant. The Journey should be like a road trip or planning a holiday. Even the most basic of vacations/holidays takes some consideration. When do we want to go; what sort of experience do we want; what’s our budget; what are the options…. So does this personal transformation of becoming the better you. It will be achieved in steps. A high-level view of our upcoming adventure together is
- Recognition
The journey starts when you recognize you need or want to change. We never really see or read of Scrooge saying… “Ya’, Marley, you are right. I have been an ass and I have to change”. We do see that he accepts the three spirits and goes on the journeys. Seems reasonable then that he had to reach some sort of point of internal recognition and acceptance that there was opportunity to improve upon who he was.
- Contemplation and Introspection
Who and what do you want to become? You will find yourself thinking about the future you and what is it that you see that person being? As we progress you will need to pick a focus and set priorities but for now, work on creating a comprehensive fully formed image who do you want to be. Eventually we will get to setting priorities since there are only so many hours in a day and you only have a finite amount of mental energy to exert. At some point we will work on determining what your priorities are. Could be health (mental, physical or both), could be skills (professional or personal) could be all sorts of possibilities.
- Preparation
Get the car ready: filled with gas, tires checked, oil changed, spare gas can, emergency blanket, road trip food… Cutting things out of your life is a vital part of becoming. You will need to look at where your time and energy goes and decide what has to go so you can be the you that you want to be.
- Action
Doing, being, learning, becoming. I think it was Gandhi who said “Be the change that you want to see in the world” It is that simple, but not that easy. Be the person you want to be!
- Sustaining the effort
Rinse and repeat… you are working on incorporating the new you into who you are. You will forget, miss opportunities, slide backwards, forget and have to start again. That is all part of the journey. The trick is to never give up. Be easy on yourself when you see that you missed an opportunity, were not the you that you want to be, that it fell out of your routine… just keep moving forward.
This Week’s Assignment
We have travelled past Recognition at this point and we are aligned that there is a greater you to be developed. This week, your assignment is to start thinking about the person that you wish to become. As we progress, we will continue to develop the vision that you have of the new you. It is absolutely the most necessary step of this voyage that you define, refine, enhance, clarify and magnify the vision of who that person is. It can help if you select a role model that represents the new you that you aspire to be. Pick from among the living or fictional. Think about who best represents the attributes that you wish to embody and get that image sharply focused into your mind’s eye.
See you next week…