Episode Summary
How do we know what we want in life? If we do know what we want, how should we integrate this dream sensibly into our life?
In this episode we meet Nick and Ana - who think about their dreams with two opposing mindsets. Through their stories, we understand the challenges associated with discovering and aligning our aspirations.
We look at a 2 step framework to figure out our innermost dream and integrate it holistically with our life.
Concepts discussed include surface level goals, rat race, individualistic vs collective cultures, subconscious mind, me time, mindfulness, vision boards, powerful questions, values, holistic planning, personal board of directors, inner citadel, saboteur, positive affirmations, taking the first step.
Link to a list of Powerful Questions
Episode Transcript
(There may be some typos as this episode has been transcribed electronically)
Hi everyone. Welcome to how to live, a podcast that explores ways to live a good life. I am your host Sharad Lal.This is episode 11.
How do we know what we want in life?
- We may have some surface level goals -
- Wealth we want to accumulate
- Car we want to drive
- Lifestyle we desire
- But deep down
- Do we know what we really want?
- If we do
- We’re not sure how this will integrate into our life
- We are torn between difficult choices
- Career or family
- Passion or security
- Success or fulfilment
- Without knowing what we really want
- How can we create the ideal life for ourselves?
- In today’s episode we look at
- Why is it so difficult to know what we want?
- And how can we go about figuring this out
- This episode has been co-written with my wife Sarah Lal
- As a coach she specialises in helping people achieve their dreams and goals
- Let’s start by meeting Nik
- Nik is single and has been working in Singapore for 5 years now
- He’s very excited.
- He’s figured out what he wants
- He wants to become a musician
- He cannot wait to get rid of the boring job that bogs him down
- And Embark on this exciting journey
- As he always does - Nik shares his dream with many people
- First with his sister
- His sister is encouraging but reminds him about the risks in future earnings.
- He talks to his first boss - his mentor and role model in life
- He doesn't approve of Nik wasting all the hard work he’s put in to reach this far in life
- He talks to close friends back home. They are honest with him
- Tell him he’s being selfish
- How will he be able to provide for his ageing parents
- When he talks to his parents - they don’t mince words
- They say it’s a ridiculous career option
- What about marriage - how can he get married without a steady income?
- He’s their only son.
- How can he do this to them?
- Bam.
- That was it. Nik could not take more - he drops his dreams and goes back to his work.
- Now lets meet Ana
- Ana is in a different life stage
- Married with an infant
- As she gets back to work after maternity
- She doesn’t find her job exciting any more
- She’s recently clarified her true passion in life
- Fashion
- Ana loves everything about it and wants to spend the rest of her life in it.
- She wants to leave her mundane job and build her own fashion label.
- She can see it so clearly - this is what she’s meant to do.
- However
- She’s a major contributor to the family income
- But The timing doesn’t seem right
- she’s just had a baby
- This will put extra pressure on her husband
- Who will now need to earn more and give more time to the baby
- While she works hard to start her new business
- The pull between family and her career gives her feelings of guilt and stress
- But
- She feels the urgency
- She’s doesn’t want to continue delaying her dreams now that she has clarity and momentum
- She feels the urgency
- Her role model and spiritual guide
- Talks about
- Focussing on possibilities and not constraints
- Finding one’s passion and living ones dreams
- She has found her passion. Very few people have that.
- She needs to follow it and life can work around it.
- She’s so inspired that she’s found a name for her fashion label
- Created a cool logo
- And a simple business plan
- She hasn’t done too much deep research or planning.
- But She quickly quits her job, takes up a loan, and sets up the company.
- We’ve got Nick on one hand who’s given up on his dreams for practical reasons
- and Ana on the other who’s prioritising dreams above everything else with a sense of urgency
- What’s the right approach?
- Well - 5 years later, both are unhappy
- Nick is married. Working in the same job.
- Going through the motions. Unmotivated
- He’s resentful.
- Bitter at giving up on his dream
- Ana on the other hand
- Has quit fashion and moved to photography.
- She found out that creating a fashion brand wasn’t what she thought it would be
- Life isnt turning out the way she expected
- She’s struggling
- both financially and in her relationship with her young family
- While these are extreme examples at two ends of the spectrum
- Most of us are somewhere in between
- Some of us are more like Ana, while the others are more like Nik
So let’s take a step back and understand -
- Why’s it difficult to know what we truly want
- Here are 3 big reasons
- The first is surface level inspiration
- We look at external sources for inspiration and don’t look deep enough
- But from a distance - we only see what’s on the surface, what’s visible, what seems attractive
- Even though most of us know the aspirational lifestyle imagery shown in
- movies, magazines, advertising or even our friend on social media
- Is not an accurate depiction of reality
- These mesmerising images capture us, enchant us
- Since childhood we’ve been drawn to shiny objects
- We consciously or subconsciously create life goals in line with this imagery of having the perfect house, spouse, children, job
- When we do achieve any of this - while on the surface our life might look good - in reality we might be struggling
- This is not what we truly want
- The second is competing with peers. One upmanship
- As a species we have been competing for millions of years - this is hard wired to us.
- We compete on parameters that are tangible and measurable.
- We might size up people on
- Number of houses
- Level in career
- Income
- Relationship status
- Fan following
- In this mindset - what we compete on - is not important
- Instead what matters - is doing better than others - Being one up.
- We are blinded by the rat race, by keeping up with the joneses
- By winning - we get respect from our peers, from society.
- We are held up as role models
- But the final prize often isn't what we want.
- This is what Maya from episode 2 - when we talked about Achievement vs Fulfilment - realised
- We are distracted from our own true desires and longings
- The third is cultural and societal expectations
- From a young age we have pressures to be a certain way
- based on our country, environment and gender
- Some cultures applaud being individualistic, unique and authentic
- They encourage us to find our passion and live our dreams.
- If we are not doing something grand - we’re looked down for playing low, being mediocre
- Other cultures promote blending with the community, harmony, flexibility.
- We are commended for being adjusting, amicable and easy going
- Thinking about oneself is considered selfish
- We are constantly reminded of our duties and responsibilities
- At the extreme of an individualistic culture as Ana found out
- we can get consumed by our surface level desires,
- moving from one thing to the next,
- and isolated from our loved ones
- At the extreme of a collective culture as Nik found out
- we marginalise ourselves
- and become resentful of our community and obligations
- From a young age we have pressures to be a certain way
In both cases, we can end up unhappy
- So then How do we find what we truly want
2 step process
- There are 2 steps to this
- Discovery
- And Planning
- The first step Discovery
- Is about blocking out all the external noise
- Surface level imagery, peer pressure, societal pressures
- That we spoke about
- And then going deep within ourselves to find out what we truly want
- Most of us know what we want deep down
- We need to reconnect with that.
- In scientific terms this is about
- Moving from the conscious to the subconscious
- This is where we can access our inner wisdom. Our deep intuitions
- There are many ways to do this.
- Here are 4 ways
- Is about blocking out all the external noise
- The first is meditation
- Through meditation, some folks reach the state where
- The mental chatter disappears
- The multiple voices become one clear voice
- This inner wisdom describes our innermost heartfelt desire
- It becomes absolutely clear in that moment what we need to do
- Through meditation, some folks reach the state where
- The second is mindful exercising
- Activities like yoga, running or any form of exercise
- The trick is to turn our attention inwards and be present with our bodies
- We can observe how muscles are opening up, tension is melting, blood is circulating, happy hormones are being secreted and so on
- In this state, all the external noise is cancelled and we are focussed inwards
- Here again we can access deep intuitions.
- The third which is applicable to everyone is Me Time without distractions
- This could be a day off by yourself
- Sitting by the pool, going to the spa, or short solo holiday
- The key condition to make this work is not to have any stimuli
- No phone, music, books etc
- Without this, one gets bored
- Boredom is very good to go deeper
- Best selling author Cal Newport puts “embracing boredom” as one of the key rules for deep work
- As we go deeper, we could either
- Sit with boredom and see where our mind takes us
- Or consciously check in with ourselves
- Reflect on how we are feeling
- What’s giving us joy,
- Whats bogging us down etc
- Connecting with oneself regularly without any external stimuli will create conditions to discover deep insights
- The fourth is using tools to access the subconscious
- Here are a few examples
- Moodboards & Vision Boards
- These entail putting together imagery to reflect on our future
- We use our gut and intuition to access visuals deep inside us
- And then curate them to a coherent vision that is authentic to us
- Powerful questions
- Asking ourselves open ended questions that force us to go deep to find answers
- For example - what is it to have a full, rich life?
- For other powerful questions please refer to the shownotes
- Values
- Our values are deeply embedded principles that guide us in life
- By discovering our values we get a sense of who we are and what we want out of life
- For more details on values and how to discover them - you can check our episode 2
- For best results with these tools -
- It’s good to use a coach or other experts
- So these are 4 ways to discover what we as an individual truly want
- It’s important to note that going inwards is like building a muscle
- We cannot do this once and expect big results
- Instead we need to regularly keep doing this to train ourselves to uncover intuitions
- Depending on the activity could be weekly, monthly or quarterly
- These tools aren’t just new age self help or spirituality
- We know that the subconscious is 95% of our mind
- Its where our inner wisdom and intuitions lie
- Research shows that meditation, mindful activities and other tools discussed
- Change our brainwaves to enable us to connect and access our subconscious mind
Planning
- Once we discover what we want, the next step is planning
- How do we integrate our dreams holistically and sensibly into our lives?
- How do we move forward with confidence, clarity and resilience?
- Here are 5 considerations in making a plan
- 1. Think Holistically
- Assess where we are in life
- If we are single
- What are our values - how can they be honoured in our new life?
- If we are in a family
- How do we work together as a family to bring this dream to life?
- Who all are dependent on us?
- What are our constraints - maybe loans, money, location etc.
- If we are single
2 Research
- We should deep dive to gather all relevant facts on what we plan to do
- By getting this intel we can get a clearer sense of reality
- How will our days look like?
- What will it take to succeed?
- How much money can we expect to make?
- What timeframe does it normally take?
- And so on
- 3. Brainstorming is the third consideration
- With the above context, we can use our intellect, brainstorm and create a plan to move towards our dream.
- We can brainstorm with ourselves
- Using analytical tools like pros and cons, and risk assessments
- It’s very important to brainstorming with others as well
- To have our blind spots exposed, access expertise and get varied perspectives,
- For this a very good practise is to create our own personal board of advisors
- These need not be people close to us.
- Often those closest to us are not best placed to advise us
- We should look for folks
- Who’ve achieved what we want to
- Who have qualities we admire
- Similar values
- With these folks we should solicit unbiased feedback
- Have clear objectives for meetings
- As we share our innermost dreams out in the open
- We become very vulnerable
- So the next consideration is
- 4. Protecting ourselves
- People often diminish our dreams because
- Of their own baggage, their fears, difference in values
- Or could even jealousy. Don’t want us to go where they haven't
- This can come in all forms
- Criticism, backhanded compliments, diminishing comparisons, insults hidden in humour
- That’s why it becomes very critical to protect ourselves
- A very useful tool here is the concept of inner citadel from stoicism philosophy
- This is the metaphorical citadel we build around our dreams
- So attacks can’t enter and derail us
- Only constructive feedback is allowed entry while the rest is deflected
- For more information on the inner citadel you can check out episode 6 on stoicism where I discuss this in more detail
- Attacks don’t only come from others
- We can self sabotage
- In coaching we call this part of ourselves the sabatouer
- It’s the part inside us that sabotages our dreams.
- Our Inner critic that keeps telling us to quit
- We need to protect ourselves from this as well
- We can do so by boosting our confidence
- Using tools like positive affirmations
- Having a few very powerful statements about ourselves which we keep repeating everyday.
- It’s like a pep talk we give ourselves
- Using tools like positive affirmations
- People often diminish our dreams because
- With all these considerations, we can make a robust plan
- That reduces risk and enhances our chances of success
- A timeline towards our goal
- Once the plan is ready, there is one last thing we need to do before closing off the planning stage
- 5. That’s the fifth point - Taking the first step
- This is such a difficult thing to do
- Many of us get caught up in analysis paralysis
- Even if we are not 100% sure
- We have to take the first step and get going
- This doesn’t necessarily mean quitting our job overnight
- Instead this could be
- Paying for a course that is part of the plan
- Launching a basic website or online store
- Or even making a kick ass resume
- Like award winning author James Clear says about habits
- The first step - getting to the mat, waking up at a certain time etc
- Is the most difficult one
- From here the rest can flow
- In summary, through these two steps, Discovery and Planning, we can figure out what we really want in life
- In Discovery
- We cancel out all the external noise, go inwards, and access our authentic wisdom and intuition
- And in Planning
- We align our dream to our life holistically and take the first step towards that path
- With this done it’s time to execute
- Execution by itself is a huge topic
- We can cover it in a separate episode
Action Steps
- If this resonated with you, here are some action steps to consider
- Can you create a self connection day every quarter
- What would work for you?
- Can you commit to doing that for a year and see what it does to you?
- Another exercise to consider would be to reflect where you lie on the scale of individuality vs community
- Are you closer to Ana or Nick?
- How has this impacted you both positively and negatively in the past?
- What would you like to do differently going forwards?
- This episode has many other tools you can try like
- Mindful exercising,
- Self pep talk - that’s something I am going to try out
- Or maybe taking that first step you’ve put away for a long time
End
- That’s it for todays episode
- I would love to hear what you think
- If there is something that can add to this framework - would love to hear
- Thank you very much for tuning in
- Please do consider subscribing if you like this show
- All shownotes are available on howtolive.life
- Wish all of you a wonderful day ahead.
- Bye bye
Hi everyone. Welcome to how to live, a podcast that explores ways to live a good life. I am your host Sharad Lal.This is episode 11.
How do we know what we want in life?
- We may have some surface level goals -
- Wealth we want to accumulate
- Car we want to drive
- Lifestyle we desire
- But deep down
- Do we know what we really want?
- If we do
- We’re not sure how this will integrate into our life
- We are torn between difficult choices
- Career or family
- Passion or security
- Success or fulfilment
- Without knowing what we really want
- How can we create the ideal life for ourselves?
- In today’s episode we look at
- Why is it so difficult to know what we want?
- And how can we go about figuring this out
- This episode has been co-written with my wife Sarah Lal
- As a coach she specialises in helping people achieve their dreams and goals
- Let’s start by meeting Nik
- Nik is single and has been working in Singapore for 5 years now
- He’s very excited.
- He’s figured out what he wants
- He wants to become a musician
- He cannot wait to get rid of the boring job that bogs him down
- And Embark on this exciting journey
- As he always does - Nik shares his dream with many people
- First with his sister
- His sister is encouraging but reminds him about the risks in future earnings.
- He talks to his first boss - his mentor and role model in life
- He doesn't approve of Nik wasting all the hard work he’s put in to reach this far in life
- He talks to close friends back home. They are honest with him
- Tell him he’s being selfish
- How will he be able to provide for his ageing parents
- When he talks to his parents - they don’t mince words
- They say it’s a ridiculous career option
- What about marriage - how can he get married without a steady income?
- He’s their only son.
- How can he do this to them?
- Bam.
- That was it. Nik could not take more - he drops his dreams and goes back to his work.
- Now lets meet Ana
- Ana is in a different life stage
- Married with an infant
- As she gets back to work after maternity
- She doesn’t find her job exciting any more
- She’s recently clarified her true passion in life
- Fashion
- Ana loves everything about it and wants to spend the rest of her life in it.
- She wants to leave her mundane job and build her own fashion label.
- She can see it so clearly - this is what she’s meant to do.
- However
- She’s a major contributor to the family income
- But The timing doesn’t seem right
- she’s just had a baby
- This will put extra pressure on her husband
- Who will now need to earn more and give more time to the baby
- While she works hard to start her new business
- The pull between family and her career gives her feelings of guilt and stress
- But
- She feels the urgency
- She’s doesn’t want to continue delaying her dreams now that she has clarity and momentum
- She feels the urgency
- Her role model and spiritual guide
- Talks about
- Focussing on possibilities and not constraints
- Finding one’s passion and living ones dreams
- She has found her passion. Very few people have that.
- She needs to follow it and life can work around it.
- She’s so inspired that she’s found a name for her fashion label
- Created a cool logo
- And a simple business plan
- She hasn’t done too much deep research or planning.
- But She quickly quits her job, takes up a loan, and sets up the company.
- We’ve got Nick on one hand who’s given up on his dreams for practical reasons
- and Ana on the other who’s prioritising dreams above everything else with a sense of urgency
- What’s the right approach?
- Well - 5 years later, both are unhappy
- Nick is married. Working in the same job.
- Going through the motions. Unmotivated
- He’s resentful.
- Bitter at giving up on his dream
- Ana on the other hand
- Has quit fashion and moved to photography.
- She found out that creating a fashion brand wasn’t what she thought it would be
- Life isnt turning out the way she expected
- She’s struggling
- both financially and in her relationship with her young family
- While these are extreme examples at two ends of the spectrum
- Most of us are somewhere in between
- Some of us are more like Ana, while the others are more like Nik
So let’s take a step back and understand -
- Why’s it difficult to know what we truly want
- Here are 3 big reasons
- The first is surface level inspiration
- We look at external sources for inspiration and don’t look deep enough
- But from a distance - we only see what’s on the surface, what’s visible, what seems attractive
- Even though most of us know the aspirational lifestyle imagery shown in
- movies, magazines, advertising or even our friend on social media
- Is not an accurate depiction of reality
- These mesmerising images capture us, enchant us
- Since childhood we’ve been drawn to shiny objects
- We consciously or subconsciously create life goals in line with this imagery of having the perfect house, spouse, children, job
- When we do achieve any of this - while on the surface our life might look good - in reality we might be struggling
- This is not what we truly want
- The second is competing with peers. One upmanship
- As a species we have been competing for millions of years - this is hard wired to us.
- We compete on parameters that are tangible and measurable.
- We might size up people on
- Number of houses
- Level in career
- Income
- Relationship status
- Fan following
- In this mindset - what we compete on - is not important
- Instead what matters - is doing better than others - Being one up.
- We are blinded by the rat race, by keeping up with the joneses
- By winning - we get respect from our peers, from society.
- We are held up as role models
- But the final prize often isn't what we want.
- This is what Maya from episode 2 - when we talked about Achievement vs Fulfilment - realised
- We are distracted from our own true desires and longings
- The third is cultural and societal expectations
- From a young age we have pressures to be a certain way
- based on our country, environment and gender
- Some cultures applaud being individualistic, unique and authentic
- They encourage us to find our passion and live our dreams.
- If we are not doing something grand - we’re looked down for playing low, being mediocre
- Other cultures promote blending with the community, harmony, flexibility.
- We are commended for being adjusting, amicable and easy going
- Thinking about oneself is considered selfish
- We are constantly reminded of our duties and responsibilities
- At the extreme of an individualistic culture as Ana found out
- we can get consumed by our surface level desires,
- moving from one thing to the next,
- and isolated from our loved ones
- At the extreme of a collective culture as Nik found out
- we marginalise ourselves
- and become resentful of our community and obligations
- From a young age we have pressures to be a certain way
In both cases, we can end up unhappy
- So then How do we find what we truly want
2 step process
- There are 2 steps to this
- Discovery
- And Planning
- The first step Discovery
- Is about blocking out all the external noise
- Surface level imagery, peer pressure, societal pressures
- That we spoke about
- And then going deep within ourselves to find out what we truly want
- Most of us know what we want deep down
- We need to reconnect with that.
- In scientific terms this is about
- Moving from the conscious to the subconscious
- This is where we can access our inner wisdom. Our deep intuitions
- There are many ways to do this.
- Here are 4 ways
- Is about blocking out all the external noise
- The first is meditation
- Through meditation, some folks reach the state where
- The mental chatter disappears
- The multiple voices become one clear voice
- This inner wisdom describes our innermost heartfelt desire
- It becomes absolutely clear in that moment what we need to do
- Through meditation, some folks reach the state where
- The second is mindful exercising
- Activities like yoga, running or any form of exercise
- The trick is to turn our attention inwards and be present with our bodies
- We can observe how muscles are opening up, tension is melting, blood is circulating, happy hormones are being secreted and so on
- In this state, all the external noise is cancelled and we are focussed inwards
- Here again we can access deep intuitions.
- The third which is applicable to everyone is Me Time without distractions
- This could be a day off by yourself
- Sitting by the pool, going to the spa, or short solo holiday
- The key condition to make this work is not to have any stimuli
- No phone, music, books etc
- Without this, one gets bored
- Boredom is very good to go deeper
- Best selling author Cal Newport puts “embracing boredom” as one of the key rules for deep work
- As we go deeper, we could either
- Sit with boredom and see where our mind takes us
- Or consciously check in with ourselves
- Reflect on how we are feeling
- What’s giving us joy,
- Whats bogging us down etc
- Connecting with oneself regularly without any external stimuli will create conditions to discover deep insights
- The fourth is using tools to access the subconscious
- Here are a few examples
- Moodboards & Vision Boards
- These entail putting together imagery to reflect on our future
- We use our gut and intuition to access visuals deep inside us
- And then curate them to a coherent vision that is authentic to us
- Powerful questions
- Asking ourselves open ended questions that force us to go deep to find answers
- For example - what is it to have a full, rich life?
- For other powerful questions please refer to the shownotes
- Values
- Our values are deeply embedded principles that guide us in life
- By discovering our values we get a sense of who we are and what we want out of life
- For more details on values and how to discover them - you can check our episode 2
- For best results with these tools -
- It’s good to use a coach or other experts
- So these are 4 ways to discover what we as an individual truly want
- It’s important to note that going inwards is like building a muscle
- We cannot do this once and expect big results
- Instead we need to regularly keep doing this to train ourselves to uncover intuitions
- Depending on the activity could be weekly, monthly or quarterly
- These tools aren’t just new age self help or spirituality
- We know that the subconscious is 95% of our mind
- Its where our inner wisdom and intuitions lie
- Research shows that meditation, mindful activities and other tools discussed
- Change our brainwaves to enable us to connect and access our subconscious mind
Planning
- Once we discover what we want, the next step is planning
- How do we integrate our dreams holistically and sensibly into our lives?
- How do we move forward with confidence, clarity and resilience?
- Here are 5 considerations in making a plan
- 1. Think Holistically
- Assess where we are in life
- If we are single
- What are our values - how can they be honoured in our new life?
- If we are in a family
- How do we work together as a family to bring this dream to life?
- Who all are dependent on us?
- What are our constraints - maybe loans, money, location etc.
- If we are single
2 Research
- We should deep dive to gather all relevant facts on what we plan to do
- By getting this intel we can get a clearer sense of reality
- How will our days look like?
- What will it take to succeed?
- How much money can we expect to make?
- What timeframe does it normally take?
- And so on
- 3. Brainstorming is the third consideration
- With the above context, we can use our intellect, brainstorm and create a plan to move towards our dream.
- We can brainstorm with ourselves
- Using analytical tools like pros and cons, and risk assessments
- It’s very important to brainstorming with others as well
- To have our blind spots exposed, access expertise and get varied perspectives,
- For this a very good practise is to create our own personal board of advisors
- These need not be people close to us.
- Often those closest to us are not best placed to advise us
- We should look for folks
- Who’ve achieved what we want to
- Who have qualities we admire
- Similar values
- With these folks we should solicit unbiased feedback
- Have clear objectives for meetings
- As we share our innermost dreams out in the open
- We become very vulnerable
- So the next consideration is
- 4. Protecting ourselves
- People often diminish our dreams because
- Of their own baggage, their fears, difference in values
- Or could even jealousy. Don’t want us to go where they haven't
- This can come in all forms
- Criticism, backhanded compliments, diminishing comparisons, insults hidden in humour
- That’s why it becomes very critical to protect ourselves
- A very useful tool here is the concept of inner citadel from stoicism philosophy
- This is the metaphorical citadel we build around our dreams
- So attacks can’t enter and derail us
- Only constructive feedback is allowed entry while the rest is deflected
- For more information on the inner citadel you can check out episode 6 on stoicism where I discuss this in more detail
- Attacks don’t only come from others
- We can self sabotage
- In coaching we call this part of ourselves the sabatouer
- It’s the part inside us that sabotages our dreams.
- Our Inner critic that keeps telling us to quit
- We need to protect ourselves from this as well
- We can do so by boosting our confidence
- Using tools like positive affirmations
- Having a few very powerful statements about ourselves which we keep repeating everyday.
- It’s like a pep talk we give ourselves
- Using tools like positive affirmations
- People often diminish our dreams because
- With all these considerations, we can make a robust plan
- That reduces risk and enhances our chances of success
- A timeline towards our goal
- Once the plan is ready, there is one last thing we need to do before closing off the planning stage
- 5. That’s the fifth point - Taking the first step
- This is such a difficult thing to do
- Many of us get caught up in analysis paralysis
- Even if we are not 100% sure
- We have to take the first step and get going
- This doesn’t necessarily mean quitting our job overnight
- Instead this could be
- Paying for a course that is part of the plan
- Launching a basic website or online store
- Or even making a kick ass resume
- Like award winning author James Clear says about habits
- The first step - getting to the mat, waking up at a certain time etc
- Is the most difficult one
- From here the rest can flow
- In summary, through these two steps, Discovery and Planning, we can figure out what we really want in life
- In Discovery
- We cancel out all the external noise, go inwards, and access our authentic wisdom and intuition
- And in Planning
- We align our dream to our life holistically and take the first step towards that path
- With this done it’s time to execute
- Execution by itself is a huge topic
- We can cover it in a separate episode
Action Steps
- If this resonated with you, here are some action steps to consider
- Can you create a self connection day every quarter
- What would work for you?
- Can you commit to doing that for a year and see what it does to you?
- Another exercise to consider would be to reflect where you lie on the scale of individuality vs community
- Are you closer to Ana or Nick?
- How has this impacted you both positively and negatively in the past?
- What would you like to do differently going forwards?
- This episode has many other tools you can try like
- Mindful exercising,
- Self pep talk - that’s something I am going to try out
- Or maybe taking that first step you’ve put away for a long time
End
- That’s it for todays episode
- I would love to hear what you think
- If there is something that can add to this framework - would love to hear
- Thank you very much for tuning in
- Please do consider subscribing if you like this show
- All shownotes are available on howtolive.life
- Wish all of you a wonderful day ahead.
- Bye bye