The two most common concerns I get from friends, people who read my blog, and seminar participants is that they don’t know what they want, and/or they don’t know what they want to do – as in a career, job, or even just volunteer work. I have a lot of friends right now who are facing retirement at what is now considered an early age – around 55 – and they want to start a second career, but don’t necessarily want to work as hard as they have for the past 25-30 years. I can understand that. So today’s post will focus on determining what you want to do.
Here’s a visualization exercise to get you started.
Imagine that you live in a society where everything you want is given to you. All of your needs are met; food, clothing, shelter, a new BMW every couple of years . . .
I’m not talking about just enough to get by – everything you want is freely given to you. When you want something, anything at all, all you have to do is call your “case worker,” (for lack of a better description right now), and tell him what you want, and it is delivered to you in fairly short order. Obviously, bigger things take a little longer.
Sit for a few minutes and create this world for yourself. What would you ask for? A new house? A new car? A new wardrobe? What would it take to just make you completely thrilled with your life experience?
Create as many details as come to your mind, and certainly write it out if you feel inspired to do so. Have fun with it, realizing that it’s your imagination and you can create anything you want there.
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Got it? Wasn’t that fun? Okay, on to part two.
In order to participate in this society, you have to contribute - give something back. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do within reason; you’re simply expected to use your passions, talents, experiences, and education to do the same for others as they have done for you.
You see the people who came and built your new house love building houses. There was probably a team of people wasn’t there? The builder loves putting the project together, seeing the frame go up, and coordinating all the sub-contractors. The plumber loves the challenging aspects of her job, but also values the “easy” tasks as well because they give her a break. In fact, she’s so good at plumbing, it really doesn’t seem like work. The decorator had a wonderful time working with your specific tastes and ideas to create your magical world that you love coming home to. In fact, in this society, every person who does anything, (and everyone does something), loves doing what they do so much that they could do it all day, every day. (Taking necessary breaks, of course!)
Now it’s your turn to do something for all these people. And I’m not talking about baking them a batch of cookies. Keep in mind that you don’t owe these people money; remember, everything is freely given to you. What you do owe these people is your talent.
What would you want to do? What kind of career would you choose? You want to do something fun with your life, right? What would that be? Would you design gardens for people’s homes, or perhaps their businesses? Would you help them with their finances? Would you help them get organized? Maybe you enjoy designing and building cars.
What would you do for your contribution?
What do you truly enjoy doing? Perhaps your gift is motivational writing. So you would write a book to give the world that would help everyone feel better and understand this wonderful society they live in.
I could go on and on here with career after career, but I think you see my point. I remember reading a blog entry a couple of years ago about who would do all the “grunt work” if everyone became aware of their purpose in life. I took issue with the article because I believe that there are people in corporate America who’d be happier, more fulfilled, and netting just as much money if they started their own cleaning service.
We take the wrong attitude when we consider anything to be “grunt work.” Anything is grunting if you’re not enjoying it. So don’t be afraid to give serious consideration to anything you truly enjoy doing.
Obviously, we don’t live in a society like I described above. Money is our means of exchange. But don’t allow that to discourage you from pursuing your passion. Instead of thinking about a dollar amount, think about a lifestyle choice. How much do you need to net in order to live the way you want? Once you have that figured out, now consider how big your contribution will have to be. The more you want to take from society, the more you’ll need to give back. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Think about it. Take in a big way, give back in a big way. Give in a big way, receive in a big way. It really does work that way, but some people complain too much to see it.
It’s not about the number of hours you work, either. When I talk about giving back in a big way, it might mean with attitude, or grander gestures, or more education. Think about what it would take from you, giving to the universe, in order to take out what you’d like to have. What can you give that would equal what you want to take?
Write down every idea that comes to your mind and start pursuing each one. For many people, when you’ve worked in an office setting being paid by the hour for nearly all your adult life, it can be difficult to think outside that box and consider doing something creative, or to even realize that it’s okay to get paid a lot of money for doing something you truly enjoy. This is a process. It could take awhile. The key is to enjoy the journey.
Explore all your hopes and dreams because each one is a possibility in the making. Eventually, you will figure out what it is you want to do.
I’ll be teaching other methods I’ve learned in my Conscious Creation Retreat; I hope to see you there!
In the meantime, here are a couple of tools to help you get on the path to determining what you want to do in life:
Wake Up and Create the Life You Want: A Guide to Self-Empowerment
Eliminate Clutter and Organize Your Life E-book
Until next time,
Live joyfully!
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