“A person with a clear purpose will make progress on even the roughest road.  A person with no purpose will make no progress on even the smoothest road.”

–Thomas Carlyle

One of the biggest obstacles to creating the life of your dreams is having no sense of purpose.  It’s great to have big dreams, but focus is the modus operandi that will bring them to you.  Let me explain.

I’m sure by now we’ve all heard, “You become what you think about most of the time.”  The two factors that determine what happens to you in life are what you think about and how you feel as you’re thinking about it.

For example, you’ll often hear someone describe a wealthy person this way:  “He loves money; always chasing the almighty dollar.  Boy, that’s not how I would want to live my life.”  In reality, the person speaking probably does not know the person they’re speaking of at all; however, they’re probably right!  Because in order to make money, you have to focus on it, and love whatever it is you’re doing that’s bringing it to you, and you have to feel good about the money you’re bringing in and accumulating. 

Money is always the easiest example to use in this scenario because it’s something nearly everyone can relate to, but any goal is the same way, whether it’s health, relationships, or a simple habit like no longer biting your nails.  Successful people spend the majority of their time thinking about their goals, taking inspired action, and feeling good about it while they’re doing it.  As a result, their goals are consistently moving toward them and they are moving toward their goals. 

Now, it’s important here to distinguish what not to do, because I think a lot of people miss this.  To be in the habit of thinking mostly about your goals and what you want to create in your life, means you can’t be chit-chatting with your co-workers about your weekend.  Oh, it’s fine to ask, “Did you have a good weekend?  Great!  So did I!”  But don’t ask that person you know is going to tell you all of the latest problems with her teenage son!  What do you do if you accidentally “step in it?”  I’ve done that before and here is what I learned to do. 

“Did you have a good weekend?”

“Oh, no.  It was horrible.  First my son and my husband got into it.  I even had to call the—“

“Great!  So did I!  Well, off to work!”

Developing the discipline to focus on what is important to you will get easier as you practice it more.  Here are 7 ways to get you on that path to a crystal clear sense of direction.

1. Decide what you want in each area of your life – financial, physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and relational.  This process can take a while, and will develop over time.  That’s okay, just start somewhere. 
2. Write your goals down on paper.  Be as specific as you can with each one.  As you begin to focus on this list daily, you will further define each goal.  But the more specific you can be from the beginning, the closer you are to achieving it.  However, don’t worry about the non-specific desires you have.  Just write them down with the knowledge that you will work on the details later.  Life is more fun with a list of goals to go for.
3. Set a reasonable deadline for each goal.  The reason this step is important is that on bigger goals, you’ll have to break them down.  A strategic plan is critical to the thought-word-action creative process.  Things will fall into place more easily for you if you give the universe all the details you can. 
4. Create your strategic plan.  Sure, there are some things you just don’t know yet, so start with the things you do know.  I use Microsoft Excel for this process.  As the project builds, I can add rows and columns as necessary.
5. Build your plan of action by prioritizing and putting a chronological order to your strategic plan.  Not sure where to start or about a certain step in the process?  Listen to your intuitive guidance.  Take an hour of solitude.  The answer will come to you.
6. Take action on your plan immediately.  Don’t make excuses; do something now to get the ball rolling.  Action is God creating through you.  Thoughts and words alone will not bring you the success you’re seeking.  Take the action you’re inspired to, as soon as you’re inspired to do it, making sure you’re happy as you do it, and everything will fall into place in a way that seems almost effortless to you.  Others will say, “Wow.  You must really love what you’re doing!”
7. Maintain your focus by doing something every day that moves you a little closer to your most important goal.  Even if it’s just a five minute task, do it.  If a step is going to take a chunk of your time, figure out when you can work it into your schedule and commit to it.

Every day, think about your goal as often as possible.  Post it on a wall, make it your screen saver, or just keep a card with your goal written on it in your wallet or purse.  Take 15 minutes every day to brainstorm (with your spiritual guides) ways to accomplish your goals.  Be persistent.  Before long, you’ll notice your energy and creativity expanding in all directions and on many subjects.  Your potential will feel as if it has finally been released, and rightfully so, because it has!

If you’d like to take some time in a beautiful, quiet setting, to think about your future, and you’d like to have a personal coach to walk you through the creative process, sign up for my Conscious Creation/Success Retreat. 

In the meantime, here are a couple of tools to help you get on the path to a clearer sense of direction:

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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