What if ONE QUESTION could change your life?
Well, lately, I’ve discovered it can!
Welcome to November. The year is wrapping up … and for me, what a year it’s been! And here’s why: whenever I have a big choice to make I ask myself just ONE question and when I answer it, from my heart, I’ve created some impossibly wild and wonderful results.
I’ve just come back from climbing to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, fulfilling a personal dream while raising thousands of dollars to support some abandoned kids in Kenya who needed a loving home and a chance for an education.
Kilimanjaro was just one dream fulfilled; my trip to Tanzania to climb “Kili” was my third trip to Africa within a year, and has begun what could be a beautiful love affair with that continent.
And, this just in, I have published and will launch (Nov. 21 on Amazon) my third book, Creating the Impossible, all about what it takes to bring your vision to life.
All of these dreams have moved from an inspired idea into real life—my life—because I answered (and acted on) ONE very important question.
Are you REALLY living the life you want or is there something you’d LOVE to do or have but at the moment it feels, well, like an impossible dream?
Maybe you’d love a relationship that doesn’t drive you crazy or a job that doesn’t crush your soul. Maybe you’d like the time and energy to pursue those passions that keep getting put on the back burner or worse, never even feel the heat of a burning desire.
In my latest book, Creating the Impossible, I feature real-life examples and a set of guiding principles on what it takes to bring to fruition what you really want in your life. I like to think of it as “GPS for your soul’s success.”
And the first step on that wild journey to creating something you’d love begins with answering one all-important question.
Ready?
That one simple question is: WHAT WOULD I LOVE?
Seems obvious, right?
And I can hear some of you saying… I already KNOW what I’d love to do or have … a million dollars, a thriving business, a house on the ocean, a date with Brad Pitt and so on.
But DO you? Really?
When’s the last time you honestly asked yourself that question?
The #1 reason people are unhappy or unfulfilled is that they don’t know WHAT they truly want. Or they think they do, but it’s really someone else’s idea of what they SHOULD want.
I know you’ve heard it a thousand times. So why hasn’t anything changed? Why aren’t you getting what you really want?
Kids get asked, “What would you love to BE?” all the time. Remember?
What was YOUR answer as a child? … To be a dancer, a doctor, an artist, a baker, a hockey player? I wanted to be a pop singer who got to wear great boots! No kidding, that ‘s what I wrote in Grade 1. And I do sing, all the time, just not for a living.
So where does it all go wrong sometime after Grade 1? Two critical things usually take us off our soul track.
1) We stop asking ourselves “what would I love?”
2) Instead we focus on “ Here’s what I don’t want …”
Seriously, how often do you hear people complaining about what they DON’T like in their relationships, work, finances, love life, and politics… don’t even get me started on the current U.S. election. Yikes.
But it’s rare that people really know exactly what they DO want, which is crazy, because knowing EXACTLY WHAT you’d love to do is the first step to GETTING what you want!
Again, painfully obvious… but so rarely addressed.
You can get even more specific in discovering the “what” by completing the question around a particular part of your life.
For example, what would I love … to create next in my work?
What would I love … to do to create an amazing relationship?
What would I love … to experience? To feel?
Here’s a practical tool you can takeaway with you right now. It’s a quick exercise to get clear on what you’d love to create next.
1) Take a deep breath.
2) Quiet your mind and get still, allowing in a few moments of silence.
3) Focus on just ONE thing or area of your life. (Health, love, money, etc.)
4) ASK: What would I love …? (Around that specific area)
5) Capture the first thought/idea/word that comes to you without judging, rationalizing it, or worrying about the “how.”
6) Write it down.
7) Look at what you’ve written… and notice how you feel.
What’s your immediate emotional response? Does it feel exciting? Or terrifying? Light? Or like a heavy burden?
Take a few moments to feel if this is truly something YOU want, or something you think you SHOULD want.
Asking this ONE question will give you the clarity you’ve been waiting for.
In creating the ‘impossible’–or anything in life–you have to choose to follow YOUR heart not someone else’s, or their dreams, expectations or hopes for your future.
Once you’re clear on WHAT YOU’D LOVE, it’s that desire and emotion that pulls you forward in the direction of your vision with amazing ease, speed, and power!
Of course, from there you have to take inspired action… but that’s another discussion for another time.
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Barbara Edie’s latest book, Creating the Impossible, will be available on Amazon and other sites, Nov. 21, 2016.