What Would Your Life Be Like If … You Decided What You Want?

Ben Stein said, "The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is to decide what you want."

How many of us go through our days being busy most of the time, but not really paying attention to why we're doing what we're doing and not knowing what results we are looking for?

According to Jack Canfield, only about 5% of Americans set clear measurable goals. Many of us are living our lives according to someone else's idea of what we should be doing, wanting or being. Alot of us put off doing what we love in exchange for making a living ... and before we know it, we've spent years doing work we don't love and discover that we aren't any closer to what we really want.

Here's a start to deciding what you want out of life and getting a clear picture of what it looks like so we can begin to create it with the Law of Attraction.

Activity 1

To get your creative juices flowing, make a list of 25 things you love to do. Things that make you happy, bring you joy.

Look at each item on the list, one at a time, and come up with things you could do to make money doing whatever it is you wrote down. This is a brainstorm activity ... no judgment, no limits, no idea is deemed silly or impossible.

Be open minded and creative. Perhaps you wrote down that you love to hang out and talk with people, but don't see how you could make a living doing that. Hmmmm ... Oprah did ... and she had to start somewhere. My guess is she set some goals around her purpose and took action to get herself where she is now.

I recently had a conversation with a mom who is frustrated with her teen. All he wants to do is talk about and ride 4 wheelers. She came to me for help. My suggestion was to let him go with it. Let him explore all the ways he could make a living with 4 wheelers, as making a lot of money is one of his goals. Eventually, he came to the conclusion that he most likely won't make a living riding 4 wheelers, but maybe he could write about the sport and get paid for his writing. That decision prompted him to explore another interest of his ... writing. The truth is it doesn't matter. It is the act of exploring possibilities and identifying action steps that builds entrepreneurial muscle and the skills that will eventually lead him to success built on passion and purpose.

Finally, take a look at your list and be sure you do at least one of the things on your list every single day ... and preferably more!

Activity 2

This activity is designed to help you clarify your vision. Although you could do this as a mental exercise, I strongly encourage you write down your answers so you can refer back to them later.

1) Focus on the financial area of your life. What is your desired annual income? What does your cash flow look like? What does your life look like assuming that your financial goals have already been met?

Close your eyes and visualize what your home, your car, your life looks like. Fill in the details. Don't worry about how you'll get what you're visualizing. Just put yourself in the place of feeling the way you would feel is you already reached your financial goal.

2) Next, visualize your ideal job or career. Where are you working? With whom? What are you doing? Is it your own business? Again, focus on the details.

3) Next, focus on your free time/recreational time. What hobbies are you pursuing? Who are you spending time with? What do you do for fun? Where do you go on vacation?

4) Next, focus on your ideal vision for your body and your health. What does it look like? How do you maintain it? What types of activities are you participating in?

5) Next move on to your idea vision of your relationships with a partner, family and friends.

6) What about your personal goals around learning something new, healing an old hurt, working with a coach, growing spiritually, running a marathon or taking an art class?

7) Finally, focus on the community you choose to live in. Where are you living? What does it look like when it's operating perfectly? How do you serve your community? Who are you helping?

Review your vision for each of these areas every day and visualize the details. Ideally twice a day; in the morning just as you wake up and just before you fall asleep. This will keep both your conscious and subconscious mind focused on your vision and engage the reticular activating system of your brain to go out and find it for you.

As you continue to apply more of the Success Principles and add planned and inspired action and accountability to the process, you will begin to manifest the different aspects of your vision and will see the Law of Attraction in action.

Activities 1 and 2 excerpted with permission from The Canfield Training Group from The Success Principles: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Jack Canfield.

In additiont to being my teacher, coach and mentor, Jack is America's #1 Success Coach, founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success.