Do You Feel You Lack Direction in Life, Business, or Retirement?

When you feel you lack direction in life, business, or retirement, it’s frustrating. It doesn’t have to be this way, if you have two things clear in your mind.

You feel you lack direction if you don’t have a destination point envisioned in your mind. A destination point, in this context, is a specific desired result—a vision of what that ideal result is. There are several things that hold people back from putting time into their vision for life, business, or retirement:
• They’re afraid to look at what they really want because they don’t believe it can happen, or because they fear they don’t deserve it, or they allow others’ opinions to influence them—so they don’t allow clarity about what THEY want.
• They feel thwarted at playing with their vision because they let current reality intrude on this playtime. They may glue current reality into place with their present money situation and flawed money beliefs. They forget—or don’t know—that amazing things can happen when you don’t attach limits to a vision.

Let’s say you decide to take quiet time to play with your vision. Here are recommendations:
• Be uncensored with yourself.
• Be honest about whether you’re aiming at a too small or a too large vision. You want what feels like an appropriate fit for you, not based on the opinions of others.
• It may feel more comfortable to play with an Ideal Vision AND a Next Level Vision. This can help you aim for and reach one level at a time on your way to your ideal. Note: What is your Ideal Vision you may have been too afraid to entertain, especially if you believe others may not approve or believe it can happen? I suggest creating two visions because anyone who’s felt or been limited or restricted long-term or for an extended period due to circumstances can feel intimidated (or forced) by a vision that feels too far “out there” at the start; and this feeling can shut them down.
• A Vision includes where you live; what you do as a career, vocation, or as a volunteer—where you do it and how many hours; how much vacation and holiday time you take and where you spend it; what your social life is like and who you share it with; what your family life is like and who this includes; hobbies and activities you enjoy and how often; and what your health, appearance, and wardrobe is like. Here’s an important twist: Leave money out of your vision. This goes against what many advise, but leave it out so it doesn’t dam the flow of your playing honestly with your vision. How much money you want and need is a goal, not a vision.
• Whether you create just an Ideal Vision or a Next Level Vision, or both, write a description of what a “normal” day is like—what you’d ideally want it to be like.

The other factor in having a Direction is your Why. To get to your Why, you have to know what it relates to. Imagine someone who knows and likes you really well is in a restaurant booth next to yours, with one or a few people. None of them knows you’re there. You overhear your friend say about you, “(Your name) is such an on-purpose person, and his/her purpose s/he lives and breathes to fulfill is (fill in the blank).” What do you REALLY want to hear your friend say your purpose that you feel strongly about right now is? Tip: Let go of aiming for the Big Life Purpose here and allow the purpose that pops into mind at this moment to be the one you focus on.

Follow these next steps:
• Write down your purpose as a statement, starting with, “My purpose is to…”
• Complete the following statement: “This purpose is important to me to do because…”
• “And, THAT is important to me because…”
• “And, THAT is important to me because…”
• “And, THAT is important to me because…”
• “And, THAT is important to me because…”
• Blend your purpose statement (My purpose is) with the final “And THAT’s important to me because” statement.

How does this new statement feel when you read it silently or aloud to yourself? If it feels inauthentic, re-do this process and be uncensored with your purpose statement. Your purpose must come from the core of who you are in this present moment or you’ll head in a direction inappropriate for you. Note: You can use this Purpose-and-Why technique for decision-making, as well.

Your Next Level Vision will show you the direction you need to travel to your Ideal Vision and help you get there—and you can adjust either vision any time to make them a better fit for you. Your Purpose-and-Why statement will fuel your journey to your Next Level Vision and Ideal Vision destinations. You may want to put your P&W statement where you can read it every day, preferably each morning and before you go to sleep. Your vision is your ideal result; your why is your ideal experience.

Direction to a vision fueled by your purpose and your why helps you make better decisions about what to put into practice every day, and can help you rev up your motivation if it needs an inspiring reminder.

[This article influenced by PJ McClure’s book, “Flip the S.W.I.T.C.H.”]

Practice makes progress.
© Joyce Shafer

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