What's a call to adventure and how do you know if you have one?

Listen for your Call to Adventure

In a story, it's the moment when the hero or heroine is invited on a quest or journey, when the day-to-day routine of their ordinary life is interrupted by something disruptive, exciting, unsettling, different... It could be the hobbit, hearing a sudden knock at the door from a wizard, or Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz when the tornado strikes...

Whether your call to adventure is a subtle sense of "is this all there is" in your life, a feeling that creeps up on you by surprise when you wake up in the morning, a longing to express your full potential in your life and work more completely, or whether it's something dramatic, like an unexpected redundancy, relationship breakup or significant life change , the invitation is there to expand, grow, create something exciting and new in your life and work..

Whether or not you choose to follow your own call to adventure (and some you should and some you shouldn't, only you can tell for sure), in order to create the most expansive and exciting results, you need to be prepared. When you chose your dream goal for 2010, you need to be poised for action in order to take full advantage of your opportunities.

If you were planning to climb a mountain or run a marathon in January, what would you need to be doing now? You would need to embark on a systematic training programme to energise yourself, become as physically fit and healthy as possible, eliminate any energy drains that might prevent you from moving forward.

And that's what I'm inviting you to do today....

With the remaining 12 weeks of 2009, here is your challenge (and I hope you choose to accept it!):

1. What do you need to do to become physically fit and energised before next year? Now is the time to start! Whether it's going for a 30 minute run round the park on these lovely autumn mornings, starting work with a personal trainer, embarking on a programme to lose that last 10 pounds, now is the time to do it!

Chart your goals and break them down week by week to get you at your most energised and glowing best by the end of the year. What is your plan for this week? And next? How will you know you've achieved it?

2. Look at your physical environment, where you live and work, and consider what drains your energy...Does your house need a fresh coat of paint or new carpets? How would your front door feel to come home to if it was painted a vibrant violet rather than black? Have you decluttered your wardrobe recently and filled it with clothes that make you feel great? What about your personal filing system? You get the picture!

3. Consider your health and emotional balance... What negative habits of thought do you need to break? Have you got a habit which isn't helping your energy, whether it's an addiction to gummi bears or cigarettes or wine? What is the quality of your sleep and wellbeing? What changes do you need to make to create ideal energised balance?

4. Think about your finances. Do you have any financial loose ends which need to be resolved, whether it's sorting out your taxes, switching mortgages, starting a savings plan, planning your financial goals?

5. What about your relationships? Do they bring you joy or bring you down? What can you do to make positive changes? And what does that mean doing this week?

By focusing steadily on these areas over the next 12 weeks, you'll be able to really follow your call to adventure in 2010, start your journey with the best possible chance of success.