Where Are You Now?
It’s easy to say you want to be in a different “place.” A different lifestyle. A different mindset. Different surroundings. Whatever it is you think you want, you have to know where you’re coming from.
Ken Blanchard said, “Knowing where you’re going is the first step to get there.” But I disagree. The first step is knowing where you’re starting from. Every trip has a starting poing and an ending point. And it’s especially important to know where you are now when you’re talking about life changes or deciding what your BEST chapter looks like.
You may not be happy with your life situation currently. But do you know WHY you’re not happy? Whether you’re there because of your own choices or it was thrust upon you doesn’t matter. Not at this point. Knowing why will help you decide where you want to go.
In order to start at the beginning, you must analyze what you like and do not like about your life currently. Think about all the different aspects of your life and start making lists.
List what you love. List what you dislike. (I hate to use the word hate - lol - because it’s sooooo negative. And I try to keep as much negativity out of my life as possible.) List what you don’t care either way about. Write it all down. If you don’t write it down, it doesn’t matter. And some of this DEFINITELY matters!
After all, if you loved everything about your life now, you wouldn’t even be thinking about making changes. You would already be living your best chapter.
So start making those lists. And don’t just write them down in one sitting. Seriously think about it for a few days. Keep coming back to it and think about what you’ve written. Be like Santa. “Making a list and checking it twice…” Does “I’m 10 pounds overweight” belong in the dislike pile or the I-don’t-care pile? Only you can decide.
And I want you to think about every aspect of your life. Physical, financial, mental, spiritual, and on and on. Everyone’s lists will be different. Because we all have different wants and needs. We all have different ideas about what our BEST chapter looks like.
Think about how you FEEL. When you get up in the morning. When you look in the mirror. In the middle of the day. When you think about your friends. When you think about your boundaries. When you go to bed. Because your feelings are your barometer on what is acceptable and what is not. What you like or what you dislike. What needs to change and what doesn’t.
Even if you can justify something intellectually, it’s not that easy to fool your feelings and emotions. And your feelings are valid.And they are important. And they count. Just as you count.
Only you can decide what Living Your BEST Chapter looks like. So “Begin at the beginning” as Lewis Carrol wrote in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and figure out where you are now. What the beginning actually is. And then you can start to think about where you want to go from there.
Our free Reflection Journal can help you figure that beginning point out. With prompts help you think about all the aspects that need thinking about. It will take much of the effort out of that first step. You can get your copy HERE.
