“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” – George Bernard Shaw
If you’ve ever asked someone for advice about life, chances are you were told, “Just be yourself,” “Do what you love and the money will follow,” or the classic phrase by Joseph Campbell, “Follow your bliss”. So you rack your brain trying to find the bliss. You’re good at Instagram captions, Facebook comments, buying lots of books and never reading them.
The truth is, you want nothing more than to be successful and live a wonderful life. You want to be a #forceofone. You want to be a #successgenius. You want to be someone you’re proud of. You’ve accomplished things. Difficult things and challenging things. You understand gratitude. You want to be thankful for what you have and still dream bigger. You know you’re a hard worker. You love hard work. You’re so sick and tired that you’re willing to go through anything to get you out of this place. You simply could not have been put on this earth to suffer this mediocrity. There’s got to be more.
To some people who have achieved many things in their life, have a feeling of dissatisfaction is worse. Some feel like they’ve been living a lie: that who they appear to be on the outside doesn’t quite match who they are on the inside. After all of the work it takes to get anywhere in this world, it’s quite a shock to realize that you haven’t accomplished anything in life that really matters to you. It’s like climbing the ladder of success until you reach the top to find out the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.
Time For Reinvention
“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” – Albert Einstein
When you’re struggling with finding fulfillment, you may need to make some changes. Change means reinvention. To create something new. This is a concept you may struggle with because you might believe you were created with certain characteristics that determine who you are and what you will become. Nothing is further from the truth. You’re capable of creating anything you desire and you’re intelligent enough to know this. So stop letting other people define who you are. Don’t allow your past accomplishments define what you can and cannot do.
Treat reinvention as a call to action. Getting to choose how you will shape your interests and desires and what work you will put into becoming the person you desire. I won’t lie to you. This is not easy. Change is not easy. You need to be willing to devote the time and energy to clear away those thoughts that limit you and instead focus on your desires. And then commit to doing anything and everything to move yourself in the right direction.
A Recipe for Bliss
“To live in infinite bliss, practice mindfulness and live in the moment.” – Debasisch Mridha
Living in the moment means not to dwell on the past. Remember, your past does not define you so don’t let it. Always be mindful of your thoughts because they can betray you. You can find some advice about that here. Let’s focus on some steps you can take today that will help you on your journey to reinvention.
1. Create a vision of your desired future.
Visualization is a very powerful method for manifesting. If you imagine yourself already living the life you desire or having the things you desire, chances are very high you will attain it.
Find a quiet place, sit down and close your eyes. Imagine the future you want. Live it. See yourself going through the motions, actually moving through it. Allow yourself to experience the feelings and emotions. Visualize the sun light of the sun glowing on your face.
Stand up and express your gratitude appreciation for everything in the past. Now imagine yourself walking away from the past and toward your future.
2. Use visual reminders of your desired future.
Use anything that reminds you of what you’re moving toward. It can be pictures or written affirmations. Place them where you can see them every day.
3. Take the vision of your future and break it into workable tasks.
This is where to rubber hits the road. This where you commit. Make a list of everything you need to do and be specific. Work on accomplishing the tasks on your list every day. Here is a blueprint for long term success to help you.
4. Every day, visualize your desired future.
Take time either first thing in the morning or at bedtime to visualize the future you created in step 1. This will reinforce your stated desire and give you confidence to keep moving forward. Make this a daily occurrence and eventually it will become a habit.
Living a more fulfilling life takes responsibility and courage to look at yourself in the mirror and be brutally honest about what really matters to you. To understand that you have the ability to recreate yourself and you get to choose what you want your life to be: to be the architect of a new life of fulfillment on your terms. Make that choice and accept the challenge.
