Continuing on my journey toward living a life true to my authentic self, I spent time the other afternoon doing the following exercise:

I cut up a bunch of strips of paper.  On a handful of strips, I wrote down as many things as I could think of, both good and bad, that are part of my current reality.   Things like: too much debt; not enough income; close family; overweight; dog; nice neighborhood; great friends; nice office; respect of my peers; messy house; ratty furniture; no follow-through on God’s word, Sunday morning lip-service only; too many things on to-do list; excitement of learning about internet marketing; too little savings for retirement, etc.  You get the idea. I ended up with a pile of 65 strips of paper that my current self is dealing with or feeling.

On another pile of paper strips, I wrote down all the things I want in my life, but aren’t part of my current reality.  This pile included things like: be more committed and focused to daily devotions and spending time with God; healthier weight; more travel; healthy, nurturing marriage; new furniture; updated bathrooms; better organization at home; enough money to pay all bills on time every time; live debt-free; secure my future in retirement; live by the ocean, etc.

I then went through the first pile, and separated them into Good Things I Want to Keep in My Life and Bad Things I Want Gone.  I think the Good Things pile are things where my authentic self has the greatest impact.  I made a list of all of the Good Things I want to keep and now have them posted on my refrigerator.  Anytime I’m feeling discouraged, I go and read the list.  It shows I have a lot to be thankful for.  And every time I read it, I get that good feeling inside — that feeling that says I’m where I’m supposed to be and I can do anything.  It’s my authentic self talking. I’ve been adding to the list almost daily.

But then I compared the pile of Bad Things I Want Gone to my second pile of things I Want But Don’t Have.  Anytime I found a match, I stapled them together.  So overweight and healthier weight got stapled together; too much debt and live debt-free got stapled together, and so on.  These are the things I want to focus on changing.  These are the priorities, the goals, my inner self has set and I need to take Massive Action to shake things up.

Are you familiar with the concept of Massive Action?  Massive action means that you immerse yourself, commit every fiber of your being, to making something happen.  It means you don’t just do one thing, you do everything you can think of to move toward your objective.  For me, if I truly want to lose weight, I have to have a multi-prong approach. Not only do I need to eat healthier, but I also need to drink 8 glasses of water  a day, exercise at least 30 minutes every other day, walk or bike to work when the weather is good, read about healthy eating, talk to others about losing weight, etc.  So I’ve pulled out the old exercise videotapes from their dust-covered box (I have 3 versions of TaeBo and enough Kathy Smith tapes to get me in shape without forking out the funds for a gym membership — IF I WILL JUST FOLLOW THROUGH!) and have started doing one every morning.  They say it takes 21 days to create a habit, and I’m only on day 7, so we’ll see.  Keep your fingers crossed!

I am a firm believer in the old Henry Ford saying, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”  I believe the mind is a powerful weapon for both good and bad.  I am becoming better at recognizing negative thoughts when they come my way.  Sometimes, I’m surprised at things I feel negatively about, other times, it’s the same old thoughts I’ve struggled with for years.  I believe my ideal life will emerge once I master the negative thoughts that keep coming at me.  I believe it’s true for everyday women everywhere.  Think and believe and you will achieve.

I highly recommend you do an inventory of your life and find out what your inner, authentic self identifies as priorities for change.  Then take massive action.  You will change your life for the better.

Please share your success ideas with me and my followers.  I want to know how you find your passion and what you are doing to nurture your authentic self.

Advertisement