What do you Imagine for your life?

When I ask this of clients, some find it easy to list many different things they want to be, do or have. For others, this question often leaves them stumped.

Why is it important to imagine?

Imagination is where your creativity can roam free.  A place where everything can be possible.  In your imagination, there do not have to be any limits to your abilities, your opportunities, your abundance.  Here, you can live the life of your dreams.

Imagination is also where ideas can be born, ideas that can take you to the next phase of your career or life, where solutions to many problems can be found.  It allows you to process information with no limits, to create a vision for what you truly want, designing your ideal world.

Imagination gives you the freedom to grow, plan and tap into the essence of you, gives you access to childhood wondering.

If you are one of those that already have a long bucket list…

  • How often do you act on, walk toward, acquire or engage in these activities?
  • What keeps this list in the forefront of your mind as you lead your daily life?
  • What have you created that brings your vision to life?  Is it a narrative, vision board or just daydreaming?
  • How do you want to take your imagination to the next leve?

If you are one that is stumped…

  • How wonderful would it feel to imagine and dream? Here are some questions to get your imagination flowing…
  • If success were guaranteed, what would you do in your career?
  • If you had limitless funds, how would you spend your days, time, energy, money?
  • If you could live anywhere in the world and those you love were nearby, where would you live?

Tips for imagining….

  • Stay focused on limitless thinking – in your imagination there do not need to be any obstacles
  • Allow yourself to feel good – imagining what you believe IS possible for yourself and your life
  • Not really believing it? Add “wouldn’t it be wonderful if….” As a starter for some of your thoughts/journaling
  • Create an “imagining” board (vision board) with images that capture what is in your imagination
  • Use prompts (like the questions above) to get you thinking beyond what you currently can see
  • Visualize yourself being, doing or having what you think you want
  • Steer clear of “how” you will get there –focus on being there instead

Importance Matters

What is most important to you, and why does that matter?

When I work with my clients, we uncover many things that matter in their lives and careers.  We discover what strengths they love using, what they value most, what they enjoy doing, how they like to be, what they like/want to have that would make their lives more full and fulfilling.

That list becomes a long one, which is great to see as it gives context and meaning to the life you have and the one you want to create.

That long list also can become overwhelming and sometimes limiting.  It may make you think “I can’t have all of this”.

What if you can simplify this list, distill it down to its core?

You can by focusing on what is Important.  Here are two ways you can do this

Take your list and determine what is Most Important on that list.  This does not mean the other things on the list do not matter, or that they are not important, it means that there are 1-3 things that matters more than all the others, even if only slightly.

When you have what is most important – ask yourself Why they are most important.  Be as descriptive as you can be.   How does this most important thing…

  • make you  feel?
  • contribute to your life or the life of others you care about?
  • affect your health, your well-being?

Why does this all matter?

When you understand what is most important, it helps you …

  • make different choices with your time
  • choose activities, perspectives or behavior that better supports you
  • choose how you engage with different people
  • simplify your life
  • ease guilt and stress
  • brings greater fulfillment

When I think about Importance, it always reminds me of Steven Covey’s visual representation called “Big Rocks”. It shows how when we choose what is most important first, make the time to devote to these things, the other things that matter, and even the things that don’t all seem to fall into place in our lives.  And what does not, is OK.

When we do the opposite – doing all the things that don’t matter or matter a bit, we never have the time to fit in all the things that matter most.

Here is the video if you want to see this represented

What do you want, Really want?

When I ask my clients that question, most say they want to be happy or fulfilled.  Yet, what does that truly mean?

It is often hard to articulate, really put your finger on or describe what happy and fulfilled means.  Is it a feeling?  A thing? An Experience? All of the above? None of the above?

I found a Ted talk that sheds some light on this evasive topic.  It’s called “There is more to life than Being Happy” (you will see the link below to watch the talk)

The speaker (Emily Esfahani Smith) brings up several points that I feel relate to the fundamental, foundational aspects of happiness and fulfillment (and therefore “wants”)

Belonging

Being valued for who you are.  How you value others for who they are.  Ultimately seeking and finding the human connection.  With the rise of social media, we may feel like we are more connected than ever, and for some, social media does bring us closer to others.  However, nothing can replace the true human connection happens in real, tangible moments with other people.  Actual, verbal conversations. Live.

Purpose

This is less about what you want, and more about what you give.  How you are (or want to) use your strengths in the service of or to benefit others.  I sometimes interchange “purpose” with “impact” as I often hear my clients saying, “being fulfilled means having an impact” to which I reply “what type of impact, how is someone benefited from what you are doing/offering?”

Transcendence

Esfahani Smith talks about this as a connection to a higher reality – which could mean whatever is beyond you or outside of you.  Some experience or place you feel a sense of deep grounding.  For some this is in art, music, writing – for others this can be running, or meditation – and for others it can be a place of religious worship or nature.

Storytelling

The story you tell yourself (and others) about yourself.  You decide how your story reads.  If you are creating it in the spirit of your true wants, happiness and fulfillment, you can use the facts within your experience of being you to tell a nurturing story.  Perhaps one of redemption, growth, or love or one of what you lost along with the insights and wisdom you gained.

When you discover what these areas mean in Your life – or what you would Like them to mean, that can help you become more clear, more specific about what you Really Want for your life.

When you truly know what you want your life to be like and feel like, two things can happen

  1. You may realize you already have some (or much) of what you want
  2. You will now have a specific something you can create and focus upon to bring you closer to it

Here is the Ted Talk: