20 Jul Life on Purpose: Connecting With Your Dreams and Passions

“You were born with dreams, passions, desires – even a purpose. You came into the world with innate gifts, knowledge, wisdom, and creativity.”

Then “life” happened, and perhaps you modified your expectations to be more in line with “reality”. The heart seemed to go out of you and the life you resigned yourself to live in a way that was expected, common, unspectacular.

Sometimes, life can beat us down and we live far below our potential. There isn’t much support in this world to be or become all that you are, to live a life on purpose. Much of the love or appreciation we experience in life is conditional, based upon our performance and how much we mimic the values and expectations of those we care about in our lives, whether they are partners or bosses at work. “If you do these things, we will value you. But if you color outside the lines and have different ideas, we won’t.” We learn this conditional messaging when we are quite young. Each of us could write down a long list of rules. The shame of it is that we often spend the rest of our lives undoing the damage.

How can we get back on track with who we truly are, the greatness within us? I recommend conducting “an archaeological dig” on yourself. To do this, start by getting in touch with a dream or a passion you have. Write it down. Notice the part of you that lights up and becomes excited. Now notice another part of you that looms up and forces its way into your thoughts, telling you that you aren’t being practical, money doesn’t grow on trees, who do you think you are, you don’t have any talent, you don’t know how to manage money much less a new venture, you’re not attractive enough, and on and on and on. Write those thoughts down.

Where are they coming from? Whose voice do you hear that is talking? Can you trace it back to family or a teacher or from someone else who was significant in your circle?

Now ask yourself, is it true? Some of you might agree with it by pointing out that you haven’t done it yet, whatever “it” is. I would challenge you and ask, did you swallow that message about you as if it were truth, without any investigation? We tend to behave according to our beliefs about ourselves and as result, we “prove” it true on a daily basis.

“So now you have a choice. You’ve identified the message. Do you want to reinforce it or do you want to create a new belief, a new pattern, a new thought?”

Can you define a message for yourself that supports your dreams and desires? Your thoughts and feelings are powerful. Why not choose to think and feel your dream? How can it hurt you? Stand in it. Imagine yourself fully living a life on purpose on a daily basis.

When you performed the visualization experiment, how long were you able to hold it in the forefront of your mind and heart? Even if you did it for 30 seconds, that’s more than you were doing before. It’s a small beginning, but oh so worthwhile!

Continue to do it a few times a day, and then do it several times a day for a week and then a month. This is your beginning. These are your baby steps. This is how you begin to create a new reality. It starts from a thought and a feeling and eventually manifests outwardly, through inspired actions that you take as you see yourself living that reality.

You don’t have to tell anyone you’re doing this! No one has to know. You can visualize it privately and watch the shift begin to happen as you move your energy in a new direction and take inspired action. Amazing things will happen. Doors will open to you. People will show up who want to help you. Funding will appear, and not because you went and got a second job. Ideas will come to you.

I challenge you to try this with something you truly desire. Push through all the voices that come to tell you how impractical and unrealistic it is.

“Persist, and you will be amazed. Do it with something small if you like. Just watch what happens.”