In 2021, after my ex-husband passed away from pancreatic cancer at only 54, I wrote an article for CEOWORLD magazine called: ‘Life is Too Short’. In the article, I declared my intention to live a very different life from that moment on – to focus on what is most important to me and those I most love because frankly, life is too short not to do exactly that. I created and shared my ‘Life List’ of everything I was going to do differently.
That article changed my life.
The thing about writing a Life List and setting goals with an open mind and an open heart, is that you need to be prepared for when what you set your heart on, actually starts to happen. You can call it manifestation or you can call it focussed intention and goal setting, or a combination of both – but the bottom line is – this stuff works.
Since writing that article, I have climbed mountains; swum in the ocean most mornings – rain, hail and shine; created my business ‘giving’ policy to focus on business philanthropy; hiked across the desert in central Australia; told my kids I love them every single day even when they are shitting me; started swearing a whole lot more; decluttered my house, my life and my brain; started relinquishing the need to be in control all of the time; focussed on acquiring experiences over possessions; and fallen in love. And more.
When you commit pen to paper to design the life you deserve, something magical happens. The act of taking your thoughts and dreams and the vision splendour and with your words weaving an articulate tapestry for the life you actually want to live, turns the intangible into something very, very real. What might seem beyond your reach while floating around in your brain with thousands of other thoughts, takes on a very different hue when you see it, written in concrete, beyond your minds eye.
As I write this update article for CEOWORLD magazine, I am sitting in an open air cafe overlooking a rice field in Ubud, Bali where I am living for the next 7 weeks. I have worked hard to get here – having set the intention in my Life List to live my best life and to make 2023 the year I move to Bali for an extended break. I planned how this was going to happen to within an inch of its life – I mind mapped out every action I needed to take to get me from A to B (research VISA requirements, find somewhere to live, find a co-working space to work, position my clients to work with me while I am offshore, make a list of amazing adventures I want to have while in Bali…); I set deadlines for every action; I locked the deadlines into my calendar; I tapped into a universal accountability group by declaring very publicly that I was moving to Bali; I identified everything I feared (such as a fear of failing or of being judged as selfish or of being too far away from my young adult kids) or lacked (such as the right resources, a network, enough money) that might stop me achieving my goal; and I clearly articulated what it is in my life that I most value that would help propel me through the fears and lack and any wobbly moments.
I did the work and I made it happen.
Four months ago, I launched my 5th book – ‘The Life List: Master Every Moment and Live an Audacious Life’, which shares my story and the exact steps you can take to design and then implement your own perfect life – a life by design.
I don’t know about you, but my brain is pretty cluttered. The average person has more than 6000 individual thoughts a day – that’s 65 thoughts a minute or a thought every 9 seconds. With this in mind (eek, pun sort of intended), how can you possibly think you will achieve any of your goals or dreams if you simply leave them floating around in your head?
Absolutely your goals need to be visualised first – you need to see exactly what it is you want to achieve, because this creates a picture in your mind that you can draw on when you need it, generating a strong emotional connection with the outcomes you want to achieve.
Next, you must put pen to paper and write it down (or create a vision board) – because the act of writing creates space in your brain for new goals to crystallise, it enhances your ability to recall your goals, and it gives you clarity and focus, which in turn generates enormous excitement, motivation and momentum.
And then all you need to do is take one step forward. Just one step. Research the destination you want to travel to; create an exercise schedule for the ultimate distance you want to run; visit the garden centre and look for the plants that will look wonderful in the garden you want to design; find the charity you want to volunteer for; ask for recommendations for a language school to finally learn that language; lock a deadline into your calendar; share your goal with a friend or five; and then turn up.
Because life is too short not to.
Written by Kate Christie.
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