Megz and I had decided she would do this week of posts a while ago. But, I had no idea that the timing would coincide with me taking an unexpected trip home, to remember, and celebrate, the life of my grandmother, who passed on Friday, June 17, at the age of 89. I am not online this week as much as usual but will be checking in from time to time. Enjoy Megz’ posts! – Jennifer
Jennifer wrote in one of her posts that as kids we are very attuned with our North Star but by our twenties, owing to regular interaction with social beings around us, our need for external validation leaves us confused and more often than not, headed the opposite way. We do have some geniuses or child protégés who know what they want. Of course, many of these are cases of a parent’s dreams being thrust upon their kids and success owing to the 10000 hours rule (as deduced by Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers) but not necessarily a case of following our own heart’s wishes. Some very successful and high profile celebrities, including Michael Jackson and Andre Agassi, fall in this category. I am sure every nation has a few such achievers
But there is a reprieve for us ordinary mortals, as by the time we reach our thirties, our dreams start calling out to us.. (Note to self – research in detail if this calling to our true life path is what is termed mid life crisis by the A type personalities).
Okay, so this post is for the ones like me, who wake up after sleep-walking through portions of our adult life, and after the long stupor needed to find out our unique blueprint, are raring to discover and get started.
Know Yourself
One of the most courageous things you can do is identify yourself, know who you are, what you believe in and where you want to go. - Sheila Murray Bethel
I have read umpteen self help books and coaching questionnaires and exercises. The questions listed below are the gist of almost all ‘Know-yourself’ exercises prescribed out there.
A. What do you love to do?
- What activities give you most satisfaction?
- What excites you most about life?
- What is your secret ambition?
- What are your hobbies?
B. What are you good at?
- What do you get complimented most on?
- Where have you excelled in the past?
- Where have you been successful?
- What are some of your strengths?
C. What is important to you?
- What would you do if you didn’t have to worry about money?
- What do you stand for?
- What would you not tolerate?
- What would you risk your life for?
D. What were you born to do? [Astrology can help many out with this - couldn't resist throwing in this editorial comment! - Jennifer]
- What is your unique mission in life?
- What are your unique opportunities?
- Where can you make a difference?
A good way to start discovering will be to journal on each of these, using the meditative journaling technique described in yesterday’s post.
If you want to do this in further detail (and are okay spending a little money on it – $20), I totally recommend True Strengths + The Metrics of Ease by Danielle Laporte.
Another Quick and Short method of doing this is the Life Purpose Exercise (detailed below) described by Jack Canfield, a motivational speaker and author of many of the Chicken Soup book series.
1. List two of your unique personal qualities such as enthusiasm and creativity.
2. List one or two ways you enjoy expressing those qualities when interacting with others, such as to support and to inspire.
3. Assume the world is perfect right now. What does this world look like? How is everyone interacting with everyone else? What does it feel like? Write your answer as a statement, in the present tense, describing the ultimate condition, the perfect world as you see it and feel it. Remember, a perfect world is a fun place to be.
Example: Everyone is freely expressing their own unique talents. Everyone is working in harmony n expressing love.
4. Combine the three prior subdivisions of this paragraph into a single statement.
Example: My purpose is to use my creativity and enthusiasm to support and inspire others to freely express their talents in a harmonious and loving way.
Be yourself. An original is always worth more than a copy. – Unknown
Feel free to share any of your discoveries below!
2 Comments
Thank you, Rachel! My grandmother’s husband is 90, and he’s still around. We were all worried about him during the funeral (they were married for 71+years) but he did quite well. He even joked around a little to “lighten” the mood. It’s good we have such longevity in our genes, yes? : D
Thanks, Megz, for a great post. (And, Jennifer, I’m sorry to hear about your grandma but glad she made it nearly 9 decades.. My gramma celebrated her 90th in May 2008 and passed away later that year. I think 90 must have been some sort of goal for her
She was even feeling strong enough in early fall to make one last trip out here to CA to visit her west coast kids, grandkids, & greatgrandkids. I hope your grandma had a big, full life!)
I wanted to say I especially loved the “Note to self” re researching calling to true life path vs so-called midlife crisis. I have an issue w the midlife crisis label (sounds too negative & too urgent