What Do You Really Want to Do? (by Megz)

Decide what you want to do

I know when I am hungry

I know when my throat is dry

I know when I am sleepy

I know when need to cry

I know I am alive

Breathing happens on its own

I know my heart is beating

And one day I will die.

If only the rest of it was as simple.

-          Megha Tara Sardana

(P.S: Please forgive my amateur attempt at poetry or whatever you might like to call it!!)

We all have our strengths and weaknesses and our own aptitudes and likings. And thanks to the stars, each of us has a unique blueprint for success. (Get your Astro Reading from Jen if you want to know what comes to you naturally. And then there is the whole North Node vs. South Node thing — what you should be doing vs. what you are good at and should be leaving behind).  Wow!! That’s a whole lot of variables in the Know Yourself equation. Let us momentarily assume that you have worked out what your strengths are.

Now comes the Million Dollar Question (pun intended) – What do you really want to do?

I have a very simple belief to guide me through life (though I have been guilty of forgetting it at times).. I believe that I am the most important person in my world. It will be over when I stop breathing. So, I can’t waste these precious minutes living someone else’s life.  Can you?

The challenge is to find what you want to do and then get on the job to make your dream come true. For the sake of simplicity, this can be segregated into further questions like:

1. What do you want to be?
2. What do you want to accomplish?
3. What do you want to experience?
4. And what do you want to acquire?

Now, let’s discuss some tools to help you achieve this:

The Big 30 Lists: As proposed by Jack Canfield in ‘How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be”, one of the easiest ways of know what you truly want is to make lists of :

1. 1. 30 Things you want to do
   2. 30 Things you want to have
   3. 30 Things you want to be before you die

Trust me when I say that this can be great fun and is a good way to get the ball rolling.

‘I want’ List: Another technique prescribed by Jack is to have a friend continually ask “What do you want” for 15 mins. Take notes of what your replies are to help you review and keep track.  Be careful to work with a supportive and non judgmental friend who won’t hold you to what you reveal.

The Vision Exercise: Your vision is a detailed description of where you want to go. It describes in detail what your dream feels like. To create a balanced and successful life, your vision needs to include the following seven areas:

1. 1. Work and Career
   2. Finances
   3. Recreation and Free Time
   4. Health and Fitness
   5. Relationships
   6. Personal Goals
   7. Contribution to the larger community

The Morning Pages: Originally proposed by Julia Cameron in her book The Artist’s Way, ‘The Morning Pages’ are a powerful tool to dig beyond our conceptual conditioned self and discover our hidden qualities and longings. You need to write three full scale pages every morning without any judgment or conscious thought. Let your inner self do the talking. And key to this exercise is to not to read your pages for first month. When you read them after a month, it will be easy for you to spot the trend and note key points.

A Dream Journal: Another tool to help you listen to your subconscious in the process of deciding what you want to do to is by keeping a dream journal (or dream diary). It is a journal in which dream experiences are recorded. A dream journal might include a record of nightly dreams, personal reflections and waking dream experiences.

If you need clarity about a particular area or situation, you can set that as an intention just before going to sleep. And remember to record the dreams as soon as you wake up as vividly as possible.

I have shared with you quite a few powerful tools to help you decide what you want.  But I want you to remember a few things as we get going.

Life happens and People Evolve. There is no such thing as the perfect match. What works for you today might not work tomorrow. What you want today is not what you will want for the rest of your life. And it is never too late to follow your own heart.

After completing my MBA, I have evolved from being a Commodity Derivatives Analyst to a Process Analyst to a Technical Analyst to a Workflow Designer to a Operations Manager to a Project Manager to a Finance and Business Coach (and a blogger).. and I still have another 30 years of work experience ahead of me..  I am constantly innovating and challenging myself. I thrive on human interaction and logic driven work.  I am evolving and so is my work.

What are you waiting for? Whose permission do you need?

There are some things in life that you are not meant to be. Don’t waste your time and tears trying to be them. Reach for the things you are meant to be, and you will reach your destiny.”
—Sarah Normile