Wisdom No. 19
It is the process, not the outcome, that is most important.
I am still learning this one on a daily basis. My mind gets so easily caught up in the finished product, in where I want life to take me, or how I want things to turn out. If I was Astrologically inclined, I say it was my Capricorn nature that drives me to focus on the achievement end of things. Being goal oriented is fine! But if that's all we value then we risk missing the beauty of the moment and wishing away vast tracts of life. For example, we may never realise a particular dream or outcome. In fact,by the time we get there we might want something different anyway. Or perhaps life has just taken us on a different course.
All the growth, all the learning, all the joy, all the challenge - 99.9% of what there is to gain is in the process of getting there. If you just got there, say by winning lotto, or someone else buying you your dream car, or being given career breaks because of family connections, then you would certainly miss all the value of the journey and be left with that measly 0.1% - which I suspect would feel bitterly disappointing and hollow.
One of my loves is writing for example. Yet it is very easy for me to get caught up in, where will this writing take me, will I create a bestseller, will I be able to make a living from it, and when I think like this I reduce the very thing I love to that 0.1% and drain all the joy from it. When I manage to write, like I am now, from my pure passion for it, then I am invested in the process and enjoying the journey just as it is, unconditionally loving what's happening, and there is immediately more growth, joy - the payback is instant!!
Travel is a great metaphor for this same concept. When we are focused on the end of the journey, the process of getting there becomes tedious, and undoubtedly we will run into troubles, conflicts, challenges...The whole trip will be arduous. Whereas if we focus on the process, on each interaction as we go along our way, on the little moments, on our breathing, then I guarantee you your journey will be richer and more rewarding, even if you face the same challenges, run into obstacles, whatever....
Where in your life could you learn to invest in the process of getting somewhere, rather than in the destination itself?
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
The Meeting of Opposites
Wisdom No. 18
Wholeness, if achievable at all, is only possible through the conscious meeting and reconciling of the opposites in our nature.
Wholeness, if achievable at all, is only possible through the conscious meeting and reconciling of the opposites in our nature.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Fulfill Your Life's Purpose
'Purpose is what gives life a meaning" Charles H Perkhurst
I have just completed a personal Mission Statement, as well as one for my business/career. My partner is doing the same, and then we will do a collective one for our family. I can highly recommend this process to everyone as a way to gain clarity and align your daily and yearly goals with your deepest values and principles.
A Mission Statement is something we are familiar with in organisations, and they are often poorly thought of by people. In short, Mission Statements have a bad name, not because they are pointless, but because they are rarely used effectively and consciously.
A Mission Statement for you as an individual is simply a brief sentence about your purpose on the planet. It should answer the questions: Why are you here? What is your core purpose? And what do you want to be remembered for when you are gone?
A good way to start is to do a mind map or just brainstorm on some paper all that comes to your mind when you read these questions. Take a few minutes to do it now.
Now you might want to put it aside for a while and as I say "let it compost" - then come back to it in a few days. When you come back to it, take the most powerful words and try to arrange them into one short and clear sentence about your life's purpose.
Once you have the Mission Statement down and feel satisfied, you can develop your vision and life goals. Your Vision is a statement about what you want to achieve. It is good to focus on at least 1-3 years, but looking even further into the future can be helpful and inspiring. Your vision statement must be big and bold and really inspiring.
Personally, I took a big sheet of white paper and wrote down the key roles in my life (partner family member, friend, community member, psychologist, artist etc) and then underneath each one wrote a list of things I most wanted to achieve in each role. I then put some rough timelines against each of the goals.
On a separate sheet, I drew a circle for each of the core 'pleasure' activities in my life (yoga, photography, writing etc) and then similarly wrote goals underneath each.
Finally, on a third sheet, I broke my work life down into interest areas and then jotted down some goals under each heading.
You might also want to write down your key values and principles. These are the core beliefs that are driving you towards your goals and they link directly to your Mission Statement.
Stephen Covey speaks about the value of taking yourself through this process regularly as part of his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Writing a personal mission statement is part of Habit 2, Begin with the End in Mind. He says this exercise focuses us on "what you want to be (character), and do (contributions and achievements) and on the values and principles upon which being and doing are based".
I have adapted Covey's activity somewhat, but the general principles is the same, and you would be well rewarded to visit his original text for a full review on this topic.
Wisdom No. 17
Get clear about your life purpose and find ways daily to bring it into being in who you are and what you do.
I have just completed a personal Mission Statement, as well as one for my business/career. My partner is doing the same, and then we will do a collective one for our family. I can highly recommend this process to everyone as a way to gain clarity and align your daily and yearly goals with your deepest values and principles.
A Mission Statement is something we are familiar with in organisations, and they are often poorly thought of by people. In short, Mission Statements have a bad name, not because they are pointless, but because they are rarely used effectively and consciously.
A Mission Statement for you as an individual is simply a brief sentence about your purpose on the planet. It should answer the questions: Why are you here? What is your core purpose? And what do you want to be remembered for when you are gone?
A good way to start is to do a mind map or just brainstorm on some paper all that comes to your mind when you read these questions. Take a few minutes to do it now.
Now you might want to put it aside for a while and as I say "let it compost" - then come back to it in a few days. When you come back to it, take the most powerful words and try to arrange them into one short and clear sentence about your life's purpose.
Once you have the Mission Statement down and feel satisfied, you can develop your vision and life goals. Your Vision is a statement about what you want to achieve. It is good to focus on at least 1-3 years, but looking even further into the future can be helpful and inspiring. Your vision statement must be big and bold and really inspiring.
Personally, I took a big sheet of white paper and wrote down the key roles in my life (partner family member, friend, community member, psychologist, artist etc) and then underneath each one wrote a list of things I most wanted to achieve in each role. I then put some rough timelines against each of the goals.
On a separate sheet, I drew a circle for each of the core 'pleasure' activities in my life (yoga, photography, writing etc) and then similarly wrote goals underneath each.
Finally, on a third sheet, I broke my work life down into interest areas and then jotted down some goals under each heading.
You might also want to write down your key values and principles. These are the core beliefs that are driving you towards your goals and they link directly to your Mission Statement.
Stephen Covey speaks about the value of taking yourself through this process regularly as part of his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Writing a personal mission statement is part of Habit 2, Begin with the End in Mind. He says this exercise focuses us on "what you want to be (character), and do (contributions and achievements) and on the values and principles upon which being and doing are based".
I have adapted Covey's activity somewhat, but the general principles is the same, and you would be well rewarded to visit his original text for a full review on this topic.
Wisdom No. 17
Get clear about your life purpose and find ways daily to bring it into being in who you are and what you do.
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