11 May What’s the point?
From this morning’s free email…
I’ve been working with quite a few entrepreneurs and relatively successful business people lately and it probably won’t surprise most of you to know that although money and success aren’t bad for you, they don’t (in any way) guarantee happiness!
One specific client I’ve been coaching lately has ticked many boxes when it comes to achieving in life; but he still feels he’s missing something! I’ve been working with him in a few areas but in the last few sessions we’ve focused on helping him find more meaning in his work. Subsequently, I tried out the exercise we came up with for him and I must admit, I loved doing it! So I thought I’d share it with you because I’m pretty confident that it’s the sort of thing from which anyone and everyone could benefit.
ê_ã_Ô_ Find yourself a piece of paper (preferably a large one) and some pens (preferably with lots of bright colours)
ê_ã_Ô_ Before going on check out these sites to get some ideas – here and here
ê_ã_Ô_ In the centre of your piece of paper draw a circle and write, within it, that which is most important to you (for me, it was “doing good things” or “making the world a better place”)
ê_ã_Ô_ And note: you can repeat this exercise several times with different centres or themes at the “heart”
ê_ã_Ô_ Now from your centre, draw somewhere between 2- 4 lines extending out representing the main off-shoots of your core (I divided mine up into “personal” and “professional”)
ê_ã_Ô_ And then divide these up again, and again, becoming more and more specific (e.g. within my “personal” branch I put “family” and “friends”; within my professional branch I had contributions to “academia”, “clinical psychology” and “positive psychology”)
ê_ã_Ô_ Keep going but after 2 or 3 branches from your “heart” start writing down specific things you’ve done or are doing (for example, I know that although not everyone writes in and tells me so, these free tips have changed peoples lives and in some cases serve to inspire people on a daily and weekly basis)
ê_ã_Ô_ And another note: don’t be afraid to use lots of different, bright colours (e.g. you can use a different colour for each “branch”)
ê_ã_Ô_ Keep this “map” with you over the course of at least a few days and add to it as you think of or remember new ideas
At the end of this process, you should have a bright and colourful, inspiring reflection of what your life’s about; and once you do, keep it in a place where you’ll see it often and use it as a reminder that there is a point to life, to working, to being…and whatever that point is should serve to motivate you to keep doing what ever it is you’re doing that you consider to be important.
PS: I’m guessing there are some people out there thinking…but what if I’ve not done anything significant? Well, you probably have so don’t downplay your contributions but at the same time, not all of us (myself included) will be Nobel prize winners; not all of us will contribute in the way that some have (such as the great artists and writers, the best politicians and philosophers) but that doesn’t matter. All you need to do is focus on your own life and on doing what’s important for you. If you’ve not actually achieved what you want to achieve yet then this process might help you clarify where you need to devote your energies.
As always, give this a go and let us know how you fare!