Life! By Design_ 6 Steps to an Extraordinary You - Laura Morton [59]
What are your God-given talents?
Five years from now, how will the world experience you?
Who would you be if you were already there?
And because you’ve gone this far, you can now appreciate the following bonus question I’ve added to Mike’s original set.
What do you need to let go of to take the next step?
These important yet difficult questions are the key to unlocking your future and the path that will lead you to live By Design. So they shouldn’t be rushed through or undertaken lightly. You should approach them as if making a life-changing decision. That is exactly what the questions are designed for.
When you are living By Design, you will find yourself repeatedly coming back to these six questions. Therefore, I suggest getting a notebook or journal you can freely write in whenever you face answering these questions. One of the benefits of keeping your answers is that you can revisit your thoughts and vision, which will help you tweak it as you progress.
A popular book was written a few years ago called The Secret that basically tells readers they have the power to attract anything and manifest everything they want in life by simply asking for it. Think about that…by just “asking for it.” When the book was published, I explored the subject in my seminars. I asked my audiences how many of them had read the book. Almost every hand shot up. Next I asked, “And how many of you are practicing the principles you learned?” Again, almost every hand was raised. Finally I asked, “How many of you are getting everything you want?” A couple of hands went up. The rest of the audience looked a little ashamed.
I paused, crouched down, cupped my hands around the corners of my mouth, and said, “Do you want to know the real secret?”
The entire audience shouted, “YES!”
“Okay, here’s the deal. The real secret is that you have to know what you want, know why you want it, and then work your ass off every single day to get it!”
The audience nodded in agreement to my message. After all, sitting around hoping you’ll manifest a Ferrari doesn’t work. I went on to explain that all of us have to fight through our fears and then take action if we want such luxuries. Live as the person we want to be; and when we start to get close to what we want, we must push a little harder to actually get it. Be grateful for what you have, and then be in massive action—always working, always advancing toward your goals, until you achieve what you want. It’s not just asking for it; you’ve got to actually do the work!
Be conscious and aware that the four addictions will rear their heads right about now. Don’t get caught up in your worry or drama or the idea that you may have tried but failed in the past or what other people will say or think. Keep pushing through.
The Greek philosopher Aristotle said that the formula for happiness and success was to first have a definite, clear, practical idea, goal, or objective. Second, attain it by whatever means available, whether wisdom, money, materials, or methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end.
A lot of people get caught between the creation of their vision and their intention of their goal, by getting stuck in the “how.”
Do you want to know what I have to say to that?
Phucow!
It’s a made-up word that means, “Stop worrying about how you’re going to do it and just do it!” Get clear on what you want, and the “how” will reveal itself. “How” is the easy part of living By Design. Once you become present with what you want, the social proof, natural pathways, meetings, information, strategies, and data points will show up everywhere if you’re paying attention.
Every three weeks or so I have an appointment to have my hair cut by my friend Daniel, a guy I refer to as my “hairapist.” We spend most of my time in the chair talking about life, family, hopes, goals, and dreams. One day, Daniel told me that his true passion was creating art, but his hours at the salon wouldn’t allow him enough time to pursue both careers. He said he was stuck cutting hair