Newsflash: You’re The Only One Standing In The Way Of Your Dreams
About a year ago someone asked me, “If you could be doing anything in the world, what would you be doing?”
I took a while to answer.
I remember truly giving it some thought and realizing that there really is not much I would change in my life as it is right now. It is finally consistent and at a steady rhythm. I felt extremely content with my life at the moment that they asked me that question. I felt happy.
Since then, I have been asking many people that same question. It is always interesting to listen to people answering that question, to analyze them, to compare how those answers relate to how they are, and what they do.
Over time I observed some recurring patterns in those answers:
The Wolf of Wall Street : “I’d be lying on stacks of money, with my hot wife in my private jet.”
The Traveler : “I would be in a hammock on the beach somewhere, drinking a beer as the cool breeze soothes my skin.”
The Jokester: “Um, your mom?”
The Cynic : “I’d be at home sleeping, without having to answer your stupid questions.”
The Weirdo : “I’d be making out with a sexy alien on the newly constructed moon station with all of the newest cybernetic sex toys at my disposal.”
And then you have those who are talking about a goal that they are already actively working on — at least in their mind.
“I’d be running my own business.”
“I’d be writing a book.”
“I’d be doing my Ph.D. research”
I believe – when taken seriously – that this question can really tell you about what you truly want from your life. If you did not have anyone to please, anyone to prove yourself to, without boundaries that keep you from what you truly need, what would you be really doing?
I am a strong believer of crafting your own life, planning and proactively designing your life rather than letting fate or someone else decide how you live it.
I believe that you are your greatest project. Every single day you are slowly adding more color to the masterpiece that is yourself.
So, what do you really want from your life? And most importantly, are you currently working on achieving it?
Too many of us go all our lives living a life that is pre-written by someone else. We go to school, get our degrees, get a “good job” and then live the life exactly the way millions of people lived before us.
If your life is exactly similar to someone else’s, can you call it a masterpiece? Or, is it merely a copy or an unimaginative piece which does not really have much value? Is that really the legacy you want to leave when you are no longer on this Earth someday?
As a wise person once said, “Nothing motivates you more than thinking about a life you could have.”
So, think about it.
Think about what you really want in life, dig into those deep warm corners of your heart and see what you truly desire. Then, do what it takes to make it into a reality.
Then, perhaps one day when someone asks you “if you could be doing anything in the world, what would you be doing?” you’d be able to say, “Exactly what I am doing right now.”