Ready for Change

“I could do anything, if only I knew what anything was.”

I’ve talked to a lot of people who have spent years absently wondering what “anything” is, but never getting around to answering the question. We’re busy, and it’s hard to set aside the time we think it’s going to take to figure out Something Big, like what we’re going to do with our life, and what our impact on the world is going to be.

I’m in love with this question this week: what’s my impact on the world?

planning my impact on the world

Rather than dodging the question, or assuming I’ll get around to it someday, I’m embracing it head on! I’ve invited a handful of people who know me well, representing many areas of my life, to join me this Thursday for a party of possibility, a collaborative brainstorm session to put together what all of us collectively know about me and my potential impact on the world. I’m full of excitement for the evening – and terrified at putting myself out there as the topic for strategic planning. And overwhelmed with gratitude to the people who are willing to explore this with me.

Do you know what your impact on the world is going to be? Post it in the comments!

Do you know a good way to figure out your life impact? Post that too!

Maybe you want to join us on Thursday? Email me.

Maybe you want to tell me what you know about the impact I should have – share your wisdom.

Or maybe you’re hoping I can help you plan your very own Party of Possibility? I sure can. Get in touch. 

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You know all that stuff about affirmations? About how if you tell yourself that you are successful, have your dream job, will fall madly in love, make lots of money, find that perfect house or apartment, have your soufflé turn out . . . if you keep telling yourself that all those things are reality, then they will become reality?

I’m never sure if I believe it or not. Sometimes I tell myself things repeatedly, hoping they’ll come true, but I usually feel a little bit silly when I try it.

This week I stumbled on a way that I could express, un-self-consciously, the future that I want to make reality. I imagined my ideal week in my ideal life, and I started a Word doc in which I wrote the Twitter updates my ideal self would write as she went about her week.

e.g.

11:00am “sunlight streaming in my upstairs corner as I take an hour to meditate.”

6:00pm “just home from farmer’s market; cooking up organic dinner with red wine.”

It was a super fun exercise (if you try it, I’d love to hear how it goes!), and I actually learned a lot doing it. I learned that my ideal self meditates, does a lot of yoga, drinks a lot of red wine, hosts a radio show, coaches, writes, sets aside a corner of her house just for writing, and loves to spend an hour at sunset sitting on the porch reading a book. I also noticed that, despite her frequent twittering, she spends a lot less time online than I do now.

The big learning I took from this exercise was to realize how many of those “ideal” things are accessible to me right now. Even if I don’t host a radio show (yet!), I’m perfectly capable of going to a yoga class, spending sunset on my porch (once it warms up), coaching, writing, and restricting my online time. Funny, I can access a lot of my ideal self right now – which means that I’m going to go have a glass of red wine.

What’s your ideal self doing? 

Like what you’re reading? There’s more where that came from!
I’d love to have you join me by signing up for Ready for Change news. 
Sign up here.