How to Create a Life you Love: Part 2 - Map it out
This is part 2 in the series about creating a life you love. You can find part 1 here.
Knowing what I want to have in my life and knowing how to get there are two totally different things. You can stay stuck in the longing forever - and some people do.I don't want to you be one of those people. I want you to be able to identify a desire, and then confidently step toward it.Does that mean you'll always get exactly what you want?No, of course not. You'll have to course correct (we'll come back to this in a later post). You'll make mistakes and have to try again. Sometimes you'll get the thing you thought you wanted and then realize you don't really want it after all.But what I'm interested in you getting out of this series is the skill and confidence to move from longing into action.
So let's get into action:
Map out the things you want to have in your life
Now that you have a clarified your vision about what you want to have in your life, think about ways you can bring that in.Maybe there’s a direct path that is obvious. To use my example from the first post in this series, if you want to go to grad school, the next step might be to research programs, or apply for financial aid.In my case, that was not a possible next step for me at the time, so I thought about what the grad school experience might be like, and what would bring those elements into my life. I identified taking art classes, setting up structured creative projects for myself, and connecting with other artists.
This process works for big and small desires.
Below is a page from my art journal, with a mind map I did when I was thinking about ways I could integrate more self care into my life. I was craving reading time that really felt luxurious (not the interrupted snatches of paragraphs that my reading life had been reduced to). What did luxurious reading time feel like? Reading a book all snuggled up in bed. Whiling away an afternoon, swinging in a hammock, lost in a great story.
Can I expect that I will magically create whole afternoons to spend in a hammock in this season of my life? No. But at least I can install the hammock. I can find myself a better selection of novels to add to the stack of non-fiction books that had been my recent fare. I can plan my evenings so that once or twice a week I go to bed early and then read until bedtime. And doesn’t that sound luxurious?Here's your assignment: Map out some ideas for yourself. Think about the question: What do I want to have in my life? What steps can you take toward the life you crave? What shifts can you make to make that life more real? What can you change right now that will move you one step in that direction?I like these visual mind maps because my brain is visual. If your brain prefers to move in a straighter line, feel free to just make a list. Use whatever method works for you.What is your first action to step toward the life you desire?Read part 1and part 3 in this series.