Have you gone off course? How To Create a Life You Love - Part 6
Have You Gone Off Course?, is part 6 in the series about change and creating a life you love. Read part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, and part 5.In earlier parts of this series, we talked about beginning - clarifying a vision and creating a map, supporting yourself when you are scared to begin. This post is about taking action when you don't know exactly how to achieve the goal, but also about how to adjust if the goal changes. It is about perseverance, yes, but also it is about recalibration.Have you ever reached a long-time goal - and then realized you didn't really care about it any more? That is not what you want to have happen when your goal is creating a new, more brilliant life for yourself. But it could happen if you are so focus on the goal that you are not looking around at the view of your current life.
I once had a goal to move to San Francisco. I'd always lived in the suburbs and rural area within a 100 miles of The City, so this wasn't an outlandish goal, I just hadn't ever quite made it happen. Then circumstances of my life shifted, and I was presented with an opportunity to move - the timing would have been perfect. But when I really considered the option, I realized I didn't really want a life in San Francisco any more. I had changed, my desires had changed, and I chose to pass the opportunity by. I shifted my vision, I made a new map toward a life I wanted - a different life than I thought I'd been working toward.
Adjust as needed
When I used to work in software development, we talked a lot about “iteration.” Webster defines this as, “A procedure in which repetition of a sequence of operations yields results successively closer to a desired result.” Iteration is a great idea in software, because it means you can release a version that doesn’t work exactly right. Then you can work on it some more, update it, release an improved version.Because if you waited until you had the perfect version, you would never release anything.It is great in life, too, because we will never have the perfect plan or set of circumstances. But you can take action, and be OK with being a little uncomfortable. You can learn from the results of your action, and then take another action.It is also great because life changes. The vision of the perfect life you had 5 years ago might not be the same life you want now. It is OK to change the goal slightly, if the old goal is now off course and no longer fits.In other words, keep moving forward, even if imperfectly. Take note of what went well and what didn’t. What felt like it was moving you closer to what creating a life you love, and what is moving you further from it. Adjust if needed. And then take action again.And if you start feeling like you are actually heading toward a goal that you no longer want? No problem! Go back to step 1, create a new vision, design a new map, and identify new actions to get you back on a path to a new life that you will love.
Now is the time to begin
In this series, we have discussed clarifying your vision, creating a map to your goal, taking action, supporting yourself, managing fear and resistance, and finally, learning to iterate.You don’t need to stay stuck in wishing for a different life, or feeling jealous about the things your friends are doing. You can create a life you love, starting right now.What will you first tiny step be?