Want What You Have and Get What You Want

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for. – Epicurus

I would tweak the above and say: instead of craving what you don’t have, set goals based on your best guess of what else you might want and do two things simultaneously:

1) Practice Gratitude

Actively, consistently practice giving thanks.

For me this means taking a few minutes each day to write down five things I’m grateful for. Some days it’s a bit of a struggle, and sometimes I repeat myself – even “resorting” to “silly” things (like “I am grateful for this practice;” not that I’m not, but there are times when I wish I could be more creative or elegant in my gratitudes).

2) Regularly Design Your Future

Ask yourself what you really want to create in life. Who you really want to be – the ways you want to serve others. Know where you want to go and who you want to be.

Then, take that Vision and chunk it down to projects you can complete in 30-90 days. (I call these Micro-Goals and never have more than three at a time.)

Each week name the tasks you will complete that week to accomplish your projects (/Micro-Goals) and take action.

At the end of each week, assess how you did. See what was completed and what wasn’t. Ask yourself what felt great to do and/or accomplish and what didn’t. Tweak your approach and tasks as necessary.

Do those two things with authenticity, vigor and love and those things you once did not have will be yours.*

*  *  *

* And you will have a tremendous sense of accomplishment and satisfaction for having been present and grateful and authentic and productive.