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How many of us are looking for more meaning and purpose in our lives?

“The Old Year has gone.  Let the dead past bury its own dead.  The New Year has taken possession of the clock of time.  All hail the duties and possibilities of the coming twelve months!” Edward Payson Powell

How many of us are just going through the motions in our daily lives?

“Many people look forward to the new year for a new start on old habits.” Author Unknown

How many of us are willing to go through the journey to discover our greater purpose?

“We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched.  Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives… not looking for flaws, but for potential.” Ellen Goodman

NOW is the perfect time to start the process of kicking butt with your life! You can begin by thinking about the kind of future you want to create for yourself. I truly believe you can create in your life whatever it is you desire the most. Thinking and visualizing positive thoughts about whatever it is you most desire will, in time, create that which you think about and focus energy on.

Ringing in the New Year is an extremely powerful time in my life. It is the time of year when my wife Kristen and I take the time to review our successes and failures, to take in the lessons learned, and then apply them to our updated life design.

“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious effort.” Henry David Thoreau

I started the process of brainstorming and visualizing personal goals and objectives on large pieces of paper at a very early age. Developing this kind of a visual history of my life has become an important tool to support my understanding of how my time and energy is spent as I work towards creating what I most desire for my life.

Here is how it works:

Either by yourself or with your significant other/friend, find a couple of big pieces of paper – a paper grocery bag can work well. You may want to tape some paper together to make the surface bigger. Kristen and I use a 4’ x 14’ piece of paper when we go through this process.

Step One

In the center of the paper write/draw “Creating My Life, My Way, Today!” If you are working with another person have them do the same on a separate piece of paper.

Step Two

Randomly, write/draw words that categorize your life activities and actions. Make sure to allow plenty of space so you can add additional details around each of your categories. Here are some examples of categories that I like to use:

• • Family/Friends
  • Career/Business
  • Health/Physical
  • Finance
  • Home Environment
  • Community
  • Fun/Recreation
  • Personal Growth

Step Three

After you have developed your categories, focus your energy and attention on each category, one at a time. Write down your ideal goals and outcomes for that category in the coming year. Take your time, writing as many aspirations as you can think of. The key is not to over think your idea. Usually the first thoughts you think of are what you truly desire. Use the same process for the remaining categories

Step Four

Compare your Life Creating Visual with your significant other or good friend. Have each person share their entire visual one at a time. Next, start looking for the areas where you can support one another in achieving each other’s goals for the coming year. Make sure to talk about the challenges and success factors to achieving the goals and outcomes. Stay realistic. Set yourself up for success instead of failure.

Step Five

When you have your Life Creating Visual completed post it in a place where you can see it every day: the wall into the bathroom, your bedroom mirror, anywhere you visit and spend time thinking. Just post it!

I know what some of you are thinking right now, “This is going to be a lot of hard work and take up a bunch of my time.” I feel the same way at times and I just don’t want to go through the hassle to do this kind of personal growth work. Guess what? I still do it, and then after all is said and done, I wonder why I even hesitated at all. Getting over the hump to create the life you want takes effort. In the end nothing could be greater than living the life you create each and every day.

“The important thing is to strive towards a goal which is not immediately visible.  That goal is not the concern of the mind, but of the spirit.” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Time is running out! How are you going to create the rest of your life?

Let me know what you think?

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create for yourself.