There are so many things and places the two of us want to explore in life.
So a while ago, we decided to make a bucket list. Funny thing is, our virtual bucket got heavier and heavier, and the things we wanted to do were put more and more on hold until some day. Perhaps, when some day arrived, we would rush to do all of the things on our list before our impending demise. Something was seriously off with this approach!
Being busy professionals, parents, and all around doers, we knew how easy it was to get lost in our day to day tasks and put-off our dreams. Thoughts like: “There isn’t enough time to do it all”; “We can’t afford it”; “What if the business falls apart when we’re gone?” filled our heads. Sound familiar?
The more we observed, the more we saw the thoughts pop-up like they were on automatic-play mode. In a crazy way, the automatics became the material that formed the bucket that held our dreams. To be more precise, the bucket was where we put our dreams on hold.
Wow.
Why in the world are we doing this? What’s the root? How do we change?
We set out to squash the automatics and free our bucket list. Here’s that path we took:
- Identify that something is amiss. Call it out. Although this seems like common sense, it’s really tough to know what’s off. For us, we identified that we were a bit afraid to alter our daily routine – to make a change, to take a risk. We recognized this because we felt it, square in our gut.
- Stop justifying. We found that we used justification to make ourselves feel better about not following our dreams. Our bucket list became the way we put-off making our dreams a reality: we have this and that on the list, and we’re going to get to them some day…
- What’s the fear? Give this a go: I am afraid to live my dream because ___________ (fill in the blank). For us, naming the justification let us identify the root fear hiding below the surface. Next, we needed to move through the fear to remove its power over us.
- Shift interpretations. We had a choice to make: continue this madness or start living our life by living our dreams. We decided to take on the fear – really, take on the unknown. As we felt anxiety building and the old justifications rising, and we knew we needed another tool. Perhaps we needed to shift our point of view? The only way we knew to do this was to double back to where we felt the anxiety begin, and see where we made a fearful interpretation. We took deep breaths and admitted to ourselves (out loud!) that we didn’t know what was next. What a simple relief. Instead of interpreting the sensation as fear, we interpreted it as exhilaration, like the excitement of an explorer, an athlete, or a hero taking on a new adventure.
- Take an action! Our just-do-it mind set became a whole body experience as we acted on our dreams. We stepped back and realized that we felt more empowered, encouraged, and lighter. With the new awareness, we were leading our lives instead of our fears leading us.
Taking our lives to the next level gets easier and easier with each attempt. Confidence and courage grow and lead to the next step, and justifications turn into trustifications.
identify + choice + action = living your dreams
What’s stuck on your bucket list waiting to be launched?