What do you really want in life?

Most people don’t discover what they want in life until it’s time to die – and that’s a shame.

People spend the best years of their lives doing things they dislike or watching television. An author described humanity by saying, “Most people die at twenty and are buried at eighty.” Are you one of the living zombies?

What do you really want in life?

Most people struggle in answering such a question. Many are unsure when asked what they want or what their goals in life are. They flitter throughout their days, hardly giving any thought about what they want in life. People without definite goals are letting time pass them by. Are you one of these people?

If you are undecided about what you want out of life, don’t worry.  There are many ways of discovering your purpose in life.

To discover what you want in life, try looking deep into your heart. Oftentimes, people are ruled by logic. People live by what they think they should be or by what others want them to be. The discovery process is the perfect time to listen to your heart. What your heart desires comes from the whispers of your authentic self. Your authentic self is the real you.

You must listen to your heart to hear your authentic self. What your heart says usually feels right. What your heart desires is what you usually love to do and this represents your passion. Anything done with passion is like play where the task is accomplished without hesitation. You pour out your very best and feel no pressure or resistance.

You will completely enjoy doing things that are your passion. Setbacks, difficulties, and obstacles will make it more challenging, but should not deter you from pursuing your goals. Naturally, there may be barriers that may prevent you from reaching your goal, but your heart’s desire will find ways to overcome these barriers so that you may ultimately get what you want in life. Remember this: the universe supports people who are pursuing their passion and those who are pursuing their destiny.

However, this does not mean that you don’t use your head. People are born with both the mind and heart. Your duty is to live your best life and be in harmony with your mind and heart. The poet Rumi wisely said, “Live completely in the head and you cannot feel the breath and rhythm of life. Live completely in the heart and you may find yourself acting like a love-struck fool with poor judgment and discipline. It’s all a fine balance – the head and heart must forge a lifetime partnership if one wants to live a beautiful life.”

Listen to your instinct. Part of human nature is the mysterious and spontaneous reaction to things. Often times, these are called instincts. Your authentic self communicates with you and guides you via instincts. Instincts are those gentle nudges that urge you to act and follow a certain path. Your role then is to listen attentively.

Often times, we listen to what others say and allow them to run our lives. Parents often do this to their children. “We come from a family of doctors, so my son must also be a doctor.” How often do we hear this from parents who have good intentions for their children? Parents unconsciously block the true expression of their child’s real self and calling. Friends and critics will discourage you and point out the impossibility of your dream. Before heeding their advice, evaluate the accomplishments of the critics. Did they achieve their dreams? Do they dream big at all?

Remember, it is your destiny that is on the line, not theirs. It doesn’t mean, though, that you will not listen to what other people say. Hear them out just the same. But the final decision should be yours.

There is only thing to remember: Every person, to live truly and live greatly, must define how he wants to live and what his brightest life will look like. Listen to your instincts and follow your heart’s desire. You will never go wrong.

How many times have you heard that setting goals is the most important ingredient in your quest for success? Have you taken it seriously, or instead thought “That’s great for other people, but I don’t know how to set goals, I don’t know where to begin.”

The “setting goals” statement is THAT IMPORTANT!! Tom Hopkins, sales trainer, says “Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement.”

Research has found that the 3% of college graduates that have clear, written goals earn ten times as much as those who have no goals or have unclear, scattered goals. Now that’s pretty compelling and certainly a strong motivation to start writing clear, concise goals. Yes, it has been proven over and over again that writing your goals down on paper brings much more success than just having them roaming around in your head.

It becomes REALLY exciting when you think about these facts:

1. You have more natural potential than you could use in a lifetime. A Stanford University study found that the average person uses only two percent of his/her mental capacity, with 98 percent being unused and wasted.
2. Anything a person thinks about, long enough and hard enough, can be accomplished. If there is a burning desire within, it will materialize on the outside.
3. It doesn’t matter where you’ve come from or where you have been. What matters is where you want to go and how much effort you are willing to put into your desire to accomplish more success, more wealth, better relationships, etc.
4. You are the one in charge of the great potential that you have. Your thoughts are creative. As the saying goes, “You become what you think about most of the time.”

Just for a moment think about the power of the human mind. That’s your mind they’re talking about!

The human mind has a built-in desire for success and accomplishment. We are born with it, so it should be easy to be goal oriented, right? Unfortunately that is not true. We are influenced by everything around us ? our family, friends, childhood, education, religion, etc.

We have not been taught to think about goals. Our educational system doesn’t teach the importance of this, not even at the college level. And most people grow up in homes where goal setting is not discussed or used.

The fear of failure is a huge deterrent to setting goals. It doesn’t matter how you start. What matters is that you do start. You’re not going to be a perfect goal maker on your first try. Play around with your thoughts on what you want to achieve in life. Write them down. If you let yourself do this without restraints, you’ll be amazed at how many goals you have, some will be short term, some will be long term. Now you can start analyzing them, career, personal, business, etc. It’s a good idea not to share them with anyone right away. They belong to you, and you don’t need any dream stealers. And don’t forget to dream BIG!

Imbed into your mind the desire you have of achieving your goals and the incredible power of your subconscious mind. Negative thoughts will surely make you fail, positive thoughts will bring positive things, without fail! When you find a negative thought creeping in, such as “I can’t do that,” I don’t have what it takes, “This can never happen for me,” just say the word “cancel” and replace the negative thought with a positive one. This will take some practice, but it does work. Besides, you’ll feel much happier thinking positive thoughts instead of the negative ones that do nothing but drag you down.