Are you truly in the driving seat of your life, or are you carting around a back-seat driver, or a mini-bus load of little voices with big desires? If there’s someone reaching over to turn your wheel it may be time to get assertive about what you want in your life and where you want to go.
We are each awarded at birth with a body to travel around in and a mind and intelligence to direct it; we each have free will and the power to choose how we want to live our life. That is a phenomenal gift and one that no-one else has the right to delve into and play with. You might choose to share, but that’s a very different thing!
Here’s mini series on grabbing the wheel and heading where you want to go
Part 1. Back Seat Drivers – Are You Being Told Where to Go?
How well do you know yourself? Do you know what makes you happy?What makes you mad? What values you align yourself with? Or are you running on automatic pilot in response to the things you have been told about yourself?
Do you sometimes wonder when you get to be an adult? At what age you can start doing what you want to do with your life without criticism from your parents, employers etc.
I remember making a conscious decision in my life on a certain birthday, that from that day forth I was an adult, with my own choices and opinions, my own ideas and my own priorities. I might get things wrong sometimes, and I knew I’d make mistakes, but they would be my mistakes and I was willing to learn from them.
What I wasn’t willing to do was worry about whether or not I was doing the “right thing” according to x, y, or z.
What a relief!
When you feel like you’re being told where to go, it’s hard to focus what direction you want to take in your life.
The way to change this and start moving forwards under your own steam is to get to know yourself better. One fun way to do this is to grab a pad and pen and interview yourself.
Here are some questions to get you started:
- At the end of your life how would you like to be remembered?
- What personal qualities would you like to be remembered for?
- What would you like to have achieved?
Close you eyes for a few minutes and think about it carefully, take your time and reflect on this fully.
Now come back to now and start scribbling down the qualities you have chosen, the values you live by, and the values you want to live by. Consider what you want to cultivate, what you want to learn, read and do.
You are applying for the most important opportunity of your life – the opportunity to be you!
Coming up: Part 2 Guilty Manoeuvres
