Are you reacting to your life circumstances, or creating the experience you want?
Both approaches to living life require ENERGY – the former leaves us feeling exhausted and depleted and the latter inspires and energises. What does Living Life on Purpose mean and what conditions are required to achieve this state? What are some of the obstacles and opposing forces we need to overcome in order to live a life fully energised and in creation.
When I am in reaction to the circumstances of life I am making the most of what life throws at me. That is when I am disconnected from a clear direction or vision of where I want to go or what I want to experience in this moment. When the circumstances I find myself in match my expectations, then all is good and I feel like I am in flow. When the circumstances don’tmatch my expectation, I resist and judge the reality to be wrong. I am now in conflict with my life – fighting against it, wishing it were different. It feels like hard work and lots of effort to overcome or endure the constant challenges.
When I am in creation of the life I want to live I am constantly creating the experience I want. I am connected to a clearly defined vision of what I want to achieve and experience. This clarity informs my decisions, gives me direction and creates flow. Flow, also known as Zone, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity (Wikipedia).In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does. I navigate the obstacles with energy and vigour, as this is the path which takes me in the direction I want to go. Walking life this way, I may feel tired at the end of the day. Yet when I look back at what I did, I feel fulfilled and content with a day well lived – I am ready and inspired to continue again tomorrow.
For example: One of my life goals is to be happy. When I am living life on this purpose I create a state of happiness independent of the circumstance. I choose to be happy based on nothing other than that is what I choose. When I am in reaction to the circumstances of life, I am constantly waiting for the right circumstances to make me happy. I am dependent on the situation to achieve my goal. Is it always easy to live my purpose – hell no! Is it always possible – absolutely yes!!
When I am in reaction to the circumstances of life I am making the most of what life throws at me. That is when I am disconnected from a clear direction or vision of where I want to go or what I want to experience in this moment. When the circumstances I find myself in match my expectations, then all is good and I feel like I am in flow. When the circumstances don’tmatch my expectation, I resist and judge the reality to be wrong. I am now in conflict with my life – fighting against it, wishing it were different. It feels like hard work and lots of effort to overcome or endure the constant challenges.
When I am in creation of the life I want to live I am constantly creating the experience I want. I am connected to a clearly defined vision of what I want to achieve and experience. This clarity informs my decisions, gives me direction and creates flow. Flow, also known as Zone, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity (Wikipedia).In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does. I navigate the obstacles with energy and vigour, as this is the path which takes me in the direction I want to go. Walking life this way, I may feel tired at the end of the day. Yet when I look back at what I did, I feel fulfilled and content with a day well lived – I am ready and inspired to continue again tomorrow.
For example: One of my life goals is to be happy. When I am living life on this purpose I create a state of happiness independent of the circumstance. I choose to be happy based on nothing other than that is what I choose. When I am in reaction to the circumstances of life, I am constantly waiting for the right circumstances to make me happy. I am dependent on the situation to achieve my goal. Is it always easy to live my purpose – hell no! Is it always possible – absolutely yes!!
Opposing Forces
On the one hand we are programmed to maintain the status quo – to keep safe, avoid the risk of change, stay with what is familiar and known. This is the comfort zone, and it refers not only to our external environment but also to our internal environment. That is our ideas, our opinions, our point of view, what we decide is the right way and what is the wrong way. To get a glimpse of how strong this drive is …
- Just think of the last time you were in an argument with someone. How hard were you prepared to fight to preserve your perspective?
- What are you tolerating in your life because it seems too scary, too risky, too much effort to create the change?
On the other hand, we have to grow and change and develop in order to survive as a species. Life is constantly providing opportunities for us to grow and achieve our potential. When we ignore these opportunities, they cycle around again – with a little more intensity each time, until we get the message! Sometimes we wait until we get a giant kick on the butt or the cosmic ‘ klap’ in order to get us moving out of the familiar zone and to make the required changes. From this we can see that growth is inevitable. So you can either grow through pain (problems from the past), or commitment (challenges from the future).
Conditions Required to Live Life on Purpose
It is relatively easy to start something (new year’s resolution syndrome), however, it is not so easy to maintain! Here are some of the conditions required in order to consistently Live Life on Purpose:
Commitment to fulfilling your potential:
One of the deepest drivers we have as human beings is to be happy. Most of us are constantly striving to find that thing so that we can experience the sweet spot of happiness. The ancient Greeks definition of happiness is “ the Joy we feel striving towards our potential”. So, when we are committed to growing and developing we experience happiness and flow. This is the opposite of the comfort zone!!!
Clarity of what you want to manifest:
Take the time to get crystal clear about what it is you want to create. Care for the external manifestations like the house, the career, the family, the salary, the holidays, the lifestyle, the investments … and most importantly, care for the internal manifestations – in what areas do you want to grow as a person, how do you want to show up in life and in your relationships, which new habits do you want to form, what new attitudes do you want to develop …
Remain energised:
Learn the art of completion so that you can access all your available energy and use it to shift from being in reaction to being in creation. As you go through the process of living your life you are constantly creating incompletions – unfinished stuff. This drags your energy down and leaves you feeling depleted. Living life in continuous creation and completion puts you back in the flow.
Be grateful:
Having an “attitude of gratitude” can get you far! Do you regularly acknowledge what you dohave and what you have achieved rather than focusing on what is missing or what you still have to do? Try creating a “have-done-list” at the end of each day before you create your “to-do-list” for the next day.
Find meaning and purpose:
If you feel like you are stuck on the hamster-wheel of life – get off! Find the meaning and purpose in what you are doing. If there is no meaning to be found, then discover what is meaningful to you. Say “ no” to the boring humdrum of the comfort zone. Be courageous in pursuing a great purpose.
Be connected:
To Live Life on Purpose we need to be connected – to ourselves, to others, to our goals, intentions and visions. When we lose connection we lose our power to impact. What are the support structures you need to put in place to ensure that you stay connected and empowered to create the life you love to live?
The Energy & Vitality Workshop Series
Michele Hinds and The Energy & Vitality Series present the Complete CREATE Series 2015,specifically designed to support you in Living Life on Purpose.
This is a series of 5 full-day workshops spanning the entire year - one workshop each quarter - to guide, direct and hold focus on your vision. In so doing, you get into the habit of completing and creating, completing and creating, inhaling and exhaling to get you back into the natural flow, rhythm and harmony with life.
This is a series of 5 full-day workshops spanning the entire year - one workshop each quarter - to guide, direct and hold focus on your vision. In so doing, you get into the habit of completing and creating, completing and creating, inhaling and exhaling to get you back into the natural flow, rhythm and harmony with life.
In this second quarter check-in workshop we facilitate an inquiry to support you in recognising themes and patterns in your life that may not be serving you, and that are sabotaging what you are up to creating for yourself. There will be time and space to reflect on your ACCOMPLISHMENTS and ACHIEVEMENTS for this year so far, and to assess where you are at and what adjustments need to be made to ensure the successful achievement of your 2014 goals. Rejoice, reconnect, re-calibrate, re-energize and recommit to living your life on purpose!
For more information and to register email michele@energyandvitality.co.zaCreate 2015 as your best year ever!
