From talking to people on recent weeks, it has struck me that a lot of the wellbeing and mental health issues of anxiety, depression and overwhelm stem from going through the motions in what for some of us is a soulless existence instead of having clear focus and actively managing each day to bring you closer to an authentic life that brings us joy.
I'm going to demonstrate how to plan a happy life using goal setting and intention setting. Future planning can be a fabulous addition to your wellbeing toolkit.
When we eat, sleep, work repeat, we are not living. We are not looking for and building on the joy that is possible in every day and this can cause us to feel overwhelmed with the drudge and routine of life of we might feel that stepping out of the routine that we have crated is too daunting and anything that requires us to do so, causes anxiety. We may even feel that if this is all there is to life, then what's the point and this is where depression can become an issue.
So future planning is exactly that.
An opportunity to plan for a future that will have you waking up, excited for the day and feeling that you are in control of your life, your relationships and the way you choose to respond to the events going on around you.
To begin, take a notepad or sheet of paper and a pen and set yourself up somewhere quiet ,where you won't be disturbed.
Take a few moments to connect with your breath and set an intention for you to connect with what is truly important for you. Intention simply put means an aim. So the goal of this activity is to have discovered what it is you want you life to look like.
When you are ready begin to make a list or use a spider diagram to record how you would like to live your life.
Don't place any restrictions on your dreams. Imagine you have all the money, time and resources in the world with none of your current responsibilities.
How would you live?
What would each day look like?
Once you have described your ideal life, check in with yourself to make sure that it is what you really want and that it feels good and that it's not what you think you should have or society tells you you should be doing. You have now completed your intention setting.
The next step is to look at where in your current life, you can begin to make changes so that you can start to move towards your new life.
This step is goal setting.
Write down the goal, break it down into much smaller tasks that you can do something no matter how small each day to achieve. Then pick an affirmation or two to help you stay focused on your goal. An affirmation is a positive sentence, in the present tense that helps us to keep positive.
It make take years to achieve the life you want but you are now in the driving seat and every choice you make, will either take you closer or further away from your goal. The power lies with you.
This exercise will help you to move into alignment with how you really want to live and give you a plan to get there so that you can begin to take advantage of the opportunities that every day brings and as you realise how much control you can have over the decisions you make so that anxiety, overwhelm and depression can be manged and eventually overcome as you free yourself from wasting and fully step into your life.
Please get in touch if you would like to know more.
Chris.