This is another question that I get asked a lot – and one I have done a number of RTT sessions on – a lot of us feel very unsure about whether what we are doing is what we are supposed to be doing.
We can often get stuck doing something because “we’ve done it for such a long time” or maybe “it pays well and I really need the money” or perhaps “it’s all I know how to do, I don’t have a choice” or “it’s convenient, close to home and I don’t have to think much to do it”.
Unfortunately, this leaves us feeling unfulfilled, dissatisfied and miserable, which of course ends up bringing more stress into our lives.
I’m sure you all know that I started out teaching Pilates full-time. It was and still is a huge source of fulfilment for me, I love teaching, I love helping people to move better, to become stronger, more flexible, improve their balance – I just love it. But I love other things too. Over the years I have become more and more interested in the brain and mind and how they work. It’s fascinating and I love that I can use my knowledge to help people make such dramatic changes in their lives.
I followed my desires, my wants and have found ways to incorporate it into my work and will keep doing so. It is so important to tune into your desires (not addictions, but that’s another blog!), as they do change constantly because nothing, including ourselves, ever remains the same.
Life is a flow, it is not supposed to be still – think of it like water, the moment it becomes still, it becomes stagnant.
Yet we fear change, movement, flow – whatever you like to call it – and all too soon, if we don’t ‘flow’, then our lives become stagnant and we are left pondering things like “what is my purpose”, “why don’t I feel fulfilled”, “there must be more to life than this”.
Here are a few questions for you to think about, to help you work out your desire, your purpose, to help you stay in flow:
When working out what you really want to do, take some time to think and write your answers to these 4 questions down.
1. What is needed in our time, right now?
e.g. helping people to live healthier, happier lives
solve global warming
a better political system
less stress
healthy attitudes to eating
bringing communities together
inequality etc
What is it that YOU think is important to help solve, right now?
2. How do my ‘talents’, my ‘gifts’, my ‘genius’ help this/these issue(s)
e.g. gift fort teaching Pilates 🙂
help people to transform their lives through Mindset and RTT
inspiring talks and blogs
or
nutritionist working with obesity
chemist developing renewable fuels
politician passionate about real change
3. Which of my gifts do I WANT to use?
Be careful here, not which SHOULD you be using/doing, but which do you WANT to use – a very different question!
Not I should be doing this because it makes me the most money or I should do that because it’s what is expected of me or it’s the thing I trained in BUT what do you want to do?
Not what can I get, but what can I give?
4. Which of these gifts do I WANT to use right now?
What do you WANT to do right now? Not what did you want to do 10 years ago, or even what did you want to do last year, because our wants are always changing. Remember it’s a flow, so the question has to be – what do I want to do right now, in this present moment and tune in to this. Notice how your answer makes you FEEL, and it becomes easier and easier to know what you want to do, know your purpose and let it flow with ease.
As always, the answers are within you, practise really listening to YOU and then action what you want – you always have a choice, it’s your life and your time is now 🙂