Change Your Future with This Simple Exercise
When you look back, what will you see? Will you be looking back in anger, sorrow, or joy?
The future is yours to create, right now.
Your Personal Development Exercise
Take a few moments to imagine yourself five or ten years from now. You’re sitting in a cafe, with a friend and you’re both reminiscing. Maybe you have a glass of chilled wine, or a mug of coffee or a cup of tea.
You’re really happy with what you’ve achieved over these last few years. You listen contentedly to your friend describing her life and now it’s your turn. What are you going to say? What do you want to see when you look back and share some significant events in your life? What would make you proud of yourself?
Focus for a few moments on the following key areas in your life and consider what, if anything, you want to change:
- Significant Others?
- Career?
- Where you live?
- Friends or family?
- Places you have visited?
- Hobbies or pastimes?
- Add your own…
What do you have to do now, this week, this month or this year to make those reflections become a reality? To allow yourself to look back in JOY, to be proud, content and fulfilled in your life?
Photo Credit: Ivan Freaner
It’s Only Too Late if You Don’t Start Now
‘It’s Only Too Late If You Don’t Start Now’ by Barbara Sher is an inspiring book. I think it is only available in the US, although you can get second hand copies in the U.K. She actually wrote it in 1998 but it’s still very relevant today-possibly more so as ageism, particularly femageism, seems to be rife!
The book is about having the life that you want at any age! It’s divided into two halves: part one is titled ‘Nature and Instinct: Your First Life ‘ and part two ‘Reclaiming Your Original Self:Your Second Life.
In part one Barbara guides you through some exercises to help you review your life so far and examine some of your cherished ideas and assumptions. And in part two she takes you on a mission to ‘find your gifts and bring them into your day to day life’
Extract
Here is an extract called ‘Road Fever Pop Quiz’. Try answering her questions yourself.
1) What did “freedom” mean to you when you were younger? What does it mean to you now? Do you ever long for it?
2)Have you ever dreamed of running away to sea or taking to the open highway? What did you hope that would give you?
3) What would you want to take with you? What would you want to leave behind?
4) What do you imagine would change about you if you went to a new place?
5) When was the last time you felt as wide-awake to your environment as a small child does?
6) What would it take for your life to become an adventure?
Thought provoking stuff!
