Sounds like a promise you’ve heard so many times before doesn’t it? “Transform your life”, “wishes”. Well, it’s true, because the following exercise, if you actually do it, gives you a push and teaches you a method to fulfil your wishes. You already know that on this website, we’re for hands-on work and practical solutions. You just have to be 100% in. Let’s do it!
Step 1 – timeboxed to 24h
Here’s how it works. You’ve got 24h to write 100 wishes or as many as you can in the given time. This first part ends either when you’ve reached 100 wishes (and it’ll not be easy, trust me) or when the time is up. My advice would be to keep it realistic if you actually want to transform your life. Writing something like: “I wish to break the world speed record for running” when all you do is sit on your couch and never ran a day in your life, is a bit farfetched. Yet again, if that’s your wish, write it.
There’s a good chance that after 24h, you’ll have only 20-30 wishes. It’s fine.
Step 2 – timeboxed to two weeks
In the second part of the exercise, you’ve got two weeks to fulfil as many wishes of that list as you can OR you will have to give up on them. Why two weeks? Just to be reasonable. Fact is there is no guarantee that we have even tomorrow. Use the next 2 weeks to tick off as many of those wishes as you can. The essence of this is to do what you can, but do it NOW.
It might be just 1 item ticked off the list or two, or maybe five. What matters is that you already fulfilled at least one wish and that will prepare you for the next 2 steps of the exercise. Before moving on to the next step, make a copy of the list or just take a photo of it.
Step 3 – achieving clarity
As I was saying, once the 2 weeks have passed, you might have ticked off one, two or maybe ten wishes. From the remaining list, it’s time to cut down wishes until you are down to 3 of them.
Those final 3 wishes are the things your heart really craves for. If you needed clarity, here it is. In an older posting – here – I’ve explained why achieving clarity is vital to be efficient in pursuing your goals. To transform your life you need to know where you’re going. So the essence of all your wishes might revolve in the end around being healthy, loved and happy. Or rich, famous and healthy (although the first two: rich and famous are usually means for achieving other things, but so be it).
Step 4 – breaking down wishes to actions that fulfil wishes
Alright, now get back the list you took a photo or a copy of. The one before you started cutting down items.
Take all the items on the list and turn them into something more tangible. Let’s say you wrote: “I want to live healthier”. Ok, what does that mean for you? Do sports, stop smoking, cut down on sugar. That’s something specific. Put those on a to-do list. Even these things are still too generic. What does do sports mean? Do regular exercise 3 times a week – ok, now you’re talking – 3 times a week. What would you do 3 times a week? Go running, go to the gym, go kayaking, climbing? Make it as specific as you possibly can. In the end, your wish of wanting to live healthier might turn to specific things such as: go running 3 times a week, reduce smoking to half a pack (for now) and reduce sugar consumption to drinks only. It’s a start in the right direction. After a while feel free to go back and adjust it to higher standards.
A large amount of the bad habits you might have: movie binging, listening to loud music for hours, smoking weed, drinking, etc – are just ways of escaping a reality you don’t like. They are ways of getting anesthetized, so you don’t have to feel a reality you don’t like. But these things don’t change reality. Once the fog lifts, you still have to confront it. So instead of escaping, face it and conquer it.
The amount of work needed to transform your life
Wow, so many things you’d have to do to transform your life. It seems like a lot until you turn them to habits and to Your way of living.
Yes, doing all that you’ve put on that list, takes time. It takes time to make a better life for yourself, one that responds to your wishes. Can we really talk about too much time or time wasted when you’re working on this? It’s up to you, but you will not live forever. Whether you start now, or in ten years or never, you’ll still get old.
What I’ve realized over time, taking my own example as well as that of others, is that often to achieve our goals we just have to stop doing certain things. Quitting smoking, drinking less, eating healthier, quitting multitasking to increase focus – all these don’t take more time. They are just different choices. The next secret is to combine them. You want to see your friends, but also do sports – why not combine them? People who engage in physical activities together, bond faster. Plus, physical activity increases your libido. Combine trips with spending time with friends. Use your imagination.
Also, don’t try to do everything at once, in one day. It will be overwhelming.
Integrate the wish list into your life
Once that list of specific items is put together you just need to decide how to include it in your day to day activity. If what you’ve put in there is realistic, I guarantee it can fit in 24h. IF you feel like you need more time, go to the Time Store 😊 and learn how you can “buy” time.
Don’t say it doesn’t work before you’ve tried it. Don’t sabotage yourself again.If you have enjoyed reading this or know someone who needs to hear all this, please go ahead and share it with your friends. Thank you!
