Determine what you want

Knowing what you want in life and being able to clearly articulate the life you want is the first step on the journey of success. In my seminars, I ask people what they want and I hear things like, I want to be successful or I want lots of money. Others say I just want a great life, or to be a good teacher, a fine leader, a great husband, wife, or partner. I have heard others say I want to be a great mum or dad. All these statements sound nice and make sense, however, when I dig deeper I discover that these people have not thought through the details of what they want. Can you paint a picture for another person of the success you are looking for? When you say you want lots of money, how much is lots? When you generalize about what you want, you will not be motivated enough to go after it. Clarity brings focus, inspires action, provides direction, and ignites your passion. The people who clearly know what they want are the ones who are driving full force towards their dreams.

Clarity brings focus, inspires action, provides direction, and ignites your passion!

I was listening to a Paralympic athlete, who was talking about his commitment to excellence and how it propelled him to achieve five gold medals, several silvers, and many bronze for Canada. The secret to his success was that he knew exactly what he wanted to achieve in the Olympics and that drove him to work very hard to achieve his goals. He gave such an inspiring talk that after his presentation, most of the people in the audience wanted to meet him. What do you really want? Can you clearly describe in detail what you want? When you say you want the house of your dreams, can you describe in detail the living room, master bedroom, guest room, reading room, garden, and other areas of the house? When you say you want a successful business, what kind of business do you mean? What customers do you want to attract and cater to? How much in sales are you aiming for in a month or year? What does the organizational structure look like? What are the sights and sounds in the business? 

The more details you provide, the more it can inspire you to do what you want to do. Recently, my new business coach asked me to paint a picture of the life I imagine and to write about in the present tense, as if it had already happened. I do this exercise from time to time, but I wanted to do it again as part of the coaching requirement. I described in detail the movie of my life, and when I was done I had goose bumps all over my body, because I saw it all unfold as one success after another. In this movie I saw the reaction of my wife and children and heard their words describing my accomplishments. I saw my new office and what takes place there every day. I saw my customers and clients and their reactions to our products and services. I saw the details of my home and all that would be happening. I saw it all in 3D and got more excited about the movie. 
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What is your movie like? Can you capture the details of the movie of your life so that whenever someone reads it, they can see it clearly without being provided further details? Try the exercise for yourself by capturing the movie of your life as you want it. Provide details like you are watching the real movie of your life. Ensure that your movie will inspire and encourage others to be more, do more, have more, and give more.