What if Your Life itself was Your Best Mission Statement?

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. It’s your preview to life’s coming attractions.” — Albert Einstein

We’ve been through a lot lately. Pandemics. Social unrest. Financial struggles. Deep frustrations. When will it end? Who knows, but we know change is here to stay.

The greatest tension in life lies between The Real and The Ideal. The Ideal is our aspiration — all the outcomes we want to experience, and all the principles we want to embody. It is that version of ourselves that is evolved in every way, progressed beyond our current pain, and filled with wisdom from the future.

We’re not the sum total of our past and present, a glob of mistakes or regrets mixed with our best efforts. Nor are we the perfect embodiment of everything we believe. The truth lies in the middle. We are what we choose to be. And the best way to characterize this to ourselves, and to live, is to ask ourselves this question: How can I live with more intention?

Start here:

1. At the back of your head and heart what is something you would still like to achieve in life?
2. What is your greatest challenge or pain that stands in the way of this?
3. Compare both. What can you do better? How can the gap between The Real and The Ideal become a blueprint to move forward? Focus on building a meaningful core set of principles. Something different, that leans into the best future you.
4. Read a book that inspires you every day over the next 60 days. Something you wouldn’t typically read. Something that challenges you and helps your growth.
5. Focus on your reality (the good/bad/possible). What does your current situation look like? What are you grateful for? What you’re willing to do [“future journaling”]? Speak truth to yourself. Get in the mode of becoming your future.
6. Map out how you’ll shape the future before it happens. How will you get out of your comfort zone? How can you stop making excuses?
7. What steps can move you towards your ideal future?

Influencing by design is about recognizing the reality we face and doubling down on willing into existence our beautiful future. It’s seeing opportunity where there may have only been pain. It’s realizing that we don’t have all the answers, and are far from that, so we step into the universe with full humility. Ready to be shaped. Like a block of marble, prepared to let the sculptor chip away everything that’s not what we want it to be.

This process can be painful. It’s supposed to be. It can take us deep into our patterns, how we grew up, what we’ve chosen so far, and all the effects our actions have created. In short, it’s the hardest work of our lives. But it’s also the most worthwhile and life-changing.