Remember this quote? “I must listen to my life and try to understand what it is truly about – quite apart from what I would like it to be about – or my life will never represent anything real in the world, no matter how earnest my intentions . . . Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am.”I used that quote from Parker J. Palmer a few months ago, when we were first embarking on your journey to self actualization. We’ve talked about the defining moments in your life, and how to make intentional choices about their impact by acknowledging the lessons learned and letting go of the pain. We’ve talked about living from the inside out: your personality, passions, purpose and principles that define your true self, and the difference between your natural state and your social state. All of this helped us determine your personality style (remember earth, fire, wind and water?) and the fifteen types within those styles. From there we moved on to your passions and purpose, and you wrote your purpose statement. This helped you to write your credo – the summary of your principles.
Lately, we’ve been talking about how the different aspects of your life can help or hinder your path to self actualization. You took quizzes to pinpoint problems areas with:
- Self
- Partner
- Family
- Friends
- Community
- Career & Finances
- Living Environment
- Health & Recreation
Have you found that, as we’ve uncovered areas of concern in your life, you’ve automatically started making adjustments to bring your life around to your true self? Knowledge is a powerful tool in the pursuit of self actualization. You might have originally sought out my site because you felt vaguely (or sharply) dissatisfied with your life. Maybe you weren’t making progress toward your goals, or your professional or personal life was faltering. Just pinpointing the real problem (or problems) can get you moving in the right direction.
Now it’s time to take control of your life and accelerate your progress toward everything you’ve always dreamed of by creating your vision. As I explain in my Life Quest seminar: “Vision is knowing what we want. It is the power to bring something that does not now exist into reality. It is the means by which anything meaningful is created, accomplished or attained.”
Later, you’ll learn about the four aspects of vision: Clarity, value, positive expectancy, and alignment. You’ll discover that once you align your goals with your true self, you’ll begin to see your vision of your future become reality.
Roger K. Allen, Ph.D. is an expert in personal transformation, leadership, and teams. His tools and methods have helped hundreds of businesses and tens of thousands of people transform the ways they work and live. To learn more, visit www.rogerkallen.com.
