Finding Ambition, Purpose And Work Life Balance
Dr. Paul Lanthois
December 20, 2008
When you have been stressed, tired and overworked for so long, it is easy to rationalize that you have lost the ability to become inspired and you give up on the possibility of having any semblance of work life balance. It is also easy to start to give up doing the things that you used to like to do that put some spark back into your life just to prevent disappointment in case you don´t achieve your work and life goals. However, giving up on striving for things that bring you happiness in your life is a sure-fire way to diminish your spark.
People with ambition and purpose in their life have so much more energy because their purpose gives them a big enough reason to keep them motivated during times when they feel down. You have all heard stories of amazing acts of strength by ordinary people that have happened in emergency situations. This is because; in that emergency situation they created a big enough reason for their brain to instantly unlock energy reserves previously unavailable to them.
When you have some ambition or reason to get up each morning you brain will instantly unlock extra energy reserves that were previously unavailable to the uninspired you. The bigger the reason, the more energy will be available to you.
But What If You Don´t Know What You Want In Your Life?
The most common reason why you don´t have a particular ambition or purpose in life is that you haven´t devoted enough time to thinking about what you want. The old catchphrase, "I don´t know what I want but I know that it is not this," sums up that we spend most of our time focusing on what we don´t want as opposed to what we do want.
Spend some time each day to think about the answers to these questions that will help you to focus on what you do want:
What´s most important to you in life?
What are you passionate about and why?
If you knew that you couldn´t fail, what would you like to be, do or have? Think about your ideal career, family, relationship, state of health, wealth or a particular difference you would like to make in the world.
(Hint: Copy and paste these questions and print them on a large sheet of paper. Stick the paper to your bathroom mirror or any other place where you will see it on a daily basis)
There are three keys that helped me in finding my particular ambition or purpose:
1) I decided that the answer "I don´t know" to these questions was forbidden because it stopped my brain from thinking. To keep your thoughts flowing any time I thought, "I don´t know," I replaced it with, "If I did know then what would be my answer?"
2) I stopped trying to find the right ambition or purpose for me. I didn´t choose my ideal purpose until I understood that there is no single predetermined ambition and purpose that I had to discover. I realized that my ambition and purpose can be whatever I chose that brought me happiness.
3) Take notice of answers that bring up either the emotion of happiness or the emotion of guilt (guilt can often be present when we discover something that we really enjoy but we sometime feel that we don´t deserve to experience so much happiness). These emotions indicate that you will experience happiness from these activities/ideas so this is the best indicator of an ideal ambition or purpose for you.
Get some paper and write out your dreams and aspirations and put in a place where you will see it daily. If you haven´t thought of anything yet, put some time aside each day (when you´re in the bathroom or when you clean your teeth) to think about your purpose or ambition. Keep thinking about it and an idea will come. I guarantee it.
Make sure that your goal is something that you want and not something you don´t want. For example, choose to be a size 12 (what you want) instead of choosing to lose 20lbs of weight (the focus is weight). A lot of people think this is semantics but there is a logical reason why you tend to attract what you focus on (regardless if you want it or not). It is thanks to a particular part of your brain.
There is a part of your brain called the Reticular Activating System, or you can call it RAS, for short. Well your RAS is your brain's filter. It filters out all the information that is unwanted or unimportant to you. The result is that you often get or notice what you focus on.
For example, how many of you have all of a sudden noticed that when you buy yourself a new car, you suddenly see hundreds of the same kinds of cars around you?
It´s not that there has been a sudden flood of your cars onto the streets. It is because your perception has been heightened due to your RAS.
So how is this going to help you find your ambition, purpose and work life balance?
Begin looking for things that you want. Focus on the solution and your RAS will find it. If you continue to stew over the problem your RAS will be focusing on finding more of the same kind of problem. Focus on your health rather than complain about all your ailments. When you do this you begin to use the RAS in your brain to more effectively help your brain locate what you want amidst the sea of information out there.
Your ambition or purpose will be your most valuable companion throughout this journey because chances are that there will be days when you want to go back into your old habits. And if you do, your own individual purpose will be there to help you get back on track. It reminds you of what is really important to you. It also reminds you of how important your life is and how valuable your time is.
People with ambition and purpose in their life have so much more energy because their purpose gives them a big enough reason to keep them motivated during times when they feel down. You have all heard stories of amazing acts of strength by ordinary people that have happened in emergency situations. This is because; in that emergency situation they created a big enough reason for their brain to instantly unlock energy reserves previously unavailable to them.
When you have some ambition or reason to get up each morning you brain will instantly unlock extra energy reserves that were previously unavailable to the uninspired you. The bigger the reason, the more energy will be available to you.
But What If You Don´t Know What You Want In Your Life?
The most common reason why you don´t have a particular ambition or purpose in life is that you haven´t devoted enough time to thinking about what you want. The old catchphrase, "I don´t know what I want but I know that it is not this," sums up that we spend most of our time focusing on what we don´t want as opposed to what we do want.
Spend some time each day to think about the answers to these questions that will help you to focus on what you do want:
What´s most important to you in life?
What are you passionate about and why?
If you knew that you couldn´t fail, what would you like to be, do or have? Think about your ideal career, family, relationship, state of health, wealth or a particular difference you would like to make in the world.
(Hint: Copy and paste these questions and print them on a large sheet of paper. Stick the paper to your bathroom mirror or any other place where you will see it on a daily basis)
There are three keys that helped me in finding my particular ambition or purpose:
1) I decided that the answer "I don´t know" to these questions was forbidden because it stopped my brain from thinking. To keep your thoughts flowing any time I thought, "I don´t know," I replaced it with, "If I did know then what would be my answer?"
2) I stopped trying to find the right ambition or purpose for me. I didn´t choose my ideal purpose until I understood that there is no single predetermined ambition and purpose that I had to discover. I realized that my ambition and purpose can be whatever I chose that brought me happiness.
3) Take notice of answers that bring up either the emotion of happiness or the emotion of guilt (guilt can often be present when we discover something that we really enjoy but we sometime feel that we don´t deserve to experience so much happiness). These emotions indicate that you will experience happiness from these activities/ideas so this is the best indicator of an ideal ambition or purpose for you.
Get some paper and write out your dreams and aspirations and put in a place where you will see it daily. If you haven´t thought of anything yet, put some time aside each day (when you´re in the bathroom or when you clean your teeth) to think about your purpose or ambition. Keep thinking about it and an idea will come. I guarantee it.
Make sure that your goal is something that you want and not something you don´t want. For example, choose to be a size 12 (what you want) instead of choosing to lose 20lbs of weight (the focus is weight). A lot of people think this is semantics but there is a logical reason why you tend to attract what you focus on (regardless if you want it or not). It is thanks to a particular part of your brain.
There is a part of your brain called the Reticular Activating System, or you can call it RAS, for short. Well your RAS is your brain's filter. It filters out all the information that is unwanted or unimportant to you. The result is that you often get or notice what you focus on.
For example, how many of you have all of a sudden noticed that when you buy yourself a new car, you suddenly see hundreds of the same kinds of cars around you?
It´s not that there has been a sudden flood of your cars onto the streets. It is because your perception has been heightened due to your RAS.
So how is this going to help you find your ambition, purpose and work life balance?
Begin looking for things that you want. Focus on the solution and your RAS will find it. If you continue to stew over the problem your RAS will be focusing on finding more of the same kind of problem. Focus on your health rather than complain about all your ailments. When you do this you begin to use the RAS in your brain to more effectively help your brain locate what you want amidst the sea of information out there.
Your ambition or purpose will be your most valuable companion throughout this journey because chances are that there will be days when you want to go back into your old habits. And if you do, your own individual purpose will be there to help you get back on track. It reminds you of what is really important to you. It also reminds you of how important your life is and how valuable your time is.