15 questions that can bring joy to your life

On this week’s post Life Project I stated that one of the best ways to find out your place in life is getting to know yourself. So many people are unaware of the hidden treasures that lay in their personalities.

Skills, hobbies, routines, sense of humour, ways of thinking and seeing things, etc. can in fact reveal a road of self expression worthwhile exploring, and this discovery is a start that can and may bring back the feeling of joy for life, like you had as a kid.

To consciously do what you do best with joy and maybe even “passion” is a nice goal in life, and it doesn’t matter in which area of your life it is; it may be in the professional area, in the relationship arena, a fulfilling hobby, or a volunteering activity. Important is that you feel you have a place in life, where you give your best and even help or inspire others if possible.

There’s no place for boredom in our lives once we find the things, activities and thoughts that energize us and set our lives into motion. But, please, don’t think that finding the things you’re passionate about means you’re getting a ticket to immediately drop what you’re doing in order to run after your dreams.
The goal here is to motivate your everyday life, and give meaning to otherwise boring or frustrating situations. The goal of this post is to help you find out a direction to go through wisely and intelligently.

Remember, a project has self made and carefully thought steps to follow in order to achieve a goal. One can’t run without first learning how to walk.

Here’s a small list of questions that might open your eyes to a new and intelligent transformation process in your life:

What’s the best attitude towards this questionnaire?
A loose, creative and happy attitude, even funny is the best. Don’t limit the answers and don’t take everything too serious; spontaneity is a good way to find the hidden treasures. Remember you want to find a happy spot in life to develop yourself. After all, we all want to be happy!

Answer the following questions to yourself:

• What moves you emotionally in your everyday life? It can be a hobby, a song, your kids, a painting, dancing, anything!

• Why does it move you? Which values or mental images come up that make you feel good?

• Which activities bring you pleasure and make you forget that time exists?

• What would bring happiness into your life if you could dedicate your life to it? Which activity would make you wake up with a smile on your face everyday?

• Which topic could make you read or talk for hours?

• Ask a good friend, your partner or a family member to tell you what they think you’re passionate about; what have they noticed moves you; what you’re good at; or just plainly what they think you mostly like.

• In which area do you think you’re good at, best at, and better than most? It can be at problem solving, reading between lines, organizing, making people laugh, grilling, etc. Be open and even silly here.

• What can you do that is so easy for you but causes other people to ask for help? What comes naturally to you?

• What makes you unique? What distinguishes you from everybody else?

• Where are you difficult? What can’t you stand?

• Which activity or profession do you think would suit you best?

Now use your imagination here:

• If you died, what would you like to be remembered for?

• What things would you be honoured or celebrated for if you were famous?

• In which area, different from the one you’re now, could you be good at? Be creative.

• If you started a successful business, which would it be?

Once you’re ready with the questions, compare the answers. See which answers are repeated; this is a strong indicator for what you love to do. Which answers feel right in your heart?

Once you discover what the possibilities are for you, make a plan of how you can include these items in your life. Which hobby or occupation is made out of those things that make you happy? If you don’t know of any then invent one up, be creative! The important thing here is to add quality to your life, not stress. To do something you’re passionate about regularly should bring joy to your life.

And if you find that your plan not only makes you happy but that it can actually help others, then your joy will reach sublime heights.

I wish you the very best of times while digging into your soul and finding your place in life: your mission.

Filed under Happiness, Prosperity | Tags: career, intelligence, self-development | Comments (2)

Life Project: Pulling dreams to reality

About a month ago I published an article called Motivate your life with Self-Programming because nowadays, in a world full of choices and social pressure put on successful lives, many feel lost by not knowing where to go or what to do.

With so many choices and countless possibilities, which one is the right path to follow?

The pressure for success and the fear of making mistakes can paralyze and blind you. This is a logical outcome; I mean we have been instructed at school how to carry out projects related to academic areas, but no one ever taught us how to carry out projects related with our goals in life.

I suggest you look at things from another perspective:

• There is no wrong or right, and questions like “what’s my destiny in life?” don’t help either because:

• It is you and only you who decides what you want to do with your life. And, of course, it is up to you to give it your best shot; but you can only give your best shot if what you’re doing is in harmony with your abilities or tendencies. Don’t force yourself.

• All your roads are good, all your possibilities are good. You just have to choose!

• The best way to find out “where your place in life is” is getting to know yourself.

A long time ago I made a course called Life Project.
What I learned has helped me throughout every stage of my life and will continue to do so.

I learned that:

• Dreams are not only dreams

• Nobody has the same dreams you do

• What you dream of is completely related to your skills and capabilities or knowledge

In other words, “because” you have what it takes to actually make these dreams come true, is the reason why you have these dreams in the first place.

Your goal is to turn your dreams into realistic and practical goals.

How did we go about making this project of life? Here are the exercises:

List 25 things or occupations you would love to do; it doesn’t matter how wild or crazy your dreams may sound, just write them down without any adjectives. And please, don’t write things like being rich or famous, these are not occupations, although some so-called celebrities might make us think so.
Results: It was incredible to find out that no one of us could really find 25 things we would love to do in our lives as an occupation, 10 was even hard at that time.
And when comparing some of the not so crazy dreams in life (that could’ve been embarrassing) we found that no one of us shared the same dreams. And it was funny to see that the dreams of others would never be in my list of dreams. Just like nobody is the same, our dreams are also unique.

Pick the top 5 dreams you would love to do and write them down in realistic way: as a goal.

Write a list of the natural and logical course of action to follow if you were to pursue this goal.
Next surprise: EVERYTHING is actually “doable”.

This exercise is a good way to put life into another perspective, where life’s quality can be enhanced and improved by turning your dreams into goals. By giving your dreams a practical and logical structure, you literally pull them out of your imagination and make them real and tangible.

The rest is up to you; follow the steps you consider adequate to make those dreams come true. Even if it takes a while, every small or big step you take in the direction of achieving your goals is an inch closer to your “dream-come-true”.

There’s a statement in my post Motivate your life with Self-Programming that I would like to place here; it’s an affirmative prayer  to find your place in life (click here). Like I always write, be consequent, and repeat these affirmations several times a day everyday; they make wonders in your life!

(update: 2009-02-15) I made a list of 15 questions that can bring joy to your life. This exercise will open up perspectives that you might be unaware of. It will help you discover the hidden treasures in you and might even paint a whole new journey in your life.

I hope this article will set your mind and spirit into motion like it did with me at that time.

Filed under Personal Development | Tags: career, intelligence, life-transformation, self-development | Comment (0)