What are you doing to invest in yourself?

Nothing stands still. Things either get better or they get worse. You are either getting better or worse. It’s a universal principle starting with the universe itself: That which doesn’t expand, contracts. You are either going forward or backward.

How can you develop a life that will give you a great return on investment? 

Good questions lead to information. Great Questions lead to transformation

4 Questions That Will Change Your Life

1. Who are you and what do you want? 

“A ship in the harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.” —William Shedd

We all experience an imagination gridlock. That’s the place of stuckness that keeps us from going after our most meaningful aspirations. This question helps you start with the end in mind. 

What do you want? 
What are your passions?
What are your strengths? 
How are these two integrated into what you are doing? 
Are they reflected in your schedule?

2. Where are you and why are you there?

“We can forgive a child for being afraid of the dark. The real tragedy is when grown adults are afraid of the light.” —Plato

If you try to download driving directions for a trip, the guiding system won’t begin until you enter a starting point. 

As you create a life map, you’ll better understand how you arrived at your current place. 

You can build on the good choices and clearly see why some weren’t as productive—identifying faulty thought systems and behaviors. 

First discover the facts, then face them. We can’t manage what we don’t know.

3. What will you do and how will you do it?

“We are repeatedly what we do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” —Aristotle

Purpose and passion are essential for creating your best possible life. Yet purpose and passion without a plan are fantasy. When our dreams collide with reality, reality wins. A dream becomes more than an illusion when goals are set and supporting habits are formed. There is a chasm between knowing where you are and where you want to be. Your plan is the bridge that links the two.

What would you like to do that you aren’t doing right now?
What’s hindering your progress? 
What steps today will help you get to where you want to be tomorrow? 
Are your daily actions adding up?

4. Who are your allies and how can they help?

“Two are better than one because they have a good return for their work: if one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the one who falls down and has no one to help him up.” —King Solomon 

Our journey sometimes appears to be a solitary one, but that’s not the case. We can leverage the strengths, insights and wisdom of those around us. Our tendency is to beat ourselves up for struggling or not having all the answers. Our natural reaction during tough times is to pull back and isolate ourselves.

But that’s when we need our mutual supporters the most. If you were struggling in the ocean and in danger of drowning, would you call out to a lifeguard for help or start berating yourself for all the swimming classes you didn’t take? It’s not only nice but also essential to have mutual supporters who are insightful, useful and helpful.

Greatness begins with a profound understanding of yourself. It’s referred to as positive self-regard. Self-understanding allows you to manage your strengths and not get sidetracked by your weakness.

These four questions never grow old. They just grow deeper. They keep you on track for the best of your life. They help turn information into transformation.

How are you investing in yourself? What are you doing today that will bring great returns tomorrow?

(This blog is based on the book Who Are You? What Do You Want?: Four Questions That Will Change Your Life that Mick Ukleja co-authored.)

How to find your PASSION

For years I was doing something that I wasn’t passionate about. I thought that money was a more important factor in life than the fulfillment of my passion.

Well, I was wrong! Are you doing something you’re not interested in? Do you wake up listless on a daily basis, because you have to do that something which brings you money? Do you want to stop doing that immediately, and find what you’re interested in?

It is time for you to stop for a moment, and look for your passion.

Enough with the depressing life, and seeking pleasure in partying or binge eating. It is the right moment for you to make a move, and start living the life that makes you happy, the one that makes everyday a beautiful one (even Mondays).

Your life will become a much better one!

I often receive e-mails saying: ‘Can I really live my passion?’

The answer is simple: YES, you can live your passion.

Some people are passionate about cars, some about running, some people about drawing, programming, wine tasting, or any sports discipline, etc.

We all have a passion, the important thing is to find it, and fulfill it.

How can you find your passion?

An old proverb says that people are not afraid of death, but they are regretting the fact that they haven’t had the time to fulfill all of their passions.

People often comes with Question i.e.  ‘How can I find my passion? What exactly is my passion? ‘.

To my readers, I usually recommend a simple 3 step rule for finding their own passion:

1.What did you want to be as a kid?

Do you remember those days when the world was a perfect place for living?When there was nothing to worry about? When the only thing that occupied your attention was how to have fun?

Great times! Many of us would now like to go back to those wonderful times.

What I’m asking you is, to remember what you wanted to be as a kid. Astronaut, doctor, mailman, pilot? And where are you today? Have you accomplished any of those past wishes? I’m pretty sure you’re now doing something completely different, which is not interesting at all, and it is so far away from the things you have fantasized about as a kid.

Write down your childhood ideas on a piece of paper. Don’t worry, it can be one idea, 5 or even 10 ideas, who knows. What I want to say is, they all need to be written on a piece of paper.

2.What are you constantly talking to your friends about?

When we learn something new regarding the area we feel passionate about, we can’t wait to tell it to our friends. Regardless of the fact they are interested in it or not, they are really close to us, and we want to share with them, the things that are important to us.

It’s time you start listening to what you’re saying to your friends. What’s better, you should warn them to remember and write down the things you are constantly babbling about. It doesn’t matter if it’s about diet, clothing, cars, sports or something else. The thing you’re constantly talking about, and never get tired of, is something you feel passionate about.

On the same paper, we’ve already talked about, write down the things you’re constantly talking about. If it will make things easier, tell your friends to fill in the paper for you. They are the ones who know you the best anyway.

3.What would you do if everything would be unlimited?

It is hard to imagine, but you’re in a situation of having limitless supplies of money, food, drink, and everything else you need for living. The question is, how will you spend your day?

This is a pretty hard question for the people who aren’t aware of their passions. But, that’s why we have had the first two questions, so that we could now give some smart ideas for this one, more easily. You need to give at least three answers to this question. It doesn’t matter if your answers will be activities or things. The important thing is to find the idea, of how you would like to spend that perfect day.

Some of my colleagues like to add another thing here: How would you spend the day if tomorrow was the end of the world? In other words, what would you do if you knew that you had only a few more hours to live?

Write down the answers to the third question on a piece of paper as well.

That’s where the thinking starts. Put the paper in front of you, and search for that thing or activity that comes up the most on it. If necessary, connect different words from the paper, as long as you don’t find your passion. One additional note, it doesn’t necessarily have to be only one activity. In fact, most people usually feel passionate about more than one thing in life.

Conclusion

To live your passion means to live your life to the fullest. Everything else is a mere waste of time. It is time for you to find your passion if you haven’t done it yet.

To find your passion, you need to put yourself in some extreme situations. The situation where you’re putting your self into the world where everything is unlimited, or where you have only a few more hours left to live, is maybe the best solution for finding your passion.

Don’t waste another minute of your life! If you’re not living your passion, you can hardly say that you’re living a great life. Things are simple; money is not the measure of success, happiness and passion are.