I’d like to start today’s blog first by offering a warm “congratulations” to you. If you have been following this blog all month, you have already completed an important part of your journey forward: from identifying your dreams and making plans to formulating a life vision for yourself. Whether you read this blog and just began to internalize the steps presented here, or whether you have  already taken action by planning for your dreams, these are no small feats. You have made an important move forward.

As we wrap up our month-long look at developing a life vision, I want to remind you that if you’ve fallen into a pattern of resistance against your life goals, you don’t have stay stuck forever. There may be many reasons why you aren’t ready to move forward to realize your life vision – such as the challenges that we’ve gone over here in recent days. But rather than blame or judge yourself negatively, try to get to the root of your resistance. Take an opportunity to reflect on what’s going on with you right now. Ask yourself:

• What does your resistance signify for you?
• Are you unwilling to give up some part of your life now to make way to pursue the dreams you have for your future?
• Are your dreams in-sync with your personality preferences?
• Do you have a life plan that inspires and motivates you (rather than leaves you feeling stressed or anxious)?
• Do you have the support network you need to move forward?

I’ve presented many strategies here to help you get unstuck and move forward in the direction of your dreams. Any time you’re feeling stuck, you can always return to earlier entries to review tools and techniques to shake your resistance, recommit to your life plan or alter your life plan so that it both inspires and motivates you in your current circumstances. If you need a break from thinking about your dreams or life plan, that’s okay, too. Take the break you need but try to take it consciously, rather than allow it to become a long detour or permanent road block. We all need breaks now and again – and sometimes life forces them upon us – but remember to schedule some time in the future to revisit your life vision.

And always remember that I’m here to help you work through these challenges, too, and celebrate all your successes along the way!

What do you think?

Coach Paul
www.lifechangingcoaching.com

“And if your home is just another place where you’re a stranger, and far away is just somewhere you’ve never been. I hope that you’ll remember, I am your friend.” – Rich Mullins

Unless you’re an elementary school teacher, it’s probably been a long time since you played with magnets. But perhaps you recall learning about magnetism as a kid – how if you held a magnet near iron filings, the bits of iron would creep toward the magnet, gather force and reach it. The intentions you have for your life work like that magnet: You will tend to gravitate in the direction of the intentions you envision for yourself. As a result, your mental intentions can either help or hinder you as you put your life plan into action, depending on how clear, focused and in-sync they are. So let me share with you today some tips for strengthening the power of your intentions.

Here are some common challenges to setting effective intentions, as well as potential solutions:

Challenge 1: Competing intentions. These occur when you have two intentions that contradict one another. For example, part of you wants a job promotion for the pay raise and the professional respect, but the other part of you doesn’t want the added responsibility or longer hours.
Solution: Figure out which intention is most important to you right now and most in sync with your personality preferences. Pursue this intention while letting go of the other, out-of-sync intention.

Challenge 2: Unfocused intentions. This particular challenge occurs when you set vague intentions rather than specific ones. For example, you may have the intention that you want to get married but you aren’t sure what you are looking for in a life partner.
Solution: General intentions are a good place to start, but eventually you need to home in on what you want. Create a detailed life plan, complete with specific intentions. Decide on the steps you need to take to turn those intentions into reality.

Challenge 3: Someone else’s intentions (not your own). This challenge – not an uncommon one – happens when you take on someone else’s intentions for you, or what you perceive are their intentions for you. For example, your parents are pushing you to work for the family business but deep down you want to do something else with your career.
Solution: Spend some time examining whether your intention really is your own. If it isn’t yours, try to determine what your real intention is and pursue it. Also consider talking with the person you were trying to please. This person may surprise you by being supportive of your new, in-sync intention. However, if not, explain why your intention is important to you. If this person is still not supportive, set new boundaries (such as not talking about your new intention) or cut back on the time you spend with this person.

True, solving challenges to competing, unfocused or out-of-sync intentions will not always be easy. Doing so can require making certain sacrifices or distancing yourself from people in your life who are unsupportive. But overcoming these obstacles and setting clear intentions will eventually yield results. Your clear, focused and in-sync intentions, after all, are powerful magnets pulling you in the direction of your dreams.

What do you think?

Coach Paul
www.lifechangingcoaching.com

“And if your home is just another place where you’re a stranger, and far away is just somewhere you’ve never been. I hope that you’ll remember, I am your friend.” – Rich Mullins

This whole month we’ve been talking about how to manage the relationships in your life as you embark on your life plan and  handle all the accompanying changes it will bring to your daily life. Ironically, one of the most challenging relationships to manage as these changes take place is the relationship that may  also be most important to you: that with a spouse or romantic partner. The person with whom you live or spend most of your time is probably the person you want to support you the most, the person you expect to be your full-time fan. Yet of everyone in your life, this person may have the hardest time understanding or coping with the big changes in your life together.

As frustrating as that can be, it’s understandable. Even if your spouse or romantic partner has always been a true fan to you – supporting you 100 percent of the time – there are many reasons why he or she may not jump right on board with your life plan. Managing this relationship, then, will require special attention and understanding from you as you begin to take the steps required to realize your life vision.

To start, your spouse or romantic partner may not fully understand your life vision or what it means to you. This may be especially true if your process of creating a life vision has been largely internal. If your romantic partner doesn’t understand your life vision or plan to achieve it, he or she is likely to respond with criticism or by creating roadblocks out of an effort to “protect” you or your relationship. This lack of understanding may also mean that your romantic partner views the changes you plan to make as a threat to your current way of life. Try not to take such reactions personally; they are a natural result of the concern and caring your romantic partner feels for you in the face of impending big shifts in your personal, professional, community or spiritual life. If any of these examples ring true for you in your relationship, it’s all the more important to share your thoughts about your life plan now.

Bring your romantic partner into the loop. Talk openly about your dreams, and assure your romantic partner that he or she is part of your life vision for your future. Ask for support, and let your romantic partner know what he or she can do specifically to aid you on your journey. Seek advice, and let your romantic partner know that his or her opinion matters to you. By doing so, your romantic partner will know that he or she matters to you, and that your relationship is important to you, too. In fact, that may be all they need to know to resume their status as your full-time fan.

What do you think?

Coach Paul
www.lifechangingcoaching.com

“And if your home is just another place where you’re a stranger, and far away is just somewhere you’ve never been. I hope that you’ll remember, I am your friend.” – Rich Mullins