What are your goals? What is your purpose? Your vision? When you have answered those questions, the next step is to make everything about them. However, when you do, there is one major obstacle you may have to overcome: the feeling that you are being selfish by making it all about you. Know this: it isn’t selfish.
I am not advocating that you turn into the sort of person who twists every conversation around to themselves; or who cannot help boasting about who they are, what they do, or what they have, and who exclude others in the process. In fact, such a person is likely to miss out on the kinds of opportunities which appear when we are vigilant, quiet, attentive, open, and when we connect with others.
So far so good, but strengthen your resolve, because here comes the selfish part:
Put yourself at the centre of your life. What do you want? What’s important to you? Think about it and make everything you do fit in with your goals. Look for pathways to improvement. Look for support from the people alongside you. But know that what works for one person, may not work fully for you, so don’t necessarily look at the specifics of what others do. Instead, see the general rules which underpin the work. Look at the fundamentals. They include: awareness, preparation, procedures, discipline, focus and persistence.
For example, I always recommend writing things down and I suggested to one client that he make notes at the end of each day. It didn’t work because by the evening he was too tired and he considered it a lengthy task. But rather than just give up, we looked for a way to make it work. He shifted his focus to the early morning, spending just five minutes – and no more – to record the events of the previous day. It worked, and he continues to benefit from the exercise. It’s not about the time of day, or how long it takes; it’s about the act of writing (discipline) and the content (awareness).
There are people who wait for inspiration, thinking that’s how inspiration works. But those who know, understand that you have to work for it, chase it down, force it into existence. So, bend the universe to serve your purpose and reshape your world according to your vision. Make your goal the focus of everything you do. Talk to people about it and be on the lookout for ways to fulfill it. Then, at the end of the day, reflect on how much of your goal has been achieved and how it all happened. You may be surprised.