Today, we continue with the 10 part series on living our dreams and goal setting for the New Year. Your all personal look inside the REALly warped mind of Tara Neale.
Yesterday, we began my dreaming BIG…we won the lottery, inherited a zillion dollars, achieved ‘instant’ success…we arrived. Unfortunately, today we wake up to REAL life. But hold on, folks, that is not a bad thing.
You see when you go into Google maps on your computer or phone, it needs TWO pieces of information. Where you want to go…that was yesterday’s dream. And where you are right now…your starting point.
Before you can begin to map that route to your dreams…you need to know where you are.
Maybe that is as obvious as dreaming about where you want to go/be. But most of us at one time or another have gotten so lost that we did not even know where we were any more. We were slowing down, just trying to find street signs…anything that would tell us where we were. That is what today is about.
And the tool we are going to use to do that is the Wheel of Life:
This chart is a simple 10-point scale for how happy/satisfied you are with where you are AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME in 8 key areas of life:
- Career – not just the one you have though…but that DREAM here, folks. So being the CEO of a Fortune 500 company does NOT rank a 10 IF you really want to be a plumber.
- Finances – Again this is not about winning that lottery, it is about HOW YOU MANAGE WHAT YOU DO HAVE. A former preacher had it right when he said… “If your outgo exceeds your income then your upkeep becomes your downfall.” Sometimes that is about increasing your income, but if you just keep increasing your outgo then you have solved nothing. In one word…budgeting.
- Health – The thing to remember here is not just your physical but your emotional health too, folks.
- Family/friends – Your support network, your tribe…do you have good people around you to lift you up when you are down and pick your ass up when you fall?
- Love – I know it says ‘romance’ on the chart…and hell woman, ain’t that what you write… But hang with me folks…I totally redefined this one…and wee will get to that later.
- Personal growth/self-development – This is about looking in that hard, cold mirror of REALity, folks. It is about seeing yourself for who you REALly are and not just who you want to be. It is not comfortable or easy, but if you truly want CHANGE then it is the only way.
- Fun/Recreation/Leisure – Hobbies, balance, time for you. What do you enjoy doing? Do you get enough time to do it?
- Physical Environment – Where you live. Is it adequate? Is it where you want to be? Is it your refuge/fortress?
OK…so now sit down with your computer or I find something intensely uplifting about doing it the old-fashioned pen, paper and yes, crayons way. So here is mine for 2016:
But for now, but this aside and we will be getting back to it soon.
Oh, and the wonderful thing about this…I save them all in a box. I am up to six years of them now. It is a remarkable way of tracking your progress and growth. To see just how far you really have come. One day I plan to put them all into a scrap book.
But we are just getting started, folks…
Tara Cox - Literary Erotica 