Finding Our Why

Photo Credit: Fabian Irsara unsplash.com

Many of us would like to save money, cut expenses, increase our income, change our eating habits, exercise more, and lose weight. We are intelligent enough to research and for the most part learn the steps to take to achieve results. We learn to break our goals down into smaller do-able steps. We start our journeys with the first single step. We take the second and third steps. Maybe we continue on this path for some time before we start to lose our motivation and ability to prioritize this goal any longer. Life happens and gets in the way. Obstacles come up which we seem not to be able to overcome just then. This is to be expected. But when do we get back on our path? Sometimes we find it difficult to do that. We lose motivation, lose hope we can follow that path and achieve our desired results, lose sight of why it was important to us in the first place. Perhaps we never really took the time to think about that.

Finding our why, the reasons why a goal is important to us to achieve or the reasons why a step is important to us to take, is the key to motivating ourselves. It has to come from within. It has to truly matter to us.

But how do you find your why if you aren’t really sure? In this case meditation can help or even simply going for a quiet walk in nature. Find stillness and a sense of calm. Make a list of the reasons why you think the goal is important to you and or what you hope to achieve. Review the list and choose the top reasons that resonate the most with you. This may seem basic but it is important not to skip over this step.

It helps to write your top reasons down and keep them somewhere where you can see it and remind yourself on a daily basis. A note taped to your bathroom mirror, a note on the fridge, or a post it note stuck on your computer monitor. Even a little note taped to the front of your credit card and or tucked into your wallet can be a helpful reminder of what your motivation is, if for example you are trying to be more frugal and spend less.

When challenges occur, obstacles come up and life happening seemingly is getting in the way of our goals and steps that we had wanted to take, remembering the reasons why we wanted to achieve that goal or take that journey is the way we will find it within us to overcome the obstacles and to move forward on our path. Even if it is delayed and put on hold for a time, or even if the steps forward are very small we will be able to move ahead. Finding our why, knowing our deep reasons for wanting to take action and understanding what the reason for the sense of purpose is that resonates deeply within us, is the way we will find the motivation to move forward again.

Awaken

Reawaken and Balance

In our daily hectic and busy lives it can sometimes be difficult to make decisions from a place of truly knowing what is right for each of us and our families. Reawaken your spirit and balance yourself.  One way to do this is by allowing creativity into your life and reconnecting with your soul.

Reconnecting with your soul means accessing that place in your heart that is the very centre of your core. Your soul essence. We all can benefit from this, regardless of our religious or spiritual beliefs. Having balance and inner peace makes us able to function more fully as human beings, family members, and effective employees or business owners.

It doesn’t need to take up a lot of time if you don’t have it. It can even help to spend 20 minutes a day on yourself if you have small children and time to yourself is in short supply. And don’t feel selfish, time spent on yourself benefits your family and others around you as you become balanced, highly functioning, and truly present.

Or if you have more time available to yourself, you may be able to spend a one or two hour block of time on this. Do whatever works for you. And don’t feel guilty. Working on yourself now means that you will reap the benefits in both your personal and professional life as you begin with a balanced state of being, making choices that are truly right for you and your loved ones.

Meditation

Simple meditation techniques can help you to attain a sense of balance and inner peace. The calmness that you get from beginning a meditation practice will benefit all aspects of your life. It will help you to take your next steps, and to neutralize some of the stress that you will be feeling as you evolve in different ways.  If you don’t wish to try meditation and feel that it is not quite your cup of tea, try taking a walk in nature instead.

Simple Meditation Technique

Find a comfortable position, even sitting in a chair is fine, and take deep slow breaths. The  breaths should begin and end in your stomach.

Say the following words to yourself in your mind, with each slow breath:

Breathing in, I know that I am alive.

Breathing out, I am grateful.

Breathing in, I know that I am here.

Breathing out, I am living in the now.

Breathing in, I know that I am connected to the earth.

Breathing out, I am balanced.

Questions

1.    What makes you feel centred and balanced? Make a list of the things that help you reconnect with your inner core essence and help you to feel balanced. They can include things as simple as a bubble bath, or slowly enjoying a cup of your favourite tea while sitting in a quiet corner, just list whatever you have found that works for you.

2.    Schedule it in! What are some times in your schedule where you can fit in an appointment to spend some time on one or more of these things? The length of time and the way that you choose to spend it are up to you. Schedule it in now in your calendar or phone or whatever system you use for planning your time.

Balance in the Midst of Chaos

Before making a major decision it is wonderful to have time to balance yourself. By centring ourselves and reconnecting with our inner core essence, we are able to make decisions that are truly right for us, and our loved ones. But we don’t always have time to do this right in the instance before a decision must be made. In our daily hectic lives we often need to make a business or life decision on the fly as the world spins around us and we are caught in the thick of things.

The solution is to practice balancing and centring yourself on a daily basis, so that when you are in that situation where you have to make a decision on the fly, you will be ok even if you aren’t able to take time out, find a yoga mat, light candles, and whatever other techniques you normally would use when you are able to take your time.  By reconnecting with your inner core essence, finding balance, and centring yourself on a daily basis, even for small amounts of time, you will increase your overall ability to find tranquility in the eye of a storm, and to be in touch with your own intuition during your day to day dilemmas and disasters.

Whether you are walking in nature, practising yoga, or trying simple meditation techniques, it doesn’t have to take a large amount of time each day, just spend as long as you can manage. Think of it as building a muscle. The more you use that muscle, the stronger it will be, and the more useful you will find it.  By having a daily practice or ritual  of centring yourself in some way, you will discover that your inner core essence, intuition, and sense of balance, are accessible for you even as the world hurtles past and you find yourself in the midst of chaos.