At the beginning of each year, most people are reflecting on the past year and what they want to do to improve in the new year. Whether that be mental mindsets, physical health, relationships or business. It's a needed process for all of us and a way to learn from mistakes and successes, tweak what we need to, and become better people for it.
Dreaming isn't difficult for most of us. In fact, we love to dream and imagine - it can be the fodder for buying lottery tickets, the never ending "what ifs", or the musing questions posed to friends or family in random conversations. It can be our sanity at times, and likewise, it can be the fuel for depression. It's what we do with those desires that transforms us. How does one go from taking a dream or passion and turn it into something you can see, hear, taste, feel or smell?
Being a wife, mother of five, sister, daughter, aunt, friend, and having a professional career that consisted of operations management, real estate and accounting, I often found myself feeling like I was "spinning my wheels". We all wear many hats. Regardless of what any of us does, balancing life is overwhelming at times. Who is being affected by my decisions? What is truly important? Where do you draw the line? When will I find the time? Why am I doing any of this? These were real questions, and in my desire to create a more balanced life, improve my own mental and physical health, and be a more positive influence to all those around me, I went searching for tools to help me figure it out.
There are many self help books, goal setting programs, and professional coaches to help along the way. In fact, it can be disheartening to filter through all of it. What works? What doesn't? Each has a benefit and I don't discount any of them; however, I truly believe that we all innately know what we want, what's important to us, and what our strengths and weaknesses are...even if we don't want to admit or confess it. So what is really needed is a way to identify who we are, capture our dreams, get all of it in black and white, and put feet to it. The process alone will eliminate what is not important.
I can no longer remember how I found ThinkTQ, but it was a life changer for me.
The initial program is free - and while they have many items you can purchase, I have never paid for anything on their site. What they provide free of charge is sufficient to set you on a solid path. It is a time-consuming process - but well worth it. In a nutshell, you take a test that will identify your strengths and weaknesses in performance effectiveness. It's an eye opener. Then they have specific directives and templates you can use to help you identify your own life "mission statement". While I was familiar with this in the realm of business, applying this to my personal life was what changed everything! The process to create this personal mission statement will have you reflecting and identifying what's important and meaningful to you and condensing it into a statement that you can live by. The statement will be foundational to every decision you make going forward and will give you the power to quickly determine if something aligns with what you want out of life...or not...allowing you to stay focused.
As your mission statement becomes real, you then begin to put into writing the things you want to accomplish in life. These could be lifelong visions, i.e. relationships, or they could be one time visions, i.e. new home. As each moves from your heart or mind to paper, you then begin to create goals for each - the "path" for how you'll get there. From there you take each goal and determine the steps needed to complete that goal....and each step finds its way onto your calendar to be scheduled and done! ThinkTQ provides all the templates you need to write these things down, think it through, prioritize, organize and get it on your calendar. You can continually take the test over and over again as you progress to see how the changes you are making are improving your scores and/or to identify areas you're still struggling with. They even have an app that you can have set to prompt you every day with motivating messages to help keep you on track.
Lest I set an unrealistic expectation, it's necessary to remember that life is not predictable. Even the best laid plans can be disrupted by unforeseen or unknown circumstances. But even in those moments, having a solid understanding of what's important to you and who's important to you, helps to navigate those challenges.
So dear friends, dream...imagine...be true to what's meaningful to you...enjoy life...love those around you...learn from your mistakes...rejoice in your successes...make a difference in the world! We need what you have. You know the who, what, where, when and why, and now you have a "how"!
From my heart to yours.
(Please note that ThinkTQ is not sponsoring The Delsa, they're not even aware I'm writing this - so there is no gain for The Delsa in sharing this information/link. It is truly coming from my heart to help others find a way to take their dreams and what's meaningful to them, and have a tool that can help formulate, direct, and give opportunity for growth - so life is more of what you want it to be!)
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