“It's never too late to be what you might have been.” - George Eliot
Happy Sunday!
And welcome to today's edition of 'Conscious living with Purnima'. Hope you had a good week. It wasn't a great one for me as I was under the weather. I had half a mind to skip today’s edition, but as I began writing the words just poured.
So here it is. Hope you enjoy reading and use the framework to streamline your life.
What is Success? I like the definition from Oxford that reads:
Success: The accomplishment of an aim or purpose.
And no one but you get to define that aim or purpose. Your aim/purpose should align with your deepest intentions for your life. It doesn't matter how your life looks on the outside, when you stand in front of the mirror, you should feel good about the way you are using your everyday time and energy.
When I used to work in the Ad Industry, it didn't look like I had much to complain about. I worked with J. Walter Thompson, one of the most sought-after ad agencies to work for, was the account manager on brands like Kingfisher and Times of India. I had awesome colleagues (that I am still very close to). In spite of it all I questioned my existence in that office every single day. I knew I wasn't living my purpose. Even though my life looked glamourous from the outside it wasn't so from the inside.
Today, my job may not be that glamorous from the outside. To be honest, I haven't made the effort to make it look that way. But I know my work feeds my soul.
By sharing my life story with you I don't mean that you should quit your jobs if it's something unsatisfactory. It may not be the most practical thing for you to do given your unique life circumstance. But I do believe that at different points in our lives, we must ask ourselves these 2 questions:
1. How do I feel in my body, mind and spirit? And,
2. What can I do to feel better in my body, mind and spirit?
The Framework:
I am sure you've heard several rags to riches stories, stories of unfit people becoming fit and various other transformations. What do these stories tell you? These stories tell you that anything is possible unto you. This world of ours is quite malleable and we can be whoever we desire to be. But pursuing those desires often come at a cost.
The goals we strive for demand our time, energy and efforts. Without putting in the work we cannot achieve the goal.
So, it is critical that we set the right goals that have the potential to satisfy us deeply. Setting goals to please the outside world could just be waste of energy.
Hence, spend some time digging into the relevance of goals you set for yourself with this framework:
Elaborating on the components of the framework:
Goal Section:
✨ Write down the goal
✨ Why this goal and why now?
✨ Do I have the time to commit to the actions required to be taken to realize the goal?
✨ Do I see the sacrifices I will need to make in order to make my goal a reality?
✨ How is my life going to get better when I achieve my goal?
Habit Section:
Any goal be it growing your business or getting physically fit or cultivating better relationships will require daily actions to be consistently repeated.
Put them down.
Environment Section:
Finally, look to your environment. In what ways is it serving or restricting you? End of the day you have to work with what you've got. And environment can be a big influencer. But know that you don't have to be a victim to your environment. You have the power to alter it.
The impediment to action advances actions. What stands in the way becomes the way.
- Marcus Aurelius
(One of the most powerful quotes there is to reflect on when you are repeatedly faced with stumbling blocks.)
And what about getting derailed on your path? What if you don't achieve what you set out to at the pace you anticipated?
Expect it.
I am reading this book by Dr Elisa called the “7-day Stress Prescription” in which she talks about embracing uncertainty as a way to handle stress. And it makes sense.
Uncertainty is the nature of life. Most of us have lived long enough to realize that. Many things come up without our anticipating them. It's alright.
As long as you have the right goals (relevant and meaningful to you), clarity on appropriate habits to achieve those goals, and are shaping your environment and working with what you've got to the best of your abilities, you have nothing else to do save to be patient and self-compassionate.
In addition, to find ease, peace and freedom on your journey, let go of the need to prove yourself to anyone and learn to live authentically.