The great race:  maybe it takes a birthday (one of those bigger ones, where you slide into a new decade) or the first day of a new year to make you realize you have to take some serious actions to accomplish all your dreams and to feed yourself fully with the life you desire.

So how does one go about fulfilling one’s aspirations?

And with what specifically do you want to fill yourself up?

This is about being more intentional, defining the life you want most at this point in time and taking concrete steps (ACTION) to get there.

At some point on this continuum called life, we’re drawn closer and closer to the point where health issues, physical stamina and certain age-related issues become highly visible and permanently fixed on our radar screen.  We find ourselves in a race against time.

It can be at any point, where we develop an awareness that life could be better (even if we already have a great life) and where we sense that much, much more is out there waiting for us to seize it.

So what stands in our way?

The great race obstacle:  the past  

This is most beautifully expressed by a character in the latest Karen White book I’m reading:  “I learned the hard way that you can’t spend your whole life facing the wrong way.  You’ll never see what’s ahead of you if all you ever see are the ghosts of your past.”

Whether the ghosts are experiences, people or thoughts, we can all be held back by “our past,” if we let it.

Or we can turn around on a dime.

We can dig in and do things differently, become more focused on our current goals or create new ones.  We can become whomever we so desire and open ourselves up to new ways of being, if we so choose.  It’s only a matter of mindset and tuning out the past.

Easier said than done, right?

We can tune out the past.  We can change our mindset.  It requires effort.  Maybe a lot of effort.  But isn’t it worth it?

In our race against time, and we’re all in this race, let’s go full out, put the ghosts to rest, focus on our goals and make this point in time the one we’re most proud of.

The great race obstacle:  the present

We have to take action today to get to where we want to be tomorrow.  Time is precious.  And oh, how we squander it!  Yes, there are those hours we waste with social media, that’s true.

But also, we waste good money on things of lesser importance in order to have some small pleasures in life.  We could just as easily do without them some of the time and use that money for better quality purchases and experiences to enjoy right now.

All of our small pleasures are important, but we can have a better quality life, too.  It’s not necessary to deny ourselves a better lifestyle today.  We only have to make a few adjustments to our daily living habits to enjoy both.

Also, in the present, we become comfortable.  We may find ourselves settling for things.  Perhaps we’d rather plop down in a comfy chair than hustle or step out of our comfort zone.

Sometimes we lose sight of our goals because we’re relatively happy, content and complacent with our existence such as it is.  Maybe we’ve forgotten some of those things we dreamed about once.  They may seem impossible, daunting, a lot of work or not worth bothering about now.

But there’s still time – precious time — to give root to our most cherished wishes, desires and dreams.

The great race obstacle:  the future

There’s a lot of fear and insecurity about the future.  Rather than go there, we prefer to do the same old, same old even if it doesn’t work that well for us.  And some of us have lost our ability to even imagine something bigger and better for ourselves.  We dig in and stay right where we are.

So what are you seeing ahead of you?

Do you dare to dream and chase after it?  Or are you letting fear and insecurity hold you back?  If so, keep this quote (not sure of the source) in mind:  “Our ability to succeed is always proportional to our willingness to fail.”

It can be a great adventure figuring all this out – your new path, your new way of living and in what ways you can expend a lot of effort to achieve your new (and/or some old) goals.

It may not be readily apparent to anyone when things change within you because some changes, such as ones that come from a person’s mindset or a subtle change in attitude or effort happen over time.

Eventually though you may find that the person you become in the future seems nothing like the person you were in the past.

Let’s Hear From You

So which is your biggest obstacle – the past, the present or the future?  Are you being intentional in going after all that you want in life?  Please comment below.  As always, we’d love to hear from you.