Move from Apprentice to Master and Make Your Life a Masterpiece!

This week I hosted a group of my son’s friends (boys and girls) for something that’s become an annual tradition in our household: an apple pie-baking party.  As the kids had fun (and ate their mini-pies) I was careful to savor their friendship. I know they’re growing up fast, and there may not be many more years left where they are this joyful, unselfconscious and sweet.

One of the reasons I quit my hospital job earlier this year was to have more opportunities to enjoy spending time with my son at this time in his life.  Of course, I was full of fear about leaving the security of a steady job and immediately afterwards I had many moments of self-doubt and wondering, “What have I done?”

But now, six months later, I’m past those doubts and lately I haven’t had one moment of fear or anxiety. Instead, I’ve had many, many moments of profound gratitude for the life I’ve created.  M.C. Richards once said, “All arts we practice are apprenticeship. The great art is our life.”

And guess what? You are the artist.

The present moment is your material, and you mold it to create a masterpiece with tools you always have at hand – your thoughts and beliefs.  Yes, your life, this very moment, is a perfect expression of your current level of skill at living with purpose and happiness.

When I quit my “day” job, I got through my moments of doubt by focusing on certain thoughts and beliefs, and having come through the other side I have become more courageous and optimistic than I ever thought possible back then.

I know I created the life I am currently enjoying—and all my newfound courage—by focusing on certain thoughts and beliefs. If you, for the most part, are not enjoying your life, you can change them just like I did.

You develop your skills when you choose to think better-feeling thoughts and take action in alignment with your true values and deepest desires.

For me, my life got so much better when I overcame my fears and decided to create a business that gives me time as much as it gives me money.

Now I have plenty of time to honor myself and the people I love, while doing what I absolutely love. I’ve learned I never have to trade any of those precious moments to “make a living.”  And it all started when I honored my gift for serving others with the contribution that only I can make.

You’ve got a gift too – and it’s called your purpose. If you haven’t found it, or you don’t have the courage to act on it, we really need to talk.

I haven’t read every personal development or self-realization book out there, but I suspect that every one of them has at least a chapter that’s all about defining your dreams, goals and aspirations in order to create a life you absolutely love. As Lewis Carroll said, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

In other words, without clearly envisioning a dream or goal, it really doesn’t matter what you do, or how hard you work at it.  It’s funny, but in the past, I’ve only asked my clients to imagine their “ideal” lives one year out.

But then a few years ago I realized that you need to reach really big to get unstuck and expand into expansive possibilities – and for most folks that means giving a longer period of time to achieve it – say, 3-5 years.

If you’re ready to get moving, you need a goal. And if you want to move far and fast, it would help to have a really big goal.

You want to create a very strong vision of your life in the next 3-5 years, and you want to imagine it in vivid detail — What are you doing? Who are you doing it with? What are your surroundings? What’s the feeling you get as you move throughout your day?

Once you’ve done this work, now it’s time to take the next steps:

1) Make a Mind Movie.

I’m sure you’ve heard of a Vision Board, but have you hear of a Mind Movie? I call it a Turbo-Charged Vision Board. You could create it on your own if you have a slide show feature on your computer, but there are also programs that will do it for you too (just Google Mind Movie).  When designing a life you love, it’s super important that you enjoy the feeling place of already having achieved your goals and dreams right now.

That feeling is like rocket fuel that will give you an enormous boost as you’re making your way down your path. Once you have achieved that feeling place, it’s exciting to take one step and then another and another, and you never doubt that you’ll make it to your destination.

In my opinion there’s nothing like a Mind Movie for creating the feeling of positive expansion I associate with all of my goals and dreams. I watch my Mind Movie every day and I can feel it pulling me forward toward my dreams.

2) Share your big vision with anyone and everyone.

Lately I’ve been challenging myself to share my goals and dreams in a bigger, more public way.  I believe we hold our dreams “close to our chest” because we feel self-conscious about them. We ask ourselves “Who am I to want so much?” and expect that when we share our goals with other people similar questions will surely come up. And soon after, we’re asking ourselves,

“What if I fail? I’ll look like a loser.”

I know I’ve had those fears, but as I’ve said before, your dreams are as hungry as your fears, so you want to make sure you’re feeding your dreams. That’s why I put my Mind Movie on my YouTube channel so anyone who cares to can see it. I believe I have SO much more to gain than lose by sharing my vision, and I hope you will too.

3) Focus on taking daily actions.

No way around it: You have to take inspired action every day.

The thing is, people rarely take this step. Again, it’s no surprise that we’re often so focused on getting through our day-to-day life that we have absolutely nothing left to give when it comes to creating a life you love. Remember, that’s why I suggested the Mind Movie – because it creates pulling power. And, again, by giving you the space to dream really big, the pulling power is that much greater.

4) Believe you can do it.

Remember a belief is just a thought you’ve had many times. If you don’t currently believe in yourself (or not that much), start with positive affirmations. One of my favorites is “I deeply and completely love and accept myself. I can do this.” Or better yet, change the “I can do this” to “I will do this” or better still, “I am doing this.” Whatever you decide on, repeat it to yourself often.

5) Celebrate your successes!

Start by taking a tiny action in the direction of your dream and then do something physical to affirm what you’ve done. Do a happy dance and say, “Woo hoooo!” Pump your fist and say, “I rock!” Your brain wants to feel happy and now you’re teaching your brain that taking even a tiny action makes it happy. It’s all about doing something consistently, building competence and confidence.

Keep at it and very soon you will move from apprentice to master when it comes to creating the masterpiece that is your life!