Finding Your Muse

Here's an existentialist venture on a rainy Wednesday: What inspires you?

I recently read a quote by Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and it really nailed a major challenge in my work and in my life:

"Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly."

I'm keenly aware of what inspires me and try to share that enthusiastic muse with family, friends and clients. At the heart of LT is inspiring others, giving them permission to ditch the pieces of their lives that just don't ring true anymore. I try to help them find the courage to choose their best lives. And make no mistake: I fully believe that getting the life you want is a choice. It's just a matter of being willing to take risk.

But motivating others to change doesn't always produce the results we hope for. In order for change to become a framework of new positive habits, someone else can't just want it for you. You have to really want it. The goal that's just beyond your reach has to be deep under your skin, driving you to do more, to do better.

It does not come without its pains; of course, every new stage of life exacts its payment. Those among you who have made changes large and small know that it's hard work and it takes resolve, it takes a commitment to yourself and the greater scheme of your future. It doesn't matter how many times you try and fail -- you have to keep learning, to redefine your priorities and make time for them. You can break out of boredom or bad habits and rise to greater heights of happiness and fulfillment.

A simple example is this: If you want to lose weight, you have to make time to exercise. You have to really want to change the body you see in the mirror -- and make it more accurately reflect the person you are inside. It's a challenge but it's uncomplicated.

Here's one that's a bit more difficult to quantify: If you want to succeed professionally, especially if you want to transcend traditional success, you have to identify what makes you a rock star. This process will require that you tap into what truly inspires you. That intangible quality makes you invaluable and singular -- no one else can provide the genuine enthusiasm and drive you bring to the team when you focus on what moves you.

It definitely helps to have people in your corner who will encourage you to reach your goals. It makes a world of difference in moments of weakness and self-doubt that someone else believes in you. Sometimes it's hard to explain to others what you're reaching for, and it seems miraculous when someone else even gets it. But if you keep trying, you might just get lucky.

The bottom line is this: When you set priorities, for today or 10 years from now, remember that what you want for yourself is who you have the power to become. No one else can choose the change that's right for you.

Love, LT

Make Your Life List and Change

Unhappiness with a particular part of your life has a way of pervading other aspects until it becomes a self-made obstacle to success. It also, as you dwell, takes on epic proportions until you’re all but paralyzed, power dissipating, feelings of control crushed.

There are so many goals we hope to achieve in our lives, but until we make them priorities and commit to them, hope isn’t enough. It can’t crystallize without action. Whether it’s something small such as organizing your thoughts or something bigger, like writing a book or starting your own company, nothing will happen until you make it happen.

The key to making positive change is making a plan and following through, and believing it can be done. Recently I met someone who has embraced “yes” as a lifestyle, whose mission in life is to help others reach their goals – another true agent of positive change.

The website is www.mylifelist.org and you can join for free. It will help you to create a roadmap for your unique happiness, so that what you visualize for your future can become your new life. My Life List, beyond unfurling a yellow brick road for your personal adventures, teaches the importance of celebrating the steps along the way.

If you’re stuck and need some inspiration, this community will give you that and more. It will compel you to shake off what stunts your growth and embrace the changes that make it all real. Check it out!
LT