This is a crucial question we should ask ourselves all along the process of creating a better life because it is really easy to lose track. What’s your motivation? What is making you want to make this move, pursue this project, etc.? Cast your vision into the future? Will what you’re wanting to do actually generate the results you’re hoping for? Of course No one has a working crystal ball and we can’t completely predict what will happen on most of the paths we take but what we do should always be moving us closer to our goals.
This doesn’t mean we bail at the first sign of trouble. No one said creating a better life is easy, but it does mean we should be cognizant of warning signs that we’re off track and make necessary course corrections. After all, this called “Create a Better Life,” not “I Created a Nightmare That I Thought Would be a Better Life.” I can’t speak for you, but I have done this. I thought I was going to become a famous artist.illustrator. I landed a client with whom I was working on one of the hottest properties in the world. I thought he would make all my dreams come true. Long story short, it was not a good situation, but I was so blinded by what could happen, that I missed what actually was. My dream became a nightmare and it took quite a while to recover.
The path to a better life is rarely a straight line. There are usually course corrections and missteps all along the way. This is not failure, it’s life and learning and correcting, not perfection, is the key to success. Knowing your motivations, and being honest with yourself about them, is the key. What’s your motivation?
Here are mine for the project at hand, in no particular order.
1. Earning a living and supporting my family: I can’t say I am money motivated, but caring for and being able to bless my family is important for me. They are my primary responsibility and I love them and want what’s best for them.
2. Helping people: I don’t just want to make my own dreams become reality. I am of the belief that the more people who are operating in their areas of giftedness, especially for the good of others, the better place the world will be. I want to help people find the key to a better, more fulfilling life in the hope that they will pay it forward and help someone else. I’ve heard it said that, “Hurt people hurt people.” I believe that to be true, but I also believe that “Helped people, help people.”
3. Increased ability to be generous: I have seen people doing incredible good in our world. They are doing things I could never do and yet I desire to help them to do what they do. I want to be able to support their efforts and help them to expand. The key to this is being generous with what you already have. I try to do that, but I want to do so much more.
In short, I want to enjoy my life. As a person of faith, I want to honor my God and be a blessing to as many people as I can and, even if it’s only in small ways, make the world a better place. As I follow this path, those motivations will become the questions I ask at every decision and if the answer becomes “no” to any of the points, rethinking may be in order. For example, that doesn’t mean I’ll change course every time I don’t enjoy something, but it does mean I may look for a better way, or maybe outsource that thing to someone for whom it is a joy.
After all, we’re creating a better life, right?
AMOKArts 