What drives you? What do you want to come of your life? These are essential questions for each of us.
Many cannot answer them. Yet, if you want to have meaning in your life, you need to answer these questions for yourself. Consider creating a core idea.
A core idea is an idea that is central to what you are about. It needs to be expressed simply. A phrase or a sentence is all you need. The idea is not a statement of belief. It is a statement of what you want to accomplish. It is not about what you are seeking. The core idea is about what you are giving. There is a big difference between seeking love and giving love; between believing in strong leadership and being the presence of leadership; between hoping for peace and being peace.
Most people on the planet are focused on what they don't want. That is, we spend our time thinking about bothersome things that we hope to get rid of. The ill person focuses on getting rid of the pain and discomfort. The financially challenged person focuses on getting rid of debt or bills to pay. The lonely person focuses on finding someone to take away their lonely feelings. These are negative goals. Often the outcome is more of what we don't want. What we focus on tends to expand.
What we need are positive goals. "Without a clear-cut, positive goal, set at the outset, the situation just seems to happen, and makes no sense until it has already happened. . . . The absence of a criterion for outcome, set in advance, makes understanding doubtful and evaluation impossible." (A Course In Miracles) Without a positive goal it is impossible to evaluate life. To the question: "Did I have a successful day?" you don't know the answer unless you have a positive goal. Most people will judge a day by what happened to them. If they received money, or compliments, or they won something, or they avoided something uncomfortable, it must have been a good day. From this mindset, you have no control regarding the success of your day.
A core idea is a positive goal that can be accomplished any day. If my core idea is the be the presence of leadership, than I am always willing to step up and lead. If there is conflict at work, how can I step up and lead? If there is trouble at home, how can I step up and lead? If I disagree with my government, how can I step up and lead? Regardless of the events of the day, if you stepped up and led, you were successful. Not only that, you made the day better for yourself and others.
A core idea prevents you from becoming a victim. In today's world, complaining is an international sport. Yet, if your goal is to be the presence of leadership, there is nothing to complain about. Truly leading (being 100% responsible) and complaining (being a victim) are mutually exclusive. The question before you in any situation is, how can I best lead?
Leadership is my example, but other examples are the same. If my core idea is to be the presence of love, then my response to any person or situation is always love. If my core idea is to be peace, then my response any person is about peace. If my core idea is that I am a healer, than I am a healing presence in any situation.
Without a positive goal, a core idea, we tend to believe that life is something that happens to us. We hope that good things will happen or that bad things won't happen. We believe that other people, or the world is to blame for our lack of success. Or we blame ourselves. We see conditions and events as obstacles. "The value of deciding in advance what you want to happen is simply that you will perceive the situation as a means to make it happen. . . . The situation now has meaning, but only because the goal has made it meaningful." (A Course In Miracles)
When you have a core idea, the situation you face is always a means to accomplish your positive goal. If you are the presence of love, the cranky person who stands before you is the means for you to be who you are. It's easy to love people who are nice to you all the time. It's the same with leadership or peace. If you can practice your core idea here in this difficult situation, you can practice it anywhere. People and situations are not obstacles. They are doorways through which you move toward your positive goal. There are no obstacles in life! Once you have a positive goal, everything before you is part of your path. You can complain about your path, or you can walk your path.
There are infinite possibilities for what your core idea can be. You may want to have two or three core ideas if you can handle that. I cannot tell you what your core idea should be. My recommendation is you create one and practice it every day. In addition to the sample core ideas here are few ideas:
• to bring joy always.
• to be truly helpful to everyone.
• to live from spirit (turning everything over to a greater power)
• to be generous in all ways.
• to always promote the best interests for all concerned.
• to always unite people.
Each of us has a unique mission and purpose on this planet. If you haven't already established your core idea(s), find yours. Practice it. You will not be perfect at it, but you will improve. There will be times when you find yourself not practicing your core idea. As soon as you catch yourself, return to your core. This is what practicing means. Make your core idea so important that it becomes more real than what is happening around you. That is, if your core idea is peace, and you are surrounded by people in conflict, be peace. Make peace within your mind so real that the situation is perceived merely as a means to achieve peace.
For example, in the USA, the core idea has always been freedom and democracy. The founders made this ideal more real than the existing situation. Throughout US history, great visionaries like Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, and Martin Luther King Jr. have caused the USA to evolve as a result of their core idea of freedom and democracy. Each of these visionaries made their core idea more real than the situation that they faced. Internationally, Mohandas Gandhi did the same thing in India. Nelson Mandela's core idea became a reality in South Africa. Today, Aung Sang Suu Kiy of Burma lives her idea of freedom and democracy while her country is run by military dictators.
Whether your circle of influence is worldwide or local, your core idea has a ripple effect. Your focus on a positive goal affects everyone around you in your home, your workplace, your spiritual community, and in the community in which you live. When you live a core idea your focus changes from getting to giving. Every situation is an opportunity to give of yourself and to be your core idea. It may take moments, or it may take years, but the ripple effect of you living your core idea will affect the world in a positive way. The power of influence is yours. Simply ask of your life and of each situation you face, "What do I want to come of this?" The answer is your goal. It is your goal, not the seeming obstacles, where you must focus your attention.
William Frank Diedrich is a speaker, author and executive coach.
His books include: The Road Home, 30 Days to Prosperity, and Beyond Blaming. For information on his work go to
noblaming.com or
intelligentspirit.com.
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