A Life Of Design

Posted by Fiona Harrold | No Comment

‘What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: our life is the creation of our mind.’

This could have come from any contemporary motivational manual. Instead it was spoken by Buddha, more than 2,300 years ago. This takes you way beyond merely deciding to take responsibility for your life and happiness.

This is about the infinite power and potential of your mind to foresee and fashion your life. If your life is the creation of your mind, then your mind is the place to pay attention to in envisaging and planning your future.

In other words, you are what you think about all day long.

You and I know this. Many others do not. They live a life of default: things happen to them and hey ho, they respond. They are unaware of the blinkers they wear. You and I may have some blinkers of our own, but at least we know they’re there!

Once we acknowledge their existence we can push them further and further away from our perspective, so we widen our horizons, our sense of what is possible.

You know that your limitations are overwhelmingly of your own imagining. I listen to and I listen out for limitations in my work as a coach. From time to time I also employ my own coach to listen out for any of my own!

And the truth is, you’re probably always going to have to be vigilant, for limitations tend to arise as soon as you think of some fabulous new stage in your life that you’d like to move into.

The recurring thought ‘what – me?’ often seems hardwired into the path of progress. Resistance is freedom.

Awareness will set you free from being at the mercy of your limitations.

Moving beyond limitations is also much easier when you have a really good reason to. This is where having a sense of purpose and destiny comes in handy! You become a more powerful, bigger person when you understand your motivation and potential contribution. It’s not so personal. It’s not just all about you – though you’re the main beneficiary.

Blinkers beware!