Happy Fourth of July! We’re half way through 2010 with only six months left until the end of the year and the coming of January 1st, 2011, or 1/1/11.
In preparation for 1/1/11, how about focusing on one thing until the end of the year? Now is as good a time as any to stop waiting and to reassess where you’re headed.
My question for you is:
What’s the one change that would make the biggest difference in your life right now?
I’m willing to bet the answer isn’t far below the surface in your life. It rarely is. Whether you’re ready yet to admit it to yourself or not. If you’re still and you stop to really listen as you ask yourself the question, it’s probably easy to identify.
Finding Your One Thing
Watch for your one thing to turn up when you least expect it. Maybe in conversation, when you think to yourself, “why did I say that”? Maybe in daily life, when you realize how adjusted you’ve become to something that simply no longer works for you. Or maybe, it will even show up in your dreams.
If you’re stuck, write out a list of all the things that you resolved to change at the beginning of the year or that you would change now, then leave the list and walk away. Come back to it later, and see which one sticks out to you.
Or, reword the question, and for a moment assume that you can’t fail… So if you were assured success at changing or doing that one thing, what would it be? Imagine what it looks like for a few minutes.
One Thing: Question or Answer
Zora Neale Hurston said in Their Eyes Were Watching God, that “there are years that ask questions and years that answer.” If it’s not immediately clear how you will change your one thing, don’t worry.
Maybe this year is the year where you ask the question and seriously consider the who, what, when, where, and why of it. Maybe this year is the year for planning to make it happen and next year is for the happening. Don’t get too wrapped up in those details yet. You simply can’t know that until you identify your one thing and engage with it.
Commit to Doing Your One Thing
The next step is to commit to doing your one thing. You might think that the next step should be planning, but committing should come before planning. If this is really your one thing, then it’s important and you need to do what it takes to make it happen regardless of whether it will take 6 months, a year, or even longer.
As you engage and start the process of changing, opportunities will show up that you never expected and could never have foreseen. You don’t have to have all the answers now, you just have to start the process and commit to the end.
A Little More Help with Your One Thing
Below is some information from a few of the great bloggers I follow. Check it out when you feel stuck or uncertain.
“What will make the biggest difference to your well-being?
If you looked outside of yourself, you looked in the wrong direction.
It will come when you reclaim the presents of each day.”
What will make the biggest difference? by Charlie Gilkey at Productivity Flourishing
“Too many of us wake up and fill our days will a thousands tiny actions. We’re busy from the moment we open our eyes to the moment our heads hit the pillow. Yet, when someone asks, “hey, what’d you DO today?” we can barely recall.Because we were acting in the name of acting, of filling moments, rather than moving TOWARD something.”
What’s Your Trajectory?, by Jonathan Fields at Awake @ the Wheel
“The key to simple goal setting is to not have too many goals. In fact, regular readers know that I advocate One Goal when possible. While that’s not always possible for some people, having too many goals makes things complicated and requires a more complicated system for keeping track of your goals.” Really Simple Goal Setting, by Leo Babauta at Zen Habits
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So, what’s your one thing? Be brave and tell us about it in the comments below. No answers or plans needed. Just tell us about the one thing that needs changing…
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I wouldn’t mind taking a guess that almost half of your readers would be experiencing some sort of dissatisfaction with their career or job – based on an article I read recently on CNN online. Perhaps taking some action to change job or even career direction might be the one thing that people might set a goal for. It can be done, the skills to do this can be easily acquired – but you have to have a goal to aim at.
Go for it and bes wishes
Anthony
Hi Anthony – You may be right for a lot of my readers… A job change was definitely one of the things that I had in mind when I was writing – along with saving money, getting healthy, living a more active life, or even reconciling with a friend or loved one. I think much of what we lump into job dissatisfaction can actually be a yearning for more out of the rest of our lives. At least it has been for me in the past. Sometimes it’s just time to move on to the next job. Thanks for stopping by and for the comment!
I finally have a decent internet connection to catch up on your site…
And what timing! I’ve been recently, as in the past week, thinking about changes to make for myself. One thing I need to change… I need to be healthier and take some of the chaos out of my life, which I have decided means not returning to a job I have loved for 2 years. It is time to return to my field, but in a job that I love, like my current assignment. I just sent, as in ten minutes ago, an email and an updated resume that I hope helps me find a job when I return home. So part of a healthier life for me means changing jobs but not because I don’t like the job, but because I know it is for the best. And many other good things will follow that decision… new goals to follow, I am sure!
I’ll be thinking about this question for a few days… thanks for putting it out there!
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