During this exercise you will identify areas of life that are important to you and create an ideal picture of the life you want to live now. As part of this process you will find the area of life you feel something is missing. That missing piece is causing some type of unease and once it is identified, you can eliminate it. From that freedom, you will be motivated to take new actions to bring the missing pieces back into your life for greater fullfiment.
Create the Ideal Snapshot
Before we can identify what is not present, we need to know what could be in the picture. The first step is to write down a detailed, specific master listing of what you want to see in each snapshot. In other words, what do you want to have in your life?
Begin by writing down five areas of life that you feel are most important to you right now, not giving them a specific order. These are areas that you put your energy into because you want to be successful in them. List areas that you want, not that others say you “should” choose. Assign category titles that are meaningful to you. For example you can choose to group by general categories, ie. “family” or you can choose to use outcomes, ie “relationships.”
Now take a single sheet of paper and divide into it four columns (fold paper in half vertically, then half again). Write the following labels across the top: Attitudes, Emotions/Feelings, Thoughts & Images, Body Sensations. Under each label column write down specific, descriptive, results you would like to achieve focusing one on area at a time. Use action verbs and adjectives in the current tense. As an example Relationships or Family, using “peaceful, joyful, vibrant.” Fill in every column with a response and if you draw a blank, then just leave it blank.
Take The Mental Snapshots
Find a few moments today to stop and take a series of mental snapshot pictures of the life you are leading right now in your chosen five areas. Let your mind’s eye take a clear, honest, close up picture using a wide lens point of view. See the picture in full, color detail.
Again, take a blank piece of paper, fold it in quarters and write these labels across the top: Attitudes, Emotions/Feelings, Thoughts & Images, Body Sensations. Fill in the columns based on what your picture actually shows by priority category.
What is Missing From the Snapshots
You now have your master list of what can be and the snapshot of what is and it is time to compare the two. Holding your two sheets side by side, compare all columns of what you want to have to what is. Mark sections where they do not match significantly, including blank spots.
Congratulations! The areas where the ideal and reality do not match have identified your missing pieces! Somewhere along the way your ideal and actual actions got mixed up and this area of life is misaligned.
Create a New Composition
With the identification of the missing piece, you now have a starting point of looking at what actions you want to take. Options range from changing nothing and letting go of the ideal snapshot as impossible or taking new action to move closer to the ideal.
Which is the right choice for you, right now? Ask yourself: do you want more of the same, or do you want to turn your ideal snapshot into reality?
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