Step 1 – The Magic Wand Exercise
If I had a magic wand that could zap away your most debilitating fears or insecurities, what would those be?
Write them down.
Now imagine your life without those fears and insecurities.
- What would be the first things you’d do/change if you knew they were no longer informing your life choices and decisions?
- How much lighter would you feel?
- How much more time and energy would you have for other things?
- How much more mental, emotional, and physical capacity would you have if you’re no longer spending all your time, energy, and attention battling the same insecurities and fears?
Step 2 – The Dream Life Exercise
When was the last time you let yourself dream about your own life? Take a few minutes to imagine what your dream life would look like.
Close your eyes. Breathe. What comes up for you?
Write it down.
- Are you making more money?
- Spending less time at the office?
- Are you doing something different altogether?
- Are you traveling? Adventuring?
- Starting a nonprofit?
- Is your life slower or faster?
- Are you spending more or less time with family, friends, kids?
- Are you single, divorced, married?
- Do you have kids in your dream?
- Which relationships have you healed, or are working on repairing?
- What are you doing more of?
- What are you doing less of?
- Who’s in your life? Who’s not?
- What does your health look like?
- What are your hobbies?
- What brings you joy, peace?
- Where are you living?
- What emotions do you imagine feeling more of, less of?
- How do you feel about yourself?
- How do you talk to yourself?
If you let yourself forge your own path and created a life that felt true to you, what would that look like?
What would help you feel like you’re living a full and meaningful life?
What would be different?
Step 3 – The Reality Exercise
This exercise is a tool specifically designed to capture all the thoughts that come up for you when you think about the things you identified in both The Magic Wand and Dream Life Exercises.
Here are some examples of thoughts from clients:
- “That would be nice, but…”
- “I don’t have time to do this growth work, I barely have enough energy to get through the day.”
- “I wish I had the guts to do that, but…”
- “My family/parents/partner would think I was crazy if…”
- “Dreams are for other people, not me.”
- “I can dream all I want, but that’s not going to change things.”
- “If I had more money, then I could dream…”
- “If I were more confident/consistent/stronger/courageous/badass/bold/ambitious/tougher, then maybe…”
- “If I had more energy/bandwidth/capacity….”
- “If I could just let go of my past…”
- “If I could stop quitting…”
- “I want to set boundaries but I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings or make them feel bad…”
- “If my partner/boss/kids/family/circumstances were different, then I could …”
And, some of the most common:
- “I don’t actually know what I want.”
- “I’m not sure I even know who I am.”
- “I don’t feel worthy/deserving of what I want.”
These very thoughts and beliefs might’ve been exactly what stopped you in the past (and, if you’re like me, maybe for years).
This time, though, you’re going to bring them up from your subconscious and write them down on a piece of paper so they’re out of your head (as thoughts) and out of your body (as stored emotions), so you can gain some distance and actually look at them from a more objective, neutral perspective.
Everything you’ve written down is an opportunity to flip the switch.
In fact, by reading this post you’ve already started the process of change.
How is that possible?
Because who we are at any given moment includes our thoughts and beliefs — about ourselves, the world, what’s possible, etc.
These three exercises were designed to help you speak out loud the thoughts and beliefs causing you pain and keeping you stuck.
Maybe this is where you stopped in the past.
But this time, something within you wonders what life could be like if you could bridge the gap between your dreams and your reality.
That maybe your thoughts aren’t barriers, but opportunities for transformation.
See? This is new awareness, new belief.
You’ve already taken a crucial step towards change. Because who we are is not just defined by the present, but by the dreams we dare to speak out loud and the obstacles we choose to overcome.
Your thoughts have already shifted.
And because of this, you’re just getting started.
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