Go big and want more

I dare you to make a list of 50 things you want. It sounds easy, but just give it a try.

Usually the first handful of items are easy to come up with, but then you have to tell you brain to keep going and ask it, what else, what else. This is where the good stuff happens.

See, your brain just wants to feel good and be as efficient as possible so it won’t tell you your big dreams unless you purposefully ask it and go big. When you ask yourself, "what else" it gives your brain permission to safely come up with some fun wants.

Then your rational brain kicks back in and tries to tell you that will never happen because you don’t know how or it has never worked in the past, but remember you brain is just trying to protect you and feel good.

Maybe you want to lose 20 pounds, but you keep thinking how it’s never worked in the past and you don’t know how.

Or maybe you want to work for a non-profit and still maintain your lifestyle but you keep thinking that’s impossible because non-profits don’t pay well.

Instead of focusing on the HOW part of your wants, you actually should be focused on the feeling part of your wants. How you feel drives your actions which will determine if you get your wants or not. We all naturally focus on the HOW and let our brains tell us we don’t know or that’s impossible, but when we are willing to feel a negative emotion, there is nothing stopping us from getting what we want.

Say you want to lose 20 pounds because you want to live a longer life to be with your family. If you are willing to feel some discomfort today and not eat junk food when you are stressed or worried, then there’s no reason you can’t lose the weight. The only thing stopping you is a negative feeling.

Or you want to work for a non-profit and keep your lifestyle because you believe in helping others and living the life you want. If you are willing to try new things and possibly fail, there’s no reason you could not make this happen.

Image what you could do if you were willing to fail. Failing just means you have more info on what does not work and are one step closer to finding what does work.

I say, dream big. Push yourself to want things that seem impossible and then be willing to feel any emotion necessary to reach that goal. I’ve got some HUGE wants that feel impossible because I have no clue how to make them happen, but I’m all in for the good and bad and won’t stop until I’ve got what I want. You should too.

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