You know you were meant for great things. I know it, too. Even so, it's so easy to let our goals get sidetracked by fear and resistance. Before I built my business, I set up walls, shielding myself from thinking about it too much. I was just so terrified of breaking away from the established way of thinking.
I'd spend the previous 23 years in the financial services industry, where innovative thinking is often considered an oxymoron. I wanted to take the most stodgiest of professions -- financial planning -- and combine it with the most ephemeral of practices -- mindful meditation. At the time, the idea of bringing these two opposite ideas together seemed, well, downright ludicrous.
Even so, I couldn't get an old adage out of my head. Perhaps you've heard it, too. If you don't work to build your own dream, it goes, someone else will happily hire you to build theirs.
And there it was. What you give your attention to is what will blossom. I wanted to pursue my own passion, not someone else's.
Slowly, by building my own mindful wealth practice and by coaching countless clients, I uncovered the three necessary steps to building a dream career. Now I want to share them with you.
1. Imagine
Before any dream can come true, it must first be imagined. Take time to fantasize about your dream business. Forget status quo for the moment and think instead about how your talents, skills, and knowledge can be used to affect positive change around you.
When I first began to explore the idea of bringing personal finance and meditation together, I wasn't sure how exactly the result would look. My finance colleagues couldn't imagine how meditation would fit in to my advising practice. Meanwhile, the peers in my meditation circle thought it was a stretch to parlay the practice of mindfulness into a thriving business.
What I grasped by exploring these viewpoints is just how rare it is to receive permission to do something bold, to buck the status quo. I didn't let the lack of permission stop me from reaching for my goal, and neither should you. Anything is possible if you want it badly enough.
2. Envision
Before investing a great deal of time and money into any new project, it important to get very clear about how you expect the business to work and precisely which steps you'll to take to build it.
Creating the dream is fun and the inspiration that comes with it can often be enough to propel you forward, into the planning process. Before any architect can build, though, she needs a working blueprint.
As the late Indian spiritual teacher and philosopher Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj once said, "Do not undervalue attention: it means interest and also love. To know, to do, to discover, to create, you must give your heart to it, which means giving your attention."
Without the attention of a plan or blueprint, it's almost impossible to give your full heart to any project. Within the WealthClinic curriculum, we teach that clarity and desire are intertwined. We need to pay close attention to what really matters to us so we can get clear about the whys and hows before we build our project.
3. Build
When we take the time to dream and envision before we build, we're able to source energy from an entirely different place. The strength of that energy allows us to create based on our inner truth, and to pay attention to what really matters.
Most of us know what life looks like when we build before we get clear about what we want. We end up creating something that confirms to someone else's wishes.
One year ago this month I was at a crossroads where I had two choices. I could either hide from fear and retreat, giving up on my dream to help others build a life of mindful wealth. Or, instead, I could face my fear and build something extraordinary.
Looking back on the past year, I'm so glad I chose this path. I'm so glad I took the time to imagine, envision, and build this dream.
I know you can do it, too.
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