What kind of life do you insist upon having?
Not insisting like a child insists on fleeting pleasures, ease and fun. Insist because it’s your life and you do have control over how you live it.
I say insist because wanting isn’t enough. Wanting to have a certain kind of life is wishy-washy yearning.
Insisting is taking a stand. It’s caring enough about yourself and your life to choose how you will be.
When a client is trying to figure out what to do, both in the broad and immediate sense, I offer a simple assignment.
I ask my client to choose one word or simple phrase to describe the life she insists upon having. Once she identifies this word or phrase, it serves as a compass to her essence. It guides her choices. It helps her understand her motivation and appreciate her authenticity.
My word is zesty.
I insist upon having a zesty life. For me that means challenge, adventure, unexpected. I think of the zest of a lemon – tart, essence of citrus, sharp. When you zest a lemon, you scrape at the skin to get to the essence. It’s not always comfortable or easy, a zesty life.
But I’d have it no other way.
Bottom line:
Your choices determine the kind of life you live and the kind of life you insist upon determines your choices. Set your compass with your word or phrase to describe the kind of life you insist upon having.
Coaching Inquiry/Writing Prompt:
What kind of life do you insist upon having? How do you know when you are living according to your word? Share it with us in a comment below.
Resources for living your life your way
Wild Heart Dancing by Eliot Sobel
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Unconventional Guides by Chris Guillebeau
Affiliate links are used in this post.
Jean Sooohoo says
Thanks for inspiring me to select a slogan for my life. The word/s I just chose to serve as my COMPASS is “new experiences”. It’s a simple slogan yet it feels like it’s hitting a nerve. There are so many things to experience in this physical world, as well as the world within our minds which generate new ideas, and these ideas are the sources of new projects that become new experiences when acted upon. The potential for novel experiences is thus limitless!