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Segment 32 - Imagining Your Best Future Self

A powerful exercise that you could totally take with you right now, we're gonna kind of touch on it in the moment is to sit and reflect on your best possible self, your best possible future self. This is work done by laura king when she saw that saw the power of sitting and reflecting and imagining six months from now, a year from now, whatever your talk, whatever your goal time, either one of you have a far you threw that backpack over the fence, how tall I have copyright on that because I own a lot of money right now, but you know, whatever you go is that having that time to sit and envision your best future self raises your sense of well being immediately and also gives clarity to your goals and your dreams. So we're going to do this in a more normally it's done like for twenty minutes, we don't have twenty years from now we're going to touch on pieces of this where you confer elect a future time frame and I'm going to invite you all in a moment to turn to page eighteen we did a kin...

d of a very short virgin version here, my best future self now the actual exercise no one will ask you to sit for twenty minutes and journal right on what they're saying is that when you sit in journal and write and dwell in a positive moment it actually lifts up you spiral upwards when we're looking at my what might need to be you know, a negative we can look at it, observe it, see what we can learn from it but you don't want to ruminate in the negative because that actually sparrows you down so we're going to spiral up by forward visioning ah best possible future self we're going to take a few moments on dh I want you to put his much detail in these like five to sixth element about what that best possible future self would be ondas much detail as that space allows for those who are home and you here in the studio audience if this is something you're interested in doing, I'd invite you to take this home with you and you have the time to sit for twenty minutes and then revisit again like the next three weeks and look at it and maybe add something to it or take something away and it just helps you ready clarify what it is you want to do with your wild and precious life so take a moment and think what would you what would that who would be in your life? What would you be doing who would you be serving? Would it be? Would you have new friends? Would you have travelled? Would you be speaking? Would you be doing photography? Imagine everything has just gone beautifully. You felt the fear you have done it anyway. You stepped into that passion best possible future self for those you who invite you to do it too so that's kind of the shortened version because this is not really journaling but writing it down riding your goals down, writing your wide down, writing what you're grateful for down writing what you're looking forward to in your future doubt has much more impact than just thinking about it and then if you're comfortable the people in your choir share it with someone, make us hold that accountable think big get a little butterflies in your stomach like oh, could that really yeah could let's go for it and again not to bring it back to me, but I just want you to know when you do this work you know I can change this moment with nothing I could have envisioned for myself ten, fifteen years ago you do the work and you dream big and you take action and you do the right thing at the right reason you show up with integrity, he did the best you can and you look at how far you've come versus how far you have to go look at how far you've come just getting one more minute but let you let your brain your dreams your thoughts go there don't let those deceptive thoughts self limiting beliefs ever step into this work they're not invited to this party imagine you've done the work you've applied action it's not just visualizing is what do you have to do to get there and you've created this through hard work through you know tenacity through resilience of through feeling the fear when you make that choice when you turn that handle down you step out into best life what would that look like all right we don't spend enough time sitting with what we really want to dio I think we kind of negate it but we bring presence of mind to it and the power of the breath and the power of our attention and the power writing it down can have profound effects on our well being I'm quite possibly what happens to the trajectory off our life I was debating whether to use that word trajectory but because that the right meaning and how can I get it out without messing it up I felt the fear and I did it anyways a teachable moment all right does anyone want to share angela I mean I I want to hear it because I'm ready e I was just I I had a professor in college who just his he was wonderful because people who had you know low self esteem and writer's block he said just take that composition book and I don't care how you feel it but just fill it right and it was amazing that it just freed us to go ahead and find justus you've been saying find your skill set so I was just kind of messily just um uh my best future self I'm um able to connect and visit with my co workers and others in the extended circle um regularly um I'm still teaching weekly I'm hosting bi monthly team building events for my work places um I'm full of gratitude for my extraordinary ordinary life thank you I love that hey and the venues for my events will include multiple nature and um private settings personal settings love I love it I see it do you see it I really do see this is grounded in reality with a futuristic optimistic you know realistic thoughts behind it this is not pie in the sky dreams you know that love it let's get the main aim for you that's workshop number two but I see this awesome and so do you have a website? No okay are you on facebook though right? Yeah okay so confined angela and I just probably last name began um yoshida yoshida so when you start doing these when we're not going to give you it but you'll post it on facebook so we can share it and promoted and yeah my husband has a website but it's he's art backpacking three sixty oh so yeah and he's asked me to provide fitness consulting for his arts backpacking three sixty so it has to be very supportive of it oh yeah it's kind of pruning e c it shall be so it is I your choir girl okay great great domain name too I would like you put into that yet love anyone else want to share I'm sure um I have kind of struggled with critique the past probably ten years so when I was envisioning my day um I just want to wake up and want to this hand I want teo so imagine myself um waking up with the sun and actually feeling like today will be a good day um and I imagine my it's all feeling my breath and feeling my body and then actually, um I imagine myself moving having that movement in the morning um canned uh that's kind of a ce faras I god, I wasn't quite ready to put down on paper the photography piece or other elements but I just want to feel good that's that's a beautiful place to be feeling owning what isthe the gift of our precious life it's interesting that I am not an expert and fatigue but I would imagine but a lot of this work could help support the other work that you're doing I think so yeah we'll stay connected and we'll see how that pans out. But I think that's beautiful. It sounds like a beautiful life to me making up in the sunset and sunrise. Rather thank you for sharing that's. That's beautiful thinking. I see that I see that, but anyone else wanna share? Denise, I could never tell what that smile. You don't even think of looking at me. I will if I really have tio it's a little bit about okay, you can totally say no, I get it. Okay, um, that I envisioned myself living an authentic, brave, courageous life in a willing to work through and securities and fear. I love all of this, and what I want us to do later on is then sit on those thoughts expand upon them that when you do imagine you've already worked through those thoughts through the fears imagine see yourself through the fatigue, and then what with that other piece of the life looked like, too. So even take it a step further that we don't stop in what's we're working through, but we c b on that are best future south of that sound agreeable, awesome. Anyone else all that we'll move on as they thank you so much for sharing because he what here's a story I think, every single one of us has a dream some of us are living us living it's muscle think that is just out of who might be thinking this way and then we look at everyone else's lives we know what they've got it dialed and they've got it dialed in no one has it dialed in that's what this course is about it's taking off that mask but there is no perfection there is no right way but when we get the tools based in positive psychology and we move our body, our breath and our thoughts amazing things can happen and I truly believe again we started out this way with you haven't etc shop whether you photographer where the aerobics instructor where the project manager whether you work with kids where you work with all the kids where the you work with seniors, whether you are a photographer, a musician, a rider, you go hiking whatever your it is, whatever it is that you long to do, I truly believe it is not having the right bank account having the right software having the right bottom line that's going to get you there. I often think the biggest thing that's stopping us between being I wish and living the life that we wish for is fear and the's false beliefs that our brain takes on as riel that's what I believe this work is so important because for me in my work it wasn't about having the right sneakers or the right card if I had all of that but the bit I needed was to ignite is that my thoughts of not being good enough for not having the numbers letters after my name not being able to say perfectionistic correctly able to drop the mic down the toilet that those are not a reflection off my work but for seven to ten years yes they were on my world becomes smaller the power off our thoughts it changes the dna not danny the pathways of our brain it shuts pieces of our brain down our creative brain are resilient brain are giving brain our gratitude brain that gets shut down when we fire that up imagine what we can do you be ableto move mountains when you move your breath your body on your thank you so much so much for sharing that simple there are no guarantees you just don't know what's gonna happen if not now when there is no perfect time life is not perfect at every moment we have the power to choose and only visit our life on those fears and the doubts and whatever it is that are you know that little whatever's we have to work through its awareness first I believe and then acceptance that this is the body I'm in right now make friends with the body that we're in right now and then with that body with that place we could move forward a place appropriate action based on life constraints, physical constraints and move into our life where everyone's purpose off ah, life is to be happy I would love you right now to turn to page seventeen on your book on what based on everything we have spoken about over the next past few days past whatever brains start his load out the age notice you know what five things you could do right now to elevate your sense of well being I've got a ll these tools but one of five things that work for you that you could take with you popping your backpack and go and share with someone tonight a friend called him up servet forward what five things that we've spoken about that resonate with you today or yesterday or maybe this is a community here I have learned so much from you already so much but if there's something that you also works for you even online if there's something that you find makes you elevate your sense of well being and we haven't mentioned here please please please share it you know I actually found something that I almost feed upon myself for not knowing before because it was one of those things I thought I should have known better then tio not appreciate this but the simple gratitude and when we were talking about transitioning the way you look at a situation that you might be disappointed in or you might not like or you might be reacting badly too, and just looking at it in a different way and having gratitude for whatever the reason is that that situation is in front of it in front of you and I thought, wow, that's such a easy transition that you can make that makes such a world of difference in the world of your happiness. Yeah, but again, we're also perfectly human, you know, there are moments in our lives, so it's kind of easy to drop it, ok? If I just think about it there's going to be times where we just like, miss it going? Oh, man, I was not grateful in that very moment, and then we just okay, that would just bring awareness to it, and we just move on. We'll place judgment and next time we try and do a little better. But thank you so much for sharing, you know, gratitude. These things could be so simple, but often it's the simple things that we forget that probably is nothing new here, but I'm hopefully bundling it together in a way that can give you a really strong toolbox to pick and choose from evidence based research this's not pie in the sky the's tools these tips these techniques have been proven to elevate a sense of well being and again like we were talking today not everything is going to work for you so if something's not working don't force it maybe we'll try something else emphasize and through different parts of our life different things will work we have five things from zoey's e g move just smile express gratitude to someone like that meditate and take take some action even if it's small I love that I was trying something really profound but that must fulfill what she said you know again sometimes we think that everything has to be big we were told taking action it kind of comes backto habit and well being ah body only likes to do one thing different at a time so a small action step is actually the best action step to take because then guess what that action step will become I have it and then when you've done that action step you add another one I think often make the mistake of thinking okay, I'm gonna change my life going to change everything and all that does a source into panic mode. So what she said is absolutely perfect so thank you for that, yes, but I'm gonna learn to fail and that's gonna have to take some exercise because I'm really good at trying to be the perfect I think so I think that I'm gonna learn a lot from that and then also to reject the self negative talk is gonna give me a lot more fuel to to uh move forward and the other thing is to um better be a benefit seeker so when I have a situation I'm just going to look at the benefit of it and go with that I love that thank you and you buy living that way it's going to just touch every other person that knew touch love that thank you so much anyone else for me it's a big one always it's just feeling the fear and doing it anyway remember it doesn't have to be perfect to make a difference and for me a lot of it comes down to my beliefs my self limiting beliefs that I still have to work on every day because they're tricky little things that sneak up on you jan did you want to share something one of five because I did write the five down but it's gonna watch my words to yourself or to others or other because I think I like you go take over I try to be clever and by being clever I could be being cool money to port I love that thank you jan go jan just e I love that that is that's good work hey anyone else ok so again it's the power of choosing to be in the moment this moment and then the next moment it's being here now, I'm not missing the moment twice, you know, it's so busy missing it take instagramming it, and then we look back. We've missed the moment twice the in that moment, not everything has to be shared. I'm guilty of that, too, and I love this saying this to me is just everything. So if we kind of wrap it up into a box with a big, juicy bow and some jazz hands thrown in some key reminders of what we can do to move into these next few days with a sense of optimism and joy and flourishing is one we've shown express gratitude he's the key components off what leads to a life that is flourishing express gratitude, cultivate optimism and seek the good is when they said be a benefit seeker, not just a find I'm going to go and seek it, nurture relationships with others maybe most most importantly, with yourself fine flo in work and relationships in your passions, whatever it is in your workout, you're not finding flow, get a different work and get out the gym, get into nature, get on a bike, get on a kite, go up the mountain with angela, I do yoga at the top, not forward with a positive outlook, powerful practice, kindness