Just Wonder...

Have you ever stopped to just wonder ‘WHAT if?”

Coming out of a challenging 2017 I decided to make 2018 the year of ‘WONDER’. The year to turn my thoughts, doubts and questioning into just ‘What if?’. What if it works? What if I can? What if they say yes? What if I succeed?

Too often we read into the questioning, we allow it to consume us and prevent us from taking risks, making mistakes and experiencing new things. Well, guess what?! Life is here for us to make mistakes, experience new things, learn, grow and go… ‘shit, I probably shouldn’t have done that but, oh well!’.

Ever wondered what would happen if you pressed send on that application? What would happen if you asked that boy out? What would happen if you said ‘YES!’ even when you are petrified and have no idea HOW you are going to make it happen?

Today celebrates the half way mark in our calendar year. A time where commonly we feel a little worn out, find it hard to see the good and things seem a little tough. It is time to hit pause for a few hours. It is the perfect time to ‘wonder’ and dream about how it will turn out!

So, what should we do to start the journey?

1. Decide what will make the biggest difference to your life right now

What is the number one thing that is holding you back? Are you like me and question everything? Instead of just letting the thought be a thought, and acting on your gut instinct? Are you like the old me and procrastinate? Finding any and every excuse to do something else instead of what you know is right? OR, are you like so many of us that continue to do things to please others, instead of just asking yourself ‘what would I like to do?’. Take some time to sit down and think about (or even better, write down) the answers to these questions. Be sure to spend at least a few minutes on each question before moving on to the next.

• What it is you want to do better or be better at? (Finding it hard to answer this one then rephrase and ask what is it that you would like more of in your life?) Things I personally wrote for this were confidence, making decisions, being bold, believing in me

• Why have you not done it yet? My answers: I doubt, I question, I let fear get in the way

• What else is holding you back? My answers: letting the disbelief and doubt of others get in my way, being too concerned about living up to the expectations of others and not just being ok with what I can do or that it might be different to what has been done before

• What do you need to make it happen? My answers: believe more, do more, back myself and wonder what if

• What might stop you from making it happen? My answers: second guessing, not taking action, being scared

• How can you make sure it does happen? My answers: do more, be more, believe more, write gratitude’s, be strong - physically and mentally, read and educate myself, surround myself with people that challenge me and push me further

• What are the first 5 steps to making the change? My answers: say yes, imagine what if, catch up with mentors, do more yoga, move through the uncomfortable

2. Turn it into one word or a catch phrase

Find one sentence or one word that is at the core of what you want to achieve. What are you going to focus on? As mentioned above my word is ‘WONDER’. You can see it comes up in question four above. Instead of loose weight you might use the phrase ‘feel good’, instead of stop procrastinating you might say ‘get shit done’. Try to make sure it has a positive spin. There has been lots of research done into ‘don’t, means do!’ and the use reverse psychology. For example, instead of telling a child ‘don’t run’ we should say ‘please walk’ you may have noticed across Australia our road signs now read ‘Drive Safe’ instead of ‘don’t drink n’ drive’. Wonder resonated with me and I don’t expect it to resonate with others. The word or phrase you select must mean something to you and be attune to your personality.

3. Imagine what it will be like when you achieve it

Just take a little moment each day to imagine how you would feel in that feel good body, if you were making more time for friends, prioritising fun and or feeling like you had a plan in place to lead you into that next chapter. The most successful people/athletes/leaders in the world use visualisation techniques to help them get to where they want to be.

4. Write down a few action steps

Having specific action steps that we can check off will help us get closer to our goals. Let’s delve deeper into the question answered above ‘What are the first 5 steps to making the change?’. Re-write these five steps and make them specific and with a timeframe. E.g. I could turn my ‘do more yoga’ into head to three yoga classes a week, and ‘catch up with mentors’ to have a coffee a month with a mentor.

5. Put your word, your phrase or your goals somewhere you will be reminded of it daily!

My password to my phone is currently ‘wonder’ (haha I really hope I don’t lose my phone now), every time I need to use it, I am reminded of what I am working towards. You could put yours on your laptop wallpaper, the screensaver on your phone, printed and placed on the toilet door. This daily reminder will help you

There is no time like now to refocus and head towards the life you deserve! It is time to take risks, dream big, wonder what if. Here’s to finishing 2018 with focus.

with LOVE from Bel x