Читать книгу By Example: Twelve Personal Missions That Will Maximize Your Human Potential - Travis Slone - Страница 17

Designate three sessions this week to complete the following exercises.

DAY ONE: If you relate well to music, then look up the song ‘A Letter to Me’ by Brad Paisley, and listen to the words. To begin, think about your past self for a minute or two. Consider zoning in on who you were during or prior to some major obstacle in your previous life. Perhaps you are still in the midst of that challenge. You can go back as far as you wish. Now, write a letter from your present self to your past self. Make it personal, and make it count. Would your past self have any useful words about who you are now? If so, what would he or she say? If you are willing and able, write the following statement in your journal, and then read it aloud, “I accept my past for what it has been. Today is an opportunity to improve my past, for my actions on this day will become my past tomorrow.”

DAY TWO: Think about your future self for a minute or two. What will you be like 12 weeks, 12 months, or 12 years from today if you continue on your current path? Now imagine you could change anything about the way you live starting with today (which you can), and the result would be your ideal future self. Now, write a letter from that future self to your present self. Provide advice, warning, assurance, or encouragement as your future self would deem necessary. Make it personal, and consider changes that you might make based on this exercise. How might your present self respond? Finally, If you are willing and able, write the following statement in your journal and then read it aloud, “What has yet to occur, cannot be taken from me. I will strive to live by example, and adapt myself in healthy ways to this ever-changing world.”

DAY THREE: Using the insights gained during the first two exercises, summarize your own life story up until today. Can you accept this as reality, and begin this journey from here? Are you satisfied with who you are, and the legacy you would leave if your life ended today? What changes would you like to make, if any? As we continue, keep your story in mind. Consider what might make your true story more interesting and inspiring to both yourself and others. Finally, put a reminder in your phone or on your calendar to come back and re-write the story once you have finished all three phases of this adventure. How you tell it, and how it ends, are up to you. Just keep it truthful, and be honest with yourself. Use what you have to create a story that you can be proud of.