3 Ways to Use the Force to Create Your Dream Life

The question I’ve been pondering this last week is:

How can you use the Force to move yourself closer to your goals & purpose?

EMBRACE THE DARK SIDE OF THE FORCE:

Jealousy, anger, envy, resentment, and fear are just a few examples of dark emotions. They don’t feel good. Some people can get really uncomfortable with these emotions. But when these emotions come, it is your soul’s way of getting your attention — usually from past trauma or shame.

What you can do:

Increase your self awareness, and take a moment to go inward before you react. Ask yourself these questions to practice discernment [instead of a knee-jerk reaction]:

• What is the emotion I’m feeling right now? Make sure you watch your self talk. Replace “I’m angry” with something like “I notice that I’m feeling angry at this moment.”
• Why am I feeling this emotion? What is the story behind this emotion?
• What is a response to this emotion that serves me? This one can be more difficult, because it’s not just thinking about what you think — but changing your behavior in the moment.
• What is true to ME? People can and will say mean things to you, leave hurtful comments on social media, or make jokes at your expense or even about people you love. But you have to ask yourself what is true to YOU. If someone says you’re ugly, are you going to internalize that to mean that you’re ugly? Are you going to let the opinion of someone ELSE dictate how you feel about you?

NOTICE THE GOOD SIDE OF THE FORCE:

Over 80% of our automatic thoughts are negative. Not only that, but we’re wired as human beings to notice things that might be wrong — it’s a built-in survival technique in our brains. This can make it difficult to appreciate the positive things that happen.

What you can do:

• Celebrate your small wins by breaking a big goal into a bunch of tiny micro-goals. As you celebrate each small win, you’ll find yourself building momentum and confidence.
• Start a gratitude journal. It can be written or through an app on your phone or on your computer, however you do it, it can and will shift your perspective if you start to practice gratitude DAILY. I started one almost 2 years ago, and what I found is that no matter what is going on in my life, there are things I’m grateful for each and every day. Don’t take those things for granted; take the time to appreciate the small and simple things, like having a delicious meal with a loved one or seeing the sunset.
• Write things down. Goals, plans, dreams, what you’re grateful for, all of it. So many people stay in their heads, and their good ideas never come to fruition. Write down a list of goals for the next 12 months, or even the next week. Find a way to keep track of your goals, what you’re grateful for, your progress, etc. and it will become easier to see the good side of the force.

UNDERSTAND THE FORCE OF YOUR ENVIRONMENT:

When I say “environment”, I don’t just mean your home, school, and/or job. I also mean the PEOPLE that you surround yourself with. Your physical environment and your social environment can have an unconscious impact on you, and it’s up to YOU to make sure it’s an impact that is moving you forward.

What you can do:

• Stay away from people and relationships that are not serving you. Do you feel emotionally drained after hanging out with certain people? How are you changing because of a certain friendship? How is it impacting your life, your perspective, and your goals? Is it building you up or is it bringing you down? Start to let go of those toxic relationships that are not making you become the best version of yourself.
• Clean up! Now, here I am talking about your physical environment. Do you have a lot of clutter? Is it hard to find things in your house? Personally, I find it hard to study when my apartment is a mess. I just look around and see all these things that need to get done, and then suddenly feel overwhelmed and almost paralyzed. Make sure everything has a place, and make it a habit to put things back and tidy regularly.
• Move on from toxic work environments. This one can be a little bit tricky, as this is your livelihood, and most people don’t have the luxury of just quitting a job that has a bad boss or toxic manager or systemic policies that don’t serve the employees of the company. Be practical, but know your worth and consider your mental and emotional health and wellness a priority.

There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and it will be lost. — Martha Graham