do what you love Page 29 of 81

Zen for Ten {Day 9} BE ALL OF YOU

day 9

Ponder this

In our lives we play many roles – mother, wife, daughter, husband, father, son, friend, confidante, lover, teacher. But none of those alone is who you are.

You are a unique combination of your genes, background, culture, experiences, environment, influences, memories, dreams, emotions, kindnesses, skills, strengths, attitudes and so many other things. And your unique personality is made up of many parts. It can sometimes seem strange that you love to party but like to be alone, or you are physically adventurous but terrified of talking in public.

Some stages of our lives (and the people in them) nurture certain aspects of us, and other aspects get buried, forgotten about, hidden. The world needs you to be all of you – and for that you need to know yourself.

To do what you love you need to do what feels right, do what feels good, and do what feels like YOU.

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Zen for Ten {Day 8} TRAVEL LIGHT

day 8

Ponder this

All of us carry around a backpack full of emotional baggage from relationships, mistakes, bad experiences, painful memories. What if you could reflect on the things that have happened to you, but not hold onto them? What if you could move forward with a light step and happy heart? That is what travelling light is all about.

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Is this you? (Unveiling our brand new whiteboard animation…)

When you were young everyone said, “Dream big, you can be anything you want when you grow up.”

Maybe you believed those words. Maybe you had a dream. But then you got older, and responsibilities got in the way.

Now you find yourself trapped in a life you don’t love, with jobs to do, and bills to pay, with not enough time to think, let alone dream.

Is this you? Well it doesn’t have to be this way.

Watch our short new whiteboard animation and get inspired:

Ready to start doing what you love? Join our flagship online course ‘Do What You Love(starts April 28) and start making those changes in your life.

Like the animation? Think it will inspire anyone you know? Please share it with your friends, linking to https://dowhatyouloveforlife.com (or embed it directly from Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/90958146). Thank you for helping encourage others to do what they love!

Zen for Ten {Day 7} WALK (BAREFOOT)

 day 7

Ponder this

Doing what you love is not a final destination. It is a way of life. And in order to experience a different way of life from the one you have, you will need to make a host of different changes. Exactly what they are will depend on your particular circumstances, and what ‘doing what you love’ means to you. But in every case, it is a journey where every single step counts. And the most important step of all is the first one. You have to BEGIN.

The truth is you will be vulnerable as you set out to do what you love. You will have fears, both rational and irrational, and not everyone will support you. There will be tough times along the way, but there will also be joy and exhilaration. And you will be living. Every experience of being truly alive happens when you strip back the gloss, bring down the walls and open yourself up to what is happening. In that sense, the road to doing what you love is best walked barefoot, so you can feel every step.

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Zen for Ten {Day 6} BE A BEGINNER

day 6

Ponder this

How do you know if you are going to love doing something if you have never tried it? So to do what you love, you need to be prepared to be a beginner.

If you make a leap to something new and different, it is inevitable that there will be things you need to learn. And the fact is, you are not going to get it completely right first time. That is just something you need to accept.

You can either come at it with a stubborn, frustrated, closed mind, or you can come at it as a hopeful beginner, willing, open and ready to learn. (Hint: The latter always gets better results). Once you know what you don’t know, and you commit to learning it, that is half the battle won. Consider new challenges as stepping stones to doing what you love, and suddenly they seem a whole lot more exciting.

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Zen for Ten {Day 5} FOCUS

day 5

Ponder this

Often, when we are on the cusp of a major change, our heads are awash with ideas and we have no idea where to start. We can find ourselves going round and round in circles, talking ourselves into something, and then talking ourselves out of it. We can get so excited about the prospect of doing something different, that we take a scattergun approach and don’t actually move forward with anything significant. If you feel like that it’s time to focus.

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Zen for Ten {Day 4} OPEN YOUR EYES

 day 4

Ponder this

Are you paying attention to your life? Do you stand by and observe things happening to you, or do you truly see your life, and play an active part in it? Do you remember what you did yesterday, last week, last month, this time last year?

Are you taking the time to notice the beauty in the world around you? To find pleasure in simple things? To reconnect with what used to make you happy?

Are you curious about the world? Do you give your mind enough time to ponder, investigate and discover? When was the last time you felt awe and wonder?

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Zen for Ten {Day 3} CLOSE YOUR EYES

 day 3

Ponder this

Often closing off one sense can heighten other senses. The same can be said for the sixth sense – intuition.

Sometimes shutting off outside noise, and really concentrating on what is within can help us tune into our intuition more closely, and help us navigate through to where we want to be. Often we consider ‘passion’ to embody something active and exciting, but sometimes it is best recognised in a quiet place where you can feel your heart quicken, notice your temperature rise, taste a sense of delight, and lose all sense of time. Often discovering what you love is less about reinventing yourself, and more about finding yourself – the self that is already there. Close your eyes and listen to what you have to say.

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Zen for Ten {Day 2} MAKE SPACE + SIMPLIFY

day 2

Ponder this

Modern life encourages us to acquire ever more stuff. Better cars, more clothes, the latest gadgets. And oftenwe hang on to all the bits and pieces we have accumulated without any real need for them. The result is that our homes – which should be our sanctuaries – become stuffed with plastic and metal, or become shrines to our past.

If you are not doing what you love right now, that means something has to change. And for that to happen, you have to make space for something new. If you are surrounded by stuff and constant reminders of the life you have been leading up until now, it is very hard for your mind to embrace fresh ideas, expanded possibilities, new dreams. Having a life detox – however simple or radical – can work wonders for you. Make space for possibility, minimise distractions and open your mind.

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My Zen for Ten Day 1

ZEN FOR TEN DAY 1: Today is all about slowing down and breathing. After seemingly non-stop craziness since Sienna was born just over three months ago, boy do I need this!

So… we have booked ourselves into a spa, moved most of the to-do list to next week and are committed to taking it easy this week.

I have been playing around with the photography apps on my iPhone and am in love with the Diana app. I am going to spend lots of time taking pictures during my Zen for Ten, as it really calms me down and makes me notice more. Here’s my Diana app picture of Sienna + cherry blossom.

Sienna