The MONTHLY Motivator - August 2012

Imagine the best and then do it

A life filled with meaningful success and fulfillment can be boiled down to a deceptively simple strategy: Imagine the best and then do it. It’s simple, but not necessarily easy. Sure, it’s easy to say. Yet it can take enormous amounts of intention, dedication and commitment to execute. Just knowing the formula won’t make it work. And yet, knowing and remembering this simple strategy can help to keep you focused and purposeful.

You are highly capable, but capable of what? The answer to that question is at the same time powerful and daunting. You are highly capable of doing whatever you set your mind upon doing. That’s indeed powerful. It’s also a massive responsibility. You are capable of doing whatever you set your mind upon doing, and so it naturally follows that you are responsible for determining precisely what that is. Once you do so, then you are also responsible for living the moments of your life in such a way that brings about whatever you have chosen to do. It is in accepting and living out the reality of that responsibility that you fulfill your own unique purpose in life.

Imagination seems like an easy thing, and the mechanics of it are certainly easy enough. Imagination has come naturally to you ever since you were a small child. It’s something you can do instantly and in any circumstance. As you have become more experienced at living your life, your ability to imagine has become more refined and in fact more powerful than it has ever been. The essence of a successful imagination, however, is not in the process of imagination. That’s the easy part, and anyone can do it. What really matters is the content of your imagination, and that’s where things become more challenging.

Do you worry much? Worry is nothing more than imagination. But worry does not imagine the best. Worry imagines the worst. Worry feels like it comes naturally, precisely because it utilizes your imagination, which does indeed come naturally. However, worry is a learned behavior. It is not a natural consequence of your life or of your circumstances. Worry is a choice. It is something you can choose to do with your imagination. And it is usually a very disabling and wasteful choice. It’s also something you can choose not to do.

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--Ralph Marston

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