Taken out of context, I must seem so strange.
– Ani DiFranco
Let’s get right to the secret formula for improving your life: if you want to change your life, change how you and others think about what you do. You’ll notice that I did not mention anything about what you actually do or what you have faith in or even what you say. I am more interested today in helping you discover your distinctive legend – what you think about how you behave, what you imagine, and how you speak! Keep reading and you’ll quickly realize that the manner in which you take on the day, how others interact with you, how you perceive yourself, what others notice about you, and how you appreciate your reality all originate from the indelible myth you have set for your life! In other words, let’s take a trip together and come to deeply understand the message of your life.
So, how do you magically construct circumstances and events that will precisely cast your life saga in the light you want yourself and others to see, appreciate, and foster?
CASTING THE THEME OF YOUR LIFE
STEP ONE: SUMMARIZE YOUR LIFE IN ONE WORD
Take an imaginary trip with me for a moment. Pretend we are together on an outing and run into someone just like you. They look like you. They dress like you. They have the same job. They speak like you. And they have the same past, baggage, loves, likes, successes, and failures as you. Yes . . . you have a twin! If you got to know this person really well, what is the one word you would use to passionately describe this individual to someone else? What is the judgment you make about this person as a whole? What word will convey this person’s approach to life, their character, and their personality?
CAUTION: Many people flounder with this first step! If you aren’t precise at this initial stage, any blunder will affect the rest of the exercise. BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF!
EXAMPLE: To describe his life, one person – we’ll call him John – said, Struggling.
STEP TWO: CREATE AN ESSENTIAL POINT FROM YOUR ONE WORD
Take the word you invented in Step One, expand upon it and create a bold, captivating, and deadly honest sentence that describes the person you encountered as we started out on this journey! You might begin your sentence with “[YOUR NAME] is the story of . . .” To make the sentence even more riveting, include something about your struggle and how you could be fulfilled.
This gives you an inescapable clue to how others view you and, likely, the underlying opinion you have of yourself. These first two steps are absolutely critical to creating the theme you want for you life; if you don’t know where you are, you can’t accurately guide where you are going!
EXAMPLE: John created this for himself – John is the story of one man’s struggle to be free from his past and become successful.
STEP THREE: SUMMARIZE THE LIFE YOU WANT TO HAVE IN ONE WORD
Just as you did in Step One, you are coming up with a single word. This time, though, the word should symbolize the life you want to have (rather than where you are now or where you came from).
EXAMPLE: John sees a future where he is Victorious!
STEP FOUR: DESIGN THE MESSAGE FOR YOUR FUTURE
Choose a sentence that now powerfully conveys the purpose you want your life to have. And, create it in the first person! This is not a simple restatement of what you developed in the first two steps. No, indeed. This is where you create a compelling story that recounts the potential you want to follow and the resolution your want to achieve. This message should clearly and concisely show the movement you are now making towards the life of your dreams.
Example: John said, To gain the success I must have, I am setting in motion a plan that involves hard work and effort because I know this will give me freedom.
STEP FIVE: VALIDATE YOUR NEW LIFE THEME
Having made it through the first three steps, you want to now ensure you maintain this new context for you life. Choose what you do, say, and believe in order to create happenings and situations that provide you the opportunity to validate your design for the future. In John’s case, for example, he needs – he must – put forward the work and effort (his words) that will allow him to be a success. This is all about creating customs and practices that advance your life goal. Don’t be surprised, by the way, if you start seeing changes in your friends and family as you endorse your new life course.
Casting The Theme Of Your Life is all about how you make solid, explicit, and liberating choices. Gone are the days when you had to toil under someone else’s dreams and desires.
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SCOTT GROSSBERG thinkingmagically.com 
I don’t like my life. It’s already been three years of life changing struggle for me. But still, no obvious changes.
Louse – One of my favorite quotes comes from Virginia Satir. She wrote, “Life is not what it’s supposed to be. It’s what it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference.” Many of the Thinking Magically concepts are based around this very thing – transforming and redirecting the way you view your life. I wonder if you sat down and really wrote out what’s different now than it was three years ago, whether you will find that there have indeed been changes. Perhaps they have just gone unnoticed . . . until now! All my best. – Scott
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