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Good morning fam!
I thought I’d use this week’s letter to address “future you” in case “present you” is a bit busy.
Over the past several years I’ve pulled back from a “busy” life in order to create an “intentional” one… that transition was both the greatest momentum I could’ve given myself and hard dose of reality about how we run our days, our lives, our priorities or even running with our soul.
The most basic and fundamental question you could ask yourself…
What do you want?
What do your really, truly and utterly want deep within your soul?
This question can seem so simple at first, but once you open it up, you realize it has so many deeper layers to unravel about your purpose, your values, your visions and your dreams.
The fact is, you already know deep down in your soul what’s waiting for you…
You know what’s for you, what feels right, what feels aligned and what feels authentic to you…
But have you sat with those feelings?
I ask this because future you and present you must meet at the intersection of your knowing and your behavior that aligns with that knowing.
How do you walk in purpose towards a vision, live in the present throughout the process and behave the way future you would behave?
Three fundamental truths:
You need to take time to ask yourself what it is you truly want so clarity becomes part of your process.
You cannot walk into what you want unless what you do aligns with it.
The things and people that are good for you require you to show up even when you’re not that person yet.
Let’s dive a little deeper into each of those.👇🏼
What Do You Truly Want
A year and a half ago I was blessed with an exercise called, The Average Perfect Day.
In short, it’s a series of about 25 questions to feel through what an average day in your life would look like. (TEXT ME HERE if you want me to send you the questions)
The questions require you to journal your answers as thoroughly as you can, taking your time to feel it from your soul.
Why is this exercise so powerful?
Because it’s asking you to…
a.) go further into the details of your life while removing the limits that you’ve either placed on yourself or the busy-ness that has overtaken your day to day activities.
and,
b.) reverse engineer your current daily activities (business & life) so you can move more intentionally into your future self.
On the contrary to how society is set up… complex, anxious, busy and consuming…
we are actually here to thrive… intentionally, simply, calmly and creatively.
I’ve spent time with people who seem to have health, wealth, peace, happiness, joy and personal freedom and here’s what I’ve learned from them:
They got clear on what a “good” life looks like for them and removed everything that wasn’t aligned with it.
They consumed a lot less while mastering a few key passions, which in turn yielded them far greater returns financially, spiritually, emotionally and physically.
They run their days by knowing their priorities and directing their time, energy and money accordingly.
They’re not immune to life’s tougher moments or hardships, but they’re more prepared to handle them because of their clarity and direction.
They keep good people around them, often better than them, so they can keep growing into the people they’re here to be.
They act with love, create with critical thinking, respond with grace, answer with a question and hold themselves and everyone around them accountable.
And while these are just a few observations, the bigger picture here is, we are all entitled to what we work for… we simply have to have an idea of what kind of work we want to do.
The work is walking in what you want👇🏼
Walk In What You Want
This is about as simple as it comes.
I hear people ask me how they get the job they want, the partner they want, the money they want, the body they want and everything else they could desire.
The short answer is you walk in it.
What you want in life, and in others, is what you want in yourself.
Knowing what you want is a great start to helping you look at what activities are you currently doing with your time that are aligned with that life.
Everything else must go.
And the irony is, I also see a lot of people get what they want, but not sustain it because they a.) don’t realize that what’s in front of them is to be consistently worked for, and b.) what you want is a responsibility that you’ll be growing through for the rest of your life… choose your “hard” my friends.
Whatever it is that most resonates with your soul, be respectful enough to show up for it everyday so you can walk in it.
You won’t be perfect and you won’t do everything right… that’s a fact… but walking in it shows both humility and a championship mindset.
In fact, most often you’re called to step into a role you’re still becoming.👇🏼
Show Up Even When You’re Not That Person Yet.
I briefly mentioned this above, but a lot of people believe they can’t have what they want until they have met all of this internal or external criteria.
That’s actually false thinking.
When we walk into the things we want most, we are actually being called to step up our game.
This is where a lot of people will “self-sabotage” voluntarily or involuntarily.
Something or someone really good walks into their life, which is what they want, but instead of being vulnerable and willing to do whatever it takes to show up for it, they find ways to push it away and then wonder why things don’t work out.
Don’t be that person.
What you want requires you to show up for it even when you’re not fully that person yet… because that’s how you become it.
TL;DR
The most basic and fundamental question you can ask yourself is what do you truly want.
Knowing what you want creates clarity. Clarity guides your process.
You cannot walk into what you want unless what you do aligns with it.
Stay close to people who figured out health, wealth, happiness, peace and personal freedom.
The things and people that are good for you require you to show up even when you’re not that person yet.
Your work is to rise to the occasion when good people or things come… that’s how you receive what you want.
Read this week’s Simplify, Multiply, Diversify below…👇🏼
SIMPLIFY…
Everything you want is real. It’s you who has to show up for it.
Translation:
When your calling keeps providing, respect it by showing up.
MULTIPLY…
Walk with people who share similar dreams and visions with you. You may just be creating more than you could have ever imagined.
DIVERSIFY…
Plan in decades, live in moments. (Zach Pogrob)
Know what kind of life you want to have.
Create a vision that takes you decades down the road.
Build in the present towards that vision so you’ll never really be lost 😉
Live in the present so you are reminded of how beautiful it all really is.
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🤯🤯🤯 I don’t even know where to start with this letter. This letter is raw & potent as fuck!! I truly felt like I was getting a good pep talk/scolding (in the best way) from my higher self. The audios are a MUST listen!!! 🔥🔥
I love how you kept reiterating “you/we already know.” Our hearts know, our souls know. Surrendering to that knowing is where you allow yourself to be fully supported by the divine. Releasing the humanness of wanting to know the how.
I love the self inquiry piece here as well. Self awareness is the key to making any significant changes. Once we have that self awareness we get to choose to make a different choice that will promote growth or make the same choices and in turn stay the same.
So so good!! Thank you Matt! 💚🙏🏼
I love that you say, “we’re called to step into a role we’re still becoming.”
That can feel scary, and because of that our thoughts (doubt, fear, overwhelm) can easily hold us back from moving full speed ahead.
I think most of us need to get super clear, like you mentioned, but also be ok with the fact that what we’re able to put out into the world just as we are, the “imperfect stuff” that’s actually quite perfect, is part of our “becoming” and gets us ready for the bigger stuff.
Imperfect action that’s heart centered will never be wrong. We just need to start and continue looking forward.
Thanks for sharing your wisdom!
Looking forward to your next newsletter!