Dipping Your Toes into Surface-Level Awareness
First up – getting a general idea of what you want. No need to exquisitely defined it or dive deep in exploration. Let’s simply begin with the classic route to desire.
If I get [X], I will be happy!
“Lee! It’s a trap!” I hear you cry. Yes yes, you’ve passed the first test, but we’re at the surface level right now. It’s okay to be pedestrian at this point. What will make you happy right now, if you were to attain it?
If you’ve been through your onboarding, you probably already know this – great! If not, give it some thought before we continue.
X = Happiness, but Y?
If I get [X], then I will be happy. But why? At the surface level, desires are all too often clouded by external factors, societal expectations, our past… the list goes on.
Perhaps you want a nice car. Why? Nice cars provide freedom, thrill, status, image. It could act as a reminder of a memory – nostalgia. So you dig deeper – why do you want that first level satisfaction?
Freedom can be desired to move us. Thrill can be desired to excite us. Status can be desired to attract. Image can be desired to impress. At this second level, we find the car is a tool to attain something.
Where do you want to move to? Why do you desire to become excited? Who do you want to attract or impress? We come back to the surface level of another pond.
Yes, understanding your desires is a dynamic process. See it as a spiral staircase, one where we seem to move in circles. If we look forward, it will appear as though we’ve moved nowhere. But look up or down, and we can see how far we’ve come.
Time to ascend the staircase…
Head to the trusty “Take Notes” platform, list out the desires which pass the ‘why’ test, date it and let’s continue.