The Shift in Awareness I've Experienced Over the Last Year
It's an inside job, and something all of us do whether we know it or not
Digital watercolor paintings of our grandchildren, Penelope, Aiden, and Ford
Even though I never liked school, I always loved learning what I’m most curious about. Early in my life, I pegged my identity to being an athlete. I was mostly obsessed with playing tennis. But I also played baseball and soccer and skied as a kid growing up in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire.
Since the pandemic, I’ve poured my attention into becoming a better photographer and artist. I scaled back the consulting business focus and wrote a new book, Shift Yourself, Change Your Career: A Practical Guide for Finding Clarity, Purpose, and Prosperity at Work, to help people with their careers.
And even though I sold a bunch of art, I immediately realized the art business is a drag. Same with books, movies, and everything else in the material world.
Why tell you this? Because I’ve been stuck over the last year. I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life, and since I’m not the only one, I’m going to share some insight into my process for figuring out what’s next.
Look, not knowing what’s next can be rough. But it doesn’t have to be when you learn that not knowing is normal. Being okay not knowing is like being okay with not sleeping. Don’t sweat it. Find a process to help yourself be okay, and tap into the infinite power of your subconscious mind to find your way.
Making the most of time
Time is our greatest asset, but most of us let it blow by without being super aware of how to use it well. I know I did until I got older. I have become more intentional about how I use my time and with whom I spend it.
Life is much simpler now. It’s all about cultivating greater self-awareness. For example, ChatGPT tells me I have another 700 to 1,100 weekends to live. That will get your attention if you let it sink in. Time here is precious. It’s a gift. But we blow a lot of it, not knowing what’s next.
How about you? Are you aware and intentional of how you use your time? If not, what’s missing? Do you have a process for thinking through the big questions you’re facing?
If not, I’ll share the process I use for myself and with the few coaching clients I take on.
People can and do change with time
If you feel stuck, it’s okay. I have seen enough people make dramatic changes in their lives to believe some of us can shift ourselves into a higher dimension of consciousness. But we have to become students of the mind, our supercomputer running on autopilot about 90 percent of the time.
Suffering is typically the springboard to change. Suffering can wake us up, motivating us to shift gears with our self-awareness, Intention, and how we invest, not spend, our time.
We learn who we are by learning who we are not
If psychologists are right about how humans think, most of us are on autopilot, driven by cultural programming and mental conditioning. We call it life. We call it success. We call it being responsible.
But a lot of it is the matrix.
Not the science-fiction version with machines and black leather coats. I mean the invisible system of beliefs, fears, expectations, and rewards that tells us who to be, what to want, how to measure ourselves, and when we are allowed to feel successful.
Make more money.
Build the bigger thing.
Get the title.
Grow the audience.
Be impressive.
Stay relevant.
Win.
I bought into plenty of that. I still catch myself buying into it. But I’m less fooled by it now.
For example, I have learned I am not my business. I am not my bank account. I am not my LinkedIn profile. I am not my subscriber count. I am not my past success. I am not my failures either.
I am also not the scared kid trying to prove himself through sports, sales, writing, consulting, coaching, or any other form of achievement.
I am a man trying to become more conscious before the weekends run out.
Anyone can make the shift, given the desire to find their way
Without a process to find our way and some faith, it’s really easy to get lost. I’ve been stuck plenty of times. It’s not fun.
Knowing who we are is the key to knowing what is next. But that requires courage to try different things in life. And to have a process you can count on.
That’s where my Clarity S.H.I.F.T. Method™ has helped me process what I’m feeling, thinking, and choosing. Figuring out what’s next happens at various stages of life for all of us. It works for people, teams, and entire organizations seeking alignment and direction.
Here’s a snapshot of my five steps to shift and find answers to the big questions like, “What do I want to do next with my life?”
Self-Awareness asks, “What is really happening inside me?”
Higher Understanding asks, “What is the bigger truth I may not be seeing?”
Introspection asks, “What am I attached to, afraid of, or avoiding?”
Focused Intention asks, “Who am I choosing to become now?”
Transformation asks, “What is the next honest action?”
That process has become less of a business framework for me and more of a way to live.
When I slow down enough to use it, I can see my attachments more clearly. I can see when ambition is healthy and when it becomes hunger. I can see when I’m creating from love and when I’m trying to earn approval from people who may never care.
That’s a hard truth
But the hard truth is usually where freedom begins.
A rich life, at least to me now, is not measured first by money. Money matters. Freedom matters. Security matters. I’m not pretending otherwise.
But the older I get, the more I believe we measure wealth by the quality use of time. Let’s look at it as the art of life.
Time with my wife.
Time with my children and grandchildren.
Time in good health.
Time walking, riding my bike, reading, praying, writing, learning, serving, laughing, and being fully present with the people I love.
Time not spent chasing some false finish line.
That may be the point of life as I understand it today.
To know who we are by knowing who we are not.
To become intentional about who we are becoming.
To break free from the conditioning that keeps us performing instead of living.
To use our remaining time wisely.
To love well.
To stay healthy enough to enjoy the gift.
To keep learning.
To keep letting go.
To keep shifting.
I don’t have all this figured out. I’m still in the middle of it. Maybe that’s the point, too.
Therein lies the purpose of life
The purpose of life may not be to arrive at some final answer. It’s love life, even though it’s hard for all of us. It’s to wake up, one layer at a time, until we can finally tell the difference between what the world told us to want and what our soul actually came here to do.
How about you?
I’m an author, artist, and mentor. Discover the power of the Clarity S.H.I.F.T. Method® for improving your career, business, and life at www.CliffordJones.com.