Assignment 1- Part 1: “Five Wishes”

Assignment 1- Part 1: “Five Wishes”

When you are working on this assignment, it is important that you are a hundred percent truthful to yourself. This assignment is to help you know yourself better and start taking action towards your goals.

Question: Imagine that you are on your deathbed decades from now. I stand by your deathbed and look you right in the eyes and ask you the following question, “What would be the things you’d wish had happened that would have made your life a success to you?” For example, J. Paul Getty, who at the time was the wealthiest man in the world, said on his deathbed that he’d gladly give up all his millions for one experience of marital happiness. Please write down five wishes. What would be the things you’d wish had happened that would have made your life a success to you? If you have more than five wishes, you are welcome to write down those as well.

Trust the still small voice within you to provide you with the answers you need. This moment is all the time you need to answer this question for now. You can re-visit this document later and update your response in the future.

When you are writing down your wishes, please put them in the perspective of your deathbed. In other words, please put them in the past tense. Also, as you write down each of your wishes, write down why each wish is important to you. Once you write down your wishes and why they are important to you, turn your wishes into goals by putting them in the present tense as if they are happening at this moment. Once you write down your goals, think of whether these are the things that you genuinely want. Are these the things that you are truly willing to commit yourself to, body and soul? Then, write down your commitment to making these wishes come true.

In addition, please make sure that your genuine wishes are as specific as you can make them be. For example, if you want to open your own business, it might be better to wish for a successful business rather than just a business. If you would like to be employed at a new job, it might be better to wish to be happily and gainfully employed rather than just to be employed. In another example, if you would like to get married, it might be better to wish to be married to the right person rather than just get married to whomever. If you would like to make new friends, it might be better to wish for great friends rather than just friends. If you make your wishes specific, it will be easier for you to figure out what to do and how to get to your wish.

Here is an example below. Please feel free to follow the same format as you are working on the assignment. In fact, you can use this very document to complete your assignment!

Example:

Wish # 1

Wish #1: For my life to have been a success, I wish I’d a job that I genuinely loved.

Here are the reasons why this wish is important to me… (Please put your reasons here!)

Goal # 1: My life is a total success because I’m now thriving in a job that I genuinely love and that gives me so much joy, happiness, satisfaction, and opportunity to help and contribute to the lives of others.

Wish # 2

Wish # 2: For my life to have been a success, I wish I’d found my love mate/soul mate.

Here are the reasons why this wish is important to me… (Please put your reasons here!)

Goal # 2: My life is a total success because I’m now thriving in a loving relationship with my love mate/ soul mate.

Wish # 3

Wish # 3: For my life to have been a success, I wish I’d explored all my strengths, skill sets, and areas I am passionate about and utilized these to contribute to the human kind.

Here are the reasons why this wish is important to me… (Please put your reasons here!)

Goal # 3: My life is a total success because I’ve been identifying and living out all my strengths, skill sets, and areas I am passionate about and utilizing them to contribute to the human kind.

Wish # 4

Wish # 4: For my life to have been a success, I wish I’ve been genuinely happy, relaxed, and played passionately all the way through.

Here are the reasons why this wish is important to me… (Please put your reasons here!)

Goal # 4: My life is a total success because I’m genuinely happy, relaxed, and playing passionately all the way through.

Wish # 5

Wish # 5: For my life to have been a success, I wish I’ve become a very successful musician.

Here are the reasons why this wish is important to me… (Please put your reasons here!)

Goal # 5: My life is a total success because I’m a very successful musician.

Wish # 6

Wish # 6: For my life to have been a success, I wish I’ve taken good care of my body and health.

Here are the reasons why this wish is important to me… (Please put your reasons here!)

Goal # 6: My life is a total success because I take care of my body and health.

Commitment

Hereby, I commit myself, body and soul, to realizing these wishes I laid out. I am willing to do the action steps necessary to start realizing my goals today.

Turning in Your Assignment

Before you turn in your assignment, make sure that you have a dated copy for your records. In this way, you can refer back to your document in the future and see what your genuine wishes and goals were at the time and see if you need to make any necessary updates.

Important Note 1: While you are completing this assignment, if emotions stir inside you or if you experience limiting beliefs (e.g., I am not smart enough to…, I don’t have enough money to…, I have to wait until…, Before I can…), simply welcome them regardless of the type of emotions and limiting beliefs you experience. All you need to do is say “welcome” to these emotions and limiting beliefs, identify what they are, experience them in a welcoming way, and think about where you may have picked up these limiting beliefs. There is a great benefit in welcoming your emotions and limiting beliefs into the light: once they are revealed to you, they lose their grip on you. Once you identify what has been holding you back from achieving your wishes (i.e., “what experiences or tendencies in your past have led to your limiting beliefs”), then you can move on to achieving them.

Important Note 2: Some items in your wish list may be things you can do something about right now, while others may take some time to put into place. For example, one of your wishes may be to complete your undergraduate education, for which you may have to do some work before that wish could become a reality. However, there may be wishes that you have, for which you may be able to do something about right away. If you come across limiting beliefs (e.g., I don’t think I am ready to…, I need so many things before I can start working on this…), once again welcome them, identify where they are coming from, and then let go of them. Then, you will be on your way to start taking action steps to realize your wishes.

Important Note 3: Once you write down your five wishes, please keep in mind that this is an organic document in the sense that it is important for you to stay open to further modifying your wishes as you move through life. So, feel free to make small adjustments so that they’ll fit better. However, before replacing a wish make sure that you are not replacing it because you believe it is too hard to accomplish. If it were not hard to accomplish, would you still want it? If the answer is yes, then you may want to consider keeping the wish.

Source of assignment: Adapted from “Five Wishes: How Answering One Simple Question Can Make Your Dreams Come True” by Gay Hendricks, 2007. To read the story behind this assignment and to acquire more information about realizing your wishes, please feel free to refer to this book.

Assignment 1 – Part 2: “The Passion of Life”

Step 1:

First, list all of your natural strengths, skills, and talents. Please remember that there is no talent or skill that is too small or too big. There is no talent or skill that is unimportant. Put down as many as you can. Also, be as specific as you can. Also, please feel free to ask others that you trust and feel close to, to help you identify your natural strengths, skills, and talents.

E.g.,

Using logic to solve every-day problems

Remaining calm in emergency situations

Teaching on the following topics

Writing on the following topics

Public speaking on the following topics

Taking apart and putting back together gadgets and parts such as…

Computer software

Talking

Giving advice

Step 2:

Second, list all of your interest areas that you are passionate about.

E.g.,

Solving problems

Teaching on the following topics

Writing on the following topics

Talking on the following topics

Writing on poverty

Singing

Volunteering

Step 3:

Third, identify the commonalities between your first list and second list. Specifically, what are the natural skills, talents, and strengths that you are also passionate about? Then, write in the present tense how you would love to spend your life (imagine that you have no money or other concerns. You can do what you want to do) on a day-to-day basis by using these strength and skill areas that you are passionate about. Then, take your answer to the previous question and answer the following question. How can you make money and sustain yourself while you are doing what you love and what comes naturally to you? Please, devise a way to do that to the best of your ability.

Turning in Your Assignment

Before you turn in your assignment, make sure that you have a dated copy for your records.

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