{"id":36656,"date":"2015-11-11T22:23:53","date_gmt":"2015-11-12T06:23:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=36656"},"modified":"2015-11-14T19:49:38","modified_gmt":"2015-11-15T03:49:38","slug":"5-difficult-yet-surefire-steps-lead-exciting-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-difficult-yet-surefire-steps-lead-exciting-life\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Difficult Yet Surefire Steps to Lead an Exciting Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p><\/p>\n<p>As a kid, I indulged in games. Then, life happened.<\/p>\n<p>Everything became more serious. I then got my first job.<\/p>\n<p>Work was fun&#8230; for a while. After a few years in different positions, I ended up in a rut.<\/p>\n<p>I worked long hours in a stressful environment. The job wasn&#8217;t fulfilling or fun. I was exhausted.<\/p>\n<p>At the week-end, I wasn&#8217;t mentally present with my wife. Our relationship got tense.<\/p>\n<p>I had to stop and reflect. I asked myself the following questions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What do I want in life?<\/li>\n<li>What excites me?<\/li>\n<li>What cause am I ready to fight for?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I figured out that having fun, playing and taking life as a game was important to me. Also, I was ready to fight for everyone&#8217;s freedom to explore and control their life.<\/p>\n<p>There and then, I decided to design a life that would excite me. I started a process of exploration and trial. Here are the steps I took.<\/p>\n<p>If you follow this process, you will be able to find what excites you and then, redesign your life.<\/p>\n<h2>1. What excites you?<\/h2>\n<p>The more you practice a skill, the better you get at it. When you stop using that skill, you will revert back to normal.<\/p>\n<p>Your brain is plastic, it adapts to your needs. This changes you.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s how it works:<\/p>\n<p>As your perceive the world through your brain, a change in its structure can shift your perspective. In short, if you have stopped doing what excites you, your connection to those things will weaken. The good news is: you can re-awaken them.<\/p>\n<p>To find out what excites you, you need introspection.<\/p>\n<p>Look inside yourself to retrieve what has been laying dormant. Go back to your childhood:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What did you do when you were 10 years old that you could spend hours on?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Write down what you find, as many activities as you can remember.<\/p>\n<p>Don&#8217;t worry if some activities sound silly, just write them down. Your adult brain is judgmental, so you need to stop it from judging if you want to re-awaken your passion.<\/p>\n<p>Spend as much time as you need. Get your list.<\/p>\n<h2>2. Explore<\/h2>\n<p>Pure introspection is only the starting point. It provides your canvas. Now, you need to start painting.<\/p>\n<p>Painting means doing, exploring.<\/p>\n<p>I naively thought I could find my passion by thinking things through. I was dead wrong.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, I then took action and started exploring. I approach exploring like a role-playing game. I experiment with different roles and quests until I find what gives me a kick.<\/p>\n<p>Exploration is how you transform a concept into a product. When you find you love games, how do you bring it into your life, past the playing part?<\/p>\n<p>This is the best part:<\/p>\n<p>I started exploring by writing articles about Virtual Reality. Through this experience, I discovered I could use my learning and analysis skills to help people. This is what I am doing right now.<\/p>\n<p>The gaming part hasn&#8217;t disappeared. I am always figuring out how I can use my gaming experience to help people create the lifestyle they want.<\/p>\n<p>Once you have ideas that excite you, start exploring. Try things out, even if some of it might seem crazy to you now.<\/p>\n<p>You will have to face your fears and do what is uncomfortable. In discomfort, you&#8217;ll learn a lot about yourself and what you are capable of.<\/p>\n<p>As you explore, your perspective will change. You&#8217;ll start becoming a different person.<\/p>\n<h2>3. Change yourself<\/h2>\n<p>When your activities excite you, staying disciplined becomes much easier: your motivation is high. As you start focusing on those activities, your habits will change.<\/p>\n<p>You will get rid of the habits you don&#8217;t need and build new ones. And, progressively, you will emerge as a different person.<\/p>\n<p>You will have become the person you need to be to pursue your passion.<\/p>\n<h2>4. Become a leader<\/h2>\n<p>John Quincy Adams said: &#8220;If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s time to inspire others to follow your lead.<\/p>\n<p>I tend to over-think. I spend a lot of time researching data and analyzing everything. But, I have learned to take action.<\/p>\n<p>Reflecting should always be a part of your journey and life. But reflection without action is meaningless.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s time to take action. Stop putting off and do what excites you. Become a leader.<\/p>\n<h2>5. Sculpt your life<\/h2>\n<p>Anyone can achieve incredible feats and live an inspiring life, if they let themselves pursue their vision.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing happens overnight, but if you focus on improving a little bit every day, in the end you will get where you want to be.<\/p>\n<p>Find what excites you. Define your mission. Keep sculpting your life. Dream big and become an inspiration.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p><em>Antoine Ribordy is a blogger on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dreamsetachieve.com\">Dream Set Achieve<\/a>. His mission is to teach people how they can redesign their lives and do what excites them. His results-focused approach is based on lessons from neuroscience and psychology and best practices in coaching and learning. Check out his free guide: 5 steps to escape a boring life, get rapid results and architect your future.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There and then, I decided to design a life that would excite me. I started a process of exploration and trial. Here are the steps I took. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-difficult-yet-surefire-steps-lead-exciting-life\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":36796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[32,6,31],"tags":[4710,2006,108,3133,4711,280,2947,4631,66,3637],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>5 Difficult Yet Surefire Steps to Lead an Exciting Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you follow this process, you will be able to find what excites you and then, redesign your life.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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