7 Important Ideas To Reinvent Your Dreams Like Elizabeth Gilbert

Last updated on December 3rd, 2012 at 05:46 pm

There is a huge rush of excitement this week with the movie opening of Elizabeth Gilberts’ book Eat, Pray, Love — A story about a woman on a mission to reinvent herself.

Although most of us couldn’t afford to take the time to do what she did — travel the world for a year — I will make the argument that we’ve all been at “that place” in our lives.

Oh yea, “that place” where life has kicked us down, thrown us off balance, swallowed us up — and we’ve had to find a way to remake, rebuild — and as hard as it may seem – possibly just start over.

So in honor of Ms Gilberts’ commitment to perseverance and reinvention..

Here are 7 important ideas to grab on to when something pushes you off your dream:

1. Look inside, not outside, for the answers.

Take a deep breath.  Contemplate what happened. Forgive yourself if you have made mistakes and forgive others if they have done you wrong. Listen to the little  and sometimes annoying voices within you – trying to give you the directions to  pull through the tough times. You absolutely know and believe, at every basic level, that nothing will ever get in the way of you and your dreams.  Right?

What is your little voice saying to you?

2. Commit to Starting Fresh.

Wasn’t it Einstein who said something like, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result” — So don’t repeat the past – start fresh.  Write down your new or updated goals; start planning the strategies and seek out decisions that will produce results immediately for motivation.  Also see the big picture, and honor what has worked for you— and also identify which habits or attitudes that you must drop.  And drop them NOW.

What will you drop first?

3. Take control over your thoughts.

The things you say to yourself and the images playing in your mind affect your ability to dream. Your feelings influence your behavior. You behavior affects your attitude and determines how you will bounce back and keep dreaming.  Recognize that you are at least partly responsible for whatever happened to throw you off track — own that – and then you just have to get over it.

Have any attitudes that need re-adjusting?

4.  Get support from others.

If you are down, others will see it.  Don’t pretend like you have it all figured out.  Suck it up and be vulnerable.  Keep your mind open to feedback and different ideas. Talk to others for encouragement, advice and support. Ask questions on what to do to get past this crappy time and genuinely listen to the answers.

What do you need the most from those around you?

5. Take action and persist.

Take a step-even if it’s a small step. Get in to a mindset of progress. You must keep doing things each day to rebuild your goals. You don’t have to know all the steps, just the next step you have to take.  Move forward – Don’t give up on yourself or your dreams.  Ever.

So, what is your next step?

6. Smile and laugh as soon as possible.

Laughter puts you in a more resourceful state and helps you think and feel better. Try to evoke good feeling because it will help with your creativity. Having a hard time laughing?  Try and old, but effective trick — stare at yourself in the mirror. Smile, and the laughter follows.  

What thoughts make you smile?

7.  Trust the universe and keep the faith.

It may sound corny, but everything does happen for a reason. Have faith that there is an answer and a solution to every problem; you may just have to be really patient and look for it.  My personal mantra lately has been “Just keep saying yes to the things that feel right”.  If I ground myself in that thought – I  know I’ll be OK.

What is your success mantra?

Until next photo,

Rem

Remy’s dream is creating opportunities for photography showings and public displays of her work