MAKING THE MOST OF WHERE YOU ARE

I am frugal by nature. Not cheap, but frugal. I actually believe we all are, at our core.

I see my core essence as helping me no matter where I am in life. It’s there for me. It’s rooting for me. It’s helping me to find the best way forward for me.

In this way, my core essence accepts me as I am. She is unconcerned with where I am, as compared to others. She is unperturbed by my past. She sees only what is and then says, how can we make the most of where we are today?

This question, posed by me every day, helps me to move out of fear-based thinking that tries to tell me I should be someplace else. This question keeps me in the present moment, where all my power lies. This question helps me navigate life as an aligned soul.

This question keeps me in the present moment, where all my power lies. This question helps me navigate life as an aligned soul.

This sort of thought work is best done when you are ready to have a great day. This sort of positive expectation setting yields great results. If you are expecting to be hit with a litany of tasks you don’t want to do, then try for a better feeling before you ask this question. But if you are someone who is hopeful and looking for the next best action for you, then this question does it: how can I make the most of where I am right now?

Making the most of where you are is life affirming. It takes all your bits and pieces and says, these are all perfectly fine. Now let’s get busy moving forward. Let’s set our sights on leveraging where we are to get to where we want to go. Let’s use every last bit of where we currently are to move toward our personal goals for a life of our choosing.

When I use this question to guide my conduct throughout the day, I feel more powerful. I am less likely to bemoan where I am and more likely to get busy building from where I am. In fact, I am more likely to be productive as I don’t waste energy on ideas that have no relevance to me.

What sorts of ideas have no relevance to me? Here is a partial list:

• Ideas of what other people should or should not be doing.
• Ideas of how I screwed up in the past.
• Ideas of how someone else is wrong, misguided, or totally out of line.
• Ideas of how I could sacrifice myself to save another.
• Ideas that make me feel small, less than, or powerless.
• Ideas that treat me as a problem to be solved.

With these ideas off the table, I now use my energy to focus on what is the best next action for me. Which means, how can I make the most of where I am to accomplish my goals?

Developing a habit of asking this question is essential if you want to succeed in having a life that you choose. Many of us sorta default our way through life, and allow others’ priorities to dictate our experience. Nothing wrong with that if you are happy there. But know that you could, if you desired, keep the focus on you, and what’s the next best action for you.

Here is where I will suggest that you try out this question to see how life rises to meet you. Attending an event you would prefer to skip? Ask yourself how you could thrive through this event. Working a job you are bored with? Ask yourself, how can I maximize where I am today for a better tomorrow. Feeling lost or afraid? Ask yourself how can I use those emotions to move to a new, desired state.

Asking good questions yields good answers. Asking bad questions yields bad answers. What are bad questions? Here are some of the most common:

• What’s wrong with me?
• How could I have done this differently?
• Why is everyone against me?
• Who cares what happens to me? (said with a negative expectation)
• Would the world be better off without me? (said with an expectation of a negative result).
• What do I need to do to fix myself?

I could go on, as I used to ask bad questions on the regular. Once I mastered the art of asking myself great questions — such as, how do I make the most of this — I began to see a shift in how I perceived the world. And myself.

Asking questions of yourself is an intuitive practice. You ask and then you allow yourself to intuitively go through your day, or a specific event, with a positive expectation of a good result. You also could create a habit of noticing any good thing that comes from your day, and that habit would then supercharge your new question. Making the most of where we are is what our souls do every single day, so by asking this question, you are in step with your spirit and ready to take on the day.