Photo by Alex Wigan, at unsplash.com
There are many way for you to create a better life for yourself and your loved ones, a life full of interesting and exciting things to experience. Here are four ways to enhance your ability to create these "jolts of wonder."
1. Learning
Learning makes you special in the universe. Animals can learn, but humans have discovered ways to store, enhance, and use knowledge to create a better, more interesting and exciting world. You are the master of our life. You are the master of your fate. Your power to learn and utilize your knowledge is what will empower you to get things done and get what you want.
What you learn can help maximize each area of you life. You gain knowledge both about things that you are interested in, and things that have a direct impact on your goals. In a way, whatever you are interested in touches upon some aspect of existence.
Take any one of your interests. Ask yourself if gaining knowledge about that particular area would enhance it and your experience of it. Go ahead.
2. Travel
Travel allows you to experience the magic of special places, not only special to others, but especially to you. You decide where the special places are. They may not seem special to others. Travel is as much a conceptual experience as a geographic one.
The magic of place is what makes travel so special. It doesn’t matter how close or far away your destination is. You can be just as mesmerized close to your home, as you can be traveling to places on the other side of the planet. Yet, both are important. It’s up to you how far you want to go. You’re the navigator-in-chief.
The key is to pay close attention to your surroundings, noticing seemingly tiny or insignificant things that pique your curiosity. Your values, experience, and interests will guide your eyes, ears, nose, and feelings toward those things that give you a jolt of wonder. Get as many jolts of wonder as you can in this life.
3. Ideas
Ideas are the most potent force in your discovery tool chest. They are invisible until given physical form by your actions. They form in your mind, and from there, you give them form by writing them down, sketching an image, working them out, and eventually making them real in physical form.
Ideas come in all sizes: small, medium, large, extra-large, and super-sized. Makes no difference what size they are at the beginning. What gives them power is their implementation.
Let’s talk about generating ideas. One doesn’t have to be a creative genius to generate ideas. We all have ideas in one form or another. Some of us see mental pictures. Some formulate ideas in verbal form. Ideas can come from many sources, but the key is to write them down, or sketch them. Don’t let them slip away. Grab them when and where they come, even if they seem insignificant or even impossible. Grab ‘em.
Ideas are the cornerstone of achievement and discovery. Make sure you set them down and be ready to build from them. Some may not work out. Some will. And some will be amended, combined, or enhanced by other ideas. Ideas are your inspiration and foundation for a better life.
4. Memories
Memories allow you to visualize special moments from your life. Good memories give you instant feedback of love, joy, and pleasure. Painful memories give you instant feedback of the fear, pain, or humiliation you once experienced. As such, memories can not only be experienced, but analyzed and reconsidered in light of what you know now.
To remember the past is a magical thing. It allows you to see your past in the present. By doing so, you are able to reconsider, analyze, and investigate your feelings and what such feelings mean.
But memories can be about the future! How? By the knowledge that you have the power to create new memories from this day forward. It’s an awesome power. By creating a better future for yourself and your loved ones, you are also creating better memories to savor and enjoy for as long as you have the power to remember.
Ken West is the author of the goal achievement workbook, Get What You Want. He is also the Program Manager for an international training and management consulting company.
