“What do I want?” This is an interesting question that many of us don’t take the time to ask ourselves. When I stop and ask my clients, people I meet and friends, it tends to stop people in their tracks.

When is the last time you asked yourself, “What do I want”?

Not what you think you should want or what sounds good to want, but what do you really want? What do you want your life to look like? What do you want to be doing? What do you want to have materially? What do you want to become as a person? What kind of business do you want to have?

We can go on and on with these questions. These are really important questions to ask yourself and ponder. If you are like many of the people I talk with, this question stumps you a bit. Many of us have not taken the time to really ask ourselves what we want. We don’t slow down enough.

Have you been on a track where you have been doing what everyone else thinks you should be doing? Or, taken the “right” path, going to college, getting a job, building a career and security.

This is the track I was on.

I graduated from high school, and the next step was to immediately go to college. I never thought about doing anything differently. I went into business, because that’s what you did. I chose accounting for two reasons. One, my dad is a CPA, and secondly I was terrified of talking to people. I figured accountants probably deal with people the least. It was also the only business degree that I didn’t have to do a speech.

It wasn’t until I was offered a job in a large accounting firm that was full of cubicles that I knew what I didn’t want. I turned down the job and had no idea what I was going to do. It was the first time I considered what I wanted.

Have you had an experience like that? Or, have you gone on to take the safe corporate job, or even start your own business to get 10, 15+ years down the road and look up and say to yourself, “I hate this” or “Who am I?”

You aren’t alone. I talk with people almost every day that have worked their way up in a company or built a business that just doesn’t work for them.

What do you want?

So, if this resonates with you, I ask again, what do you want? This is a really important question to answer especially if you are building your own business or thinking about starting a business.

You want to build a business that supports you. You want a business that fits the lifestyle you want to live, that lights you up. A business where you are using your God-given talents, strengths, and gifts, fits your ethos, and what kind of impact you want to have.

This is nearly impossible if you don’t know what you want. You will forever be at the whim of everyone around you.

I invite you for a moment to schedule in some time to think about this. What do you want?

Here are a few questions I have found valuable to get you started:

1. If money and success were a given, what would you want to be doing every day?

2. What kind of life do you want to live?

3. What do you want to experience in your life?

4. What kind of impact to you want to have?

5. What do you want to have in your life – materially, emotionally, physically, and spiritually?

6. Who do you want to be surrounded by?

7. Who do you want to become?

You can’t build a life or a business that really fits you if you don’t know what you truly want. Not what you think you should want or what other people think you should want, but what YOU want.

Grab a hot beverage, some dark chocolate, and have fun playing in the discovery of what you want. 🙂

A warm welcome to this week’s new subscribers! I’m so glad you’re here.