#Reverb11: Achieve

Achieve (Written by Tara Sophia Mohr): What’s the thing you most want to achieve next year? How do you imagine you’ll feel when you get it? Free? Happy? Complete? Blissful? Write that feeling down. Then, brainstorm 10 things you can do, or 10 new thoughts you can think, in order to experience that feeling today.

As if you couldn’t already guess, I of course want to achieve the dream of becoming my own boss. I would like to end 2012 with the comfort of knowing that I call the shots, I arrange meetings with clients and students, and I meet my goals. How do I imagine I’ll feel when I get there? Lighter, secure, fantastic, and much, much happier. Now translating that feeling into the here and now would be a lot more difficult. Where I stand now feels oppressive, shaky, entrapping, and just plain miserable. To somehow even feign the feelings of elation that would come with finding and moving to my own place AND making my business a success seems nearly impossible. However, I know a woman who’s ever present need to find her happy on a daily basis touched my life in a big way after reading her book. I plan to discuss Live the List more in depth in two days, but Nicki‘s book really touched me that much. So despite the fact that my outlook has been rather bleak most of the year, I’m going to dig deep and think of 10 ways to feel a little happier and freer right now.

1. I will open the bank account and look at the Christmas cheer that came from relatives today. Nothing says “Merry Christmas” like knowing that those “I wish”‘s will be “I have”‘s.
2. I put on the music station that brings me back to the 90s and the rock I grew up with. Back then I was most concerned with living through high school and dreaming of college.
3. I’ll sip my chamomile infused with a cough drop — something warm and soothing to help fight off the germ of the week.
4. I’ll cross the days off the calendar, knowing I’m growing even closed to Moving Day.
5. I’ll light the frosty peppermint snow candle to enjoy the sweet scent of candy canes wafting through my living space.
6. I will think towards February 15th, when some sweet anime goodness comes my way again. In my fandom, the vampires fight with guns, swords, bazookas, absorbed familiars, and fangs. We’ll have none of that sparkling in the sunlight here!
7. I’ll remember that my experimental batch of mint chocolate chip cookies made with agave nectar tasted wonderful and have an incredibly low glycemic index. Only 1 cup of agave nectar was needed to replace 1 packed cup of brown sugar and 3/4 of a cup of granulated sugar.
8. I just stared at the cat while she was sleeping. She may be named after a demon cat, but she’s really quite angelic when she’s asleep.
9. I’ll pause to reflect on how amazing it is that I’ve made this journey through the year alive.
10. I will remind myself that things could be much, much worse. Food, shelter, and a family. No, things could be much, much worse. Life isn’t so bad, really.

How about you? What 10 things can you do or think of to make you happier right now?