itself has many versions. If you live in a big city like I do, you may find a studio that offers a variety of meditation practices like guided meditation, crystal and aroma therapy, or sound healing. You can also find a variety of guided meditations to listen to online or through an app. I like the Insight Timer app; it has more than 25,000 free guided meditations.
The simplest way to meditate is to sit comfortably, close your eyes, breathe naturally, and focus on your breath. This enables you to clear your mind, leaving room for contemplation and reflection. Meditation reduces stress, increases clarity, and re-energizes you. These are all valuable attributes as you figure out your GoalTopia.
However, many people have their own version of meditation that is way more active and effective. If sitting still as you ponder doesn’t suit you, there are alternatives.
Divert your concentration: Take a walk, play video games, do a puzzle.
Take part in an activity: Exercise, do the dishes, fold laundry.
Sleep: Put the question “What do I want?” in your head before you go to sleep, and see what comes to mind in the morning.
Meditation, like many actions, is about trial and error. Explore different forms to discover what works best for you.
Time’s up.
Write your next header: “GoalTopia: Take 2.”
Answer the question again: What’s your ultimate dream, goal, or accomplishment?
Write it down.
If necessary, repeat this process a few more times. You picked up this book for a reason. I’m guessing it’s because you know you need a life-change. You also probably know what you want to do, but it may take a little time to bring it to the forefront of your mind. If need be, give yourself an extra day, or two, tops. You don’t want to go into overthinking mode.
Review Your List
Once you are happy with your potential GoalTopias, read through the list.
Do you see similarities? Is everything the same? What keeps popping up? This could have to do with your job or career, company, industry, family, health, wealth, lifestyle. It may be a combination of all of the above.
After some consideration, from your list, identify the GoalTopia—or combination of GoalTopias—you want to focus on and write it down under the header: “Ultimate GoalTopia.”
Case Studies
This first case study has a few different versions of GoalTopias, but her ideas share a common element.
Career Change
Cynthia likes, but doesn’t love, her job. Her biggest frustration is that due to budgetary constraints, her salary level is not commensurate with her knowledge and experience. She knows she needs to start her own business or, preferably, get a new job at another company.
GoalTopia 1: Quit my job and work for people who appreciate me and compensate accordingly
GoalTopia 2: Become CEO of a Fortune 500 Company
GoalTopia 3: Have enough money to not worry about bills
GoalTopia 4: Be happy and healthy doing what I love and enjoy quality time with my family
GoalTopia 5: Start my own successful business
These ideals are interrelated, so they can be easily combined.
Ultimate GoalTopia: Find a position with a growing company—or create one—where I can share my knowledge and be a productive, well-compensated member and eventual leader of the team; be happy, healthy, and wealthy; and have nice work-life balance.
In this next one, these GoalTopias are all over the place:
Reboot
Travis left his job in the entertainment business last year due to health issues. He worked his way up from being a production assistant and knows practically everything about being behind-the-scenes in the film and TV industry. He has been doing some contract work, but really wants to develop his side projects that teach up-and-comers what they need to know to survive in Hollywood.
GoalTopia 1: Find a new industry niche, so I can continue to work/earn
GoalTopia 2: Write my memoir to share my stories, while teaching wannabes and entertaining fans of the shows I worked on
GoalTopia 3: Relaunch my podcast
GoalTopia 4: Launch my series of workshops/retreats
GoalTopia 5: Be healthy
Travis wants to find a new specialty, while sharing stories from his old one.
Ultimate GoalTopia: Get the education and training I need to carve out a new industry niche while developing projects that enable me to share stories from my old one. And be healthy and wealthy to boot.
And then there are GoalTopias where the business element only serves to support a happy lifestyle.
Happy Life
Olivia started a consulting company about a year ago after she was laid off from her job. She works in a niche business, so finding clients that fit can be a challenge. Olivia wants to have a successful business, but the GoalTopia she wants is the happy life that goes with it.
GoalTopia 1: Financial freedom so I can do what I want
GoalTopia 2: Buy a house
GoalTopia 3: Travel the world
GoalTopia 4: Be happy
GoalTopia 5: Have an interesting career or business
In Olivia’s scenario, a successful business is secondary to happiness.
Ultimate GoalTopia: Make lots more money so I can spend it on a house and travel while doing work that I like and makes me happy.
When you go through this exercise, focus on the goals you keep thinking about. The ideas you keep coming back to deserve thoughtful consideration, no matter how extreme they seem.
Whether you aim to be the go-to expert in your field, run a successful business, or just live a happy life, it’s up to you. It’s your GoalTopia. You are going to put a lot of effort into this process. Strive for what you want!
More GoalTopias
Here are some additional examples of GoalTopias, based on my clients, my community, and the Goal Survey.
•Be a world-renowned speaker
•Publish my novels and market and sell them
•Become an award-winning screenwriter
•Work every day at a job that I love, where I am paid well and feel like a contributing member of the team
•Get promoted
•Become
