You Do You, I’ll Be Me

Scratch that trusty old to-do list. In fact, tear it up and try this instead.

Ever heard of a to-be list? Consider it an exercise in changing your mindset. I don’t know about you but tasking myself with limitless to-dos is so deeply engrained I rarely notice I do it all the time–even subconsciously.

Change the way you view yourself and what you’re truly capable of. Put your dreams down on paper, then visualize them coming true. Dreams are terrifying, especially when you have really big ones.

 I took a stab at writing my first to-be list and here’s what I came up with:

• Help people always
• Create, lead and develop a business built upon providing service to those in need
• Make my family and friends proud
• Be honest
• Always tell the truth
• Feel like I am doing what I am meant to do
• Present a TED Talk
• Become an acclaimed artist/writer with respected opinions and insights
• Be a community leader
• Be the tour guide host for an epic family vacation somewhere magical
• Be an explorer of the world
• Become a fluent speaker of French and Arabic
• Become a scuba diver
• Be a surfer in Indonesia
• Become a familiar traveler through Latin America
• Become a practitioner of meditation in Tibet and India
• Be a marathon runner, at least in NYC and SF

I instinctively first wrote many of the above as to-dos, no matter how hard I tried to explain in “be” or “become” terms. Try it, you might surprise yourself!