How to Reignite Your Sense of Wonder & Desire

Sometimes by opening up our minds beyond what has to happen right now, we start to discover and remember other things. Old passions, old dreams, old goals. And sometimes even better yet, something, an intuition, a vision reveals itself to us and we have a grand new map, a new destination. It's okay to dream again. You're allowed. Have you ever just thought during your day about the wonder of it all? The magic, the. The blessing, the surprising abundance around you, the remarkable fact that you still have this breath. Have you ever thought about this? The wonder of life. I love meeting new parents, people who just had a child in their first maybe 60 fatigue filled days, that they've never been more tired in their entire life. And they have this look of awe and wonder and almost glee in their eyes about the birth of their child. It's a magical sense that they get to experience in their life. At some point they always end up taking it for granted, just like we all do in every other area of our life. But there's a sense of wonder and awe to the majesty of life. Same goes when I like to take friends to Montana and show them Big Sky. Let them see how that is so true. The Big sky state really does have a bigger sky. And take them up to Glacier national park and show them the beauty of this planet and the way their eyes open when I show them a crystal, pure, perfect lake. There's that awe, the majesty when you see nature in its full force. And yet so many times we blaze through the week and we miss the wonder of it all. I mean, isn't it a remarkable thing that you just had the week you had, whether it was good or bad, you got good news or bad news, the project failed or proceeded ahead. It's kind of amazing that your whole life led to that week. And we can be distraught about that when we have bad weeks. Oh my gosh, my whole life led to this crappy week. And get down on ourselves. When we lose perspective, I really believe that's the ultimate tell of dissatisfaction in our lives. When we lose perspective to the wonder of it all, we get so mired and beaten down and in the weeds of our emails and texts and slacks and busyness and we miss how remarkable it is that we had the choice to do what we even did. How remarkable it is that we happen to be in this town or doing this job or the blessings of being with these people, serving this mission, doing this work. We forget the people around us who've been pretty patient, honestly, with all of our distractions or passions or both. We find that we become more impatient with life when we lose the wonder. And so today, maybe you come back to center. You find a moment just to sit with your eyes closed, breathing deeply, thinking about the wonder of your life, the blessings of it all, the remarkable nature of how things turned out for you and how even if everything's not perfect, there's still an open gate, the wondrous possibility that comes with choice and new directions, new decisions, new habits, new environments that even when we're in the dark times, that wonder that we still have a new dawn tomorrow. The highest performing people I've ever worked with in my life still have that sense of wonder. There's almost like a childlike enthusiasm for the day, for the opportunity, for the things ahead of them. I think of having the blessing of having worked with Oprah Winfrey in my life. And I remember how every time I hear her speak about her story, there's a sense of wonder to it. There's a sense of gratitude. There's a sense that maybe there was destiny at play, that there was a higher purpose. There's a wonder and a reverence for her own story and her own journey. And yeah, you can say, of course that's easy for Oprah. No. But that's why she got to have that. When you open your mind and your soul and your service to possibility, you stay grounded in the wonder and the miraculous nature of it all. Whether you pushed ahead and you forced it and you made it happen, or grace opened up a gate for you, it's a wonder that you are here today. It is a blessing that you are here today. It's a remarkable fact that you have a new day tomorrow in which new choices, new habits, new decisions can be made to make your life even more wonderful. Because every day you can grow. Every day you can change. Every day you can open up to possibility. But first, recognize it, see it. Look at the wonders of your week. Look at the wonders of your relationships. Look at the wonders of your contributions and feel that joy, that enthusiasm, that blessed, like just appreciation and awe for your life. When you do that, you do start to feel differently about life. You start to raise to a higher level of consciousness. You start to feel a greater sense of reverence. And suddenly there's a momentum, there's an openness. There's something remarkable happening in your life every day, because every day you choose to be open to the wonder of it all. Every day is a good day to grow, my friends. That's what we're doing here. It's a wonder we get to do this work. It's a blessing. We get to do this work. I love having you in this community because we can make that choice every single day to open our minds, recognize the wonder of it all, live in appreciation and awe of all of it, because every day is a good day to grow. Today I want to introduce a simple topic to you, and that topic is of desire. You know, so many people think, oh, my gosh, Brendan, I've lost my motivation, or I've lost my purpose, or, you know, when they look back at their week, they just kind of feel like they went through the motions. They're not satisfied, they're not fulfilled. They're just kind of feeling like, ugh, I went through the week, and I trudged through another week. Now, I know that's not true for everybody. We've all had weeks like that, for sure. But it's okay. It all balances out. And there's no question that you still want and desire an extraordinary life. We forget that sometime we get disconnected from our own desires, and we focus on the tasks at hand and the obligations and responsibilities we've built up all around us. And we try to please people and meet expectations, and sometimes we lose our own sense of self in that. And so today's topic is about reigniting that desire, that sense of passion and hunger and enthusiasm about the world, about your place in it, about where you're going in your life. So today's four ideas. Number one, you never have desire unless you look at it. You know, it's one of those things that everyone finds out when they're dating. When you go out on a date and you see that person you're interested in, like, the sparks and the chemistry starts flying all over again. You know, maybe when you go home, you think about them, but when you see them again, it's a different level of engagement and excitement. Well, sorry to tell you, but if you haven't figured out yet your goals, your dreams, the same way, why is it generation after generation of psychologists and personal development teachers and mental health practitioners tell people to create a vision board? Why is it some of the most replicated studies in history of, you know, decent, practical psychology have shown that if you write your goals down, you're more likely to achieve them? Why is it. Well, we. We know it. It's common sense that, you know, when you look at what you really desire over and over and over again, it grooves into your brain, it reminds you what's important, and it reconnects to that spark again. But like I always Say, so many people set that big desire at New Year, and they never look at the list again. So maybe this time of year is good. Like, break out that goal list, open up your plan, write it down, type it in, capture it. What are you. The goals for the rest of this year. What are you excited about? Look at those goals again. Look at those goals again. Every single day, I look at my goals. Every single day I do my plan and my planner. Why do I need to. Yes. If I want to continue experiencing the vibrancy and the passion of it all, it's easy to forget. I mean, look at how many couples never really look at themselves anymore over dinner. How many people are in rooms and hanging out together, but they're not really there with each other. Presence and attention to things that matter to us is what enlivens that moment so important. If you want to re. Cultivate desire, look at the thing. Second, look beyond obligation. Look beyond obligation. You know, if you're in a place where you're like, gosh, I just don't know what I want anymore, maybe you're in transition, you've transitioned from one career to another, the kids have left the house, or you're just changing a health routine, and you're just in that place of shifting and uncertainty of change, of what I call transition. And in those times, you know, there's a little bit of a decompression that happens, a little bit of a moment where you're not sure what you want and the stress is fading or off a little bit from what you used to be, and you were wandering in the wilderness a little bit, you're not sure what you want to do in transition. Or sometimes you're in burnout, you're overwhelmed, you already got a plate full of stuff, and you're just like, oh, my gosh, I just don't feel it anymore. Well, sometimes to cultivate the desire is to look out beyond the obligation, the responsibilities, out into the dreams again. Go sit by the ocean and stare in that vastness of it all. Go grab a favorite book and hang out in the park alone under a tree, just reading again. Take a few long walks by yourself without the phone and just think again. You know, think about the future again. Don't let your vision be clouded by all the things you have today and the things you don't have and all your current competencies. Instead, just start daydreaming and don't feel like you have to land on the perfect answer or the complete certainty of all the next steps. Instead Just let your mind wander today, a few days in meditations ahead, and just allow an open space. Sometimes by opening up our minds beyond what has to happen right now, we start to discover and remember other things. Old passions, old dreams, old goals. And sometimes even better yet, something, an intuition, a vision reveals itself to us and we have a grand new map, a new destination. It's okay to dream again. You're allowed. Third, you know, if you're really struggling, just remember, follow your interests. Follow what gives you enthusiasm. Follow what makes you feel satisfied at the end of the day after hard effort. Interest, enthusiasm, satisfaction after a long day of hard work. Whatever those things are, don't do them once in a while. Go down the rabbit hole. What is that interest? Can you go deeper, explore it, think about it again, revisit it, do it again next week. I think too many people, they're always chasing the next desire. This thing, that thing, this thing, that thing, this thing, that thing. And they never pursue down the rabbit hole of one interest, one skill, one passion, one hobby, one enthusiasm or one satisfying project. And that's why they lack that zeal or that desire. Because so much of desire, watch out from the personal development guy here telling you, comes from mastery. You know, the great masters tend to have the greatest consistency and motivation and passion for what they're doing. It's showing up for it again and again and again that deepens the desire versus bouncing from one thing to another to another. Be a person who's on a path of mastery in your life. I promise it feels different. And that leads to last idea. Don't quit so fast. You know, one of the reasons people jump from desire to desire, hobby to hobby, idea, idea and never build anything real is because, my goodness, they just can't stick with anything. And they can't stick with anything because they're fearful. What if it doesn't turn out? What if this is all there is? What if I'm not good enough? What if they don't get it and I don't belong? But what I've learned over and over and over again is that people who stick with something just give themselves a few more chances, stay with it one more week, try to see beyond the difficulties of the season, try to stick through it even though it's a dip right now. Because we live in a world where we think everything has to be this heightened enthusiasm, high caffeinated sugar pop of an experience where everything is perfect and easy. And sometimes the greatest hungers of life emerge when we can sit with the struggle and the challenge and the uncertainty, just for a little bit longer, and it's a breakthrough. Why is so much great artistry happen? Where the great passions, the great writers, the great artists and painters, the great amazing poets, why is there so much passion bleeding from the page, jumping off of the canvas? Or why? Because they stuck through the pain and they kept expressing themselves. They kept digging deeper into the uniqueness of who they were and trying to find that authentic thread of life. And by not compromising on that, by staying with it and seeing it through and sticking with that passion a little bit longer, that desire became real art. That desire became real impact there. That desire became mastery at levels that most people will never understand. So I'm here to say with you, if you are working towards things that you were interested in, that drew enthusiasm from your heart that felt a little bit fulfilling, even if hard, you're on the right track. If you're at least doing something every day where you're touching the helm of personal development, where you're looking at your goals, looking at yourself, looking at your interactions and responsibilities with the world, you'll start to feel a little bit differently again. You'll remember you'll your intentions and why you're doing it all. If you remember. It's okay to look beyond right now. Your dreams and your destiny are not your current bills nor your current bank account. It's okay to see something that no one else sees out in the future and start walking towards that. Gauge your desire. Was it there? Was it at the levels you want it to be? Could you cultivate it more by maybe something I shared today? Or just open up your journal and jam on some new ideas about how to summon that desire even to another level? That's the beauty. We get to summon the best of us every day. That's the beautiful part of personal development. It's always inviting us to be more intentional, to be okay with who we are and urge ourselves, direct ourselves, try to go to another level next week. That's the beauty of it all. Every day is a great day to grow.