Last week, we wrote down our roles and the objectives of each role as the leading character in our story. Take a look back at your goals and consider how interesting they are. Do they involve risk? Commitment? Sacrifice?
People fall into the habit of pursuing things that make for a boring story. It’s not interesting to read about someone who’s life objective was to study for the CPA exam, take the exam and then become an accountant. Boring. There is no conflict, there is no adventure, there is no growth shown in the character. When you write your motives make them risky, outside of the box and push yourself. That is what we want to read about and will make you enjoy your journey writing it. Not everyone is going to want a life story that involves constant risk of death, and that’s not what we’re emphasizing here. The goal is to push yourself to think beyond what you’ve been told you “should” do, or what you’ve done in the past, and write your true motives and dreams, what you really want to do.
If your character doesn’t want anything or lacks ambition, those reading it will quickly lose interest. When you want something and work hard to get it, your life becomes more satisfying.
Assignment: Motives and Dreams
- Write down 3 things (or more) that excite you.
- Where do you choose to spend your time and money?
- What do you want to get out of life?
This can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it but I encourage you to take time to put a lot of thought into it. Maybe some goals are short term and can be accomplished in one year, but some dreams will take you a lifetime to chase and you will be met with conflict at every step.
This post is part of an ongoing series on writing a better story for your life.
All posts in this series:
Love this idea! It’s always easy to diagnose the problems & malaise of others… but so hard to really look at yourself! Treating yourself like a character with a storyline makes so much sense.
Plus… If I was a book I would be only a quarter written. That’s all setup in most novels! Now it’s time to make things interesting.
The book really touched home with us and is one of the main inspirations for the trip and our new attitudes about life. I hope everyone who reads it is also inspired to “make things interesting!”