Maktub means “It is written” in Arabic.
Recently, I came across this word in the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and I paused in my tracks as I thought about what that actually meant. It is written -- IT IS WRITTEN! What is written I thought? My life? My history? My future? And, why? Why is it written?
What is written!
And here I was I as read these words out loud. It is written. I finally understood. We are written. Who we are. What we will be. Who we will become. It written and it is written because as we live we are writing it. Step by step, minute by minute, moment by moment. We determine our destiny all the time every time.
I think that is the hardest thing for people to wrap there heads around because to think that we are in full control of who we are and what we want is scary, even overwhelming. I mean seriously WE HAVE THE POWER, THE ABILITY TO DO AND BE WHAT EVER AND WHO EVER WE WANT at any moment, at any time-- all the time.
This is a huge responsibility. And as Pauolo puts it is our "Personal Legend". We are in charge of writing the story of our lives. And that takes a lot of personal will power and determination. It takes a lot of intention. It takes a lot consciousness, it takes power, it takes discipline, and amongst everything else it takes a lot of consistency. Creating and living the life that you want is not an easy job. If it was we would have a lot more happier, more inspired people in the world. Everyone would be absolutely satisfied with who they are and what they have accomplished. They would be content with their current condition. They would be above all STRIVING! But now, correct me if I'm wrong but that is not the reality of the world. So many of us struggle with our current conditions, so many of us are unhappy with the state of our lives that we become blinded to the fact that we are actually the ones in charge. We are the one that can make the greatest difference that we seek.
By now I think that I have made my point. Its your life, you are in control of it. You are literally the author of your the story in the process of living it. It is that simple. You have the pen in your hand and you are also the publisher.
So now how do we write a great F%$# story is the question. I think this is the hardest part because we can all easily identify the things that we do not like, or that we do not want, but can we identify the ones that we do? That is the first step to writting litterally the story of your life.
1. Identify/ Define what it is that you want.
Its a lot easier said then done, but yes you need to do get to know yourself sweetheart. You need to sit alone on the beach and think about who you are. What you like? Why you like it? What you want? Why you want it? What does it mean to you to have it? What does it mean to you to not have it? Once you have identified the things you want and why you are ready for the next step.
2. Become motivated.
This step should naturally happen if you have properly identified the latter. Once you know what you want and WHY you really want it, you will become intrinsically motivated towards it. The 'WHY' here is the key. You have to get down deep, down to the deeper why of WHY you want something. It can't be based on extrinsic representations. For example you can’t want to lose weight to look good. Or you can't want to want to be successful to travel. You have to go deeper. Why do you want to look good? What does looking good mean to you? What does that feel like? Why do you want to travel? Where do you want to go? What do you want to see? What does seeing that mean to you?
3. Work it.
This is the hardest step because you literally got to move yourself to do something. You need to get out there and do what it is that you need to do to get what it is that you need get. It is that simple. Stop thinking about what others think just do, do, DO! Do you every day. Be selfish. Tell others "Hey sorry I got plans" even if you dont. Personally I make appointments with myself to get things done. That's just how I work. If I've penciled myself in for myself-- "I'm booked. Sorry, Bye!" Making appointments, plans, setting goals are the key here. You need to make a plan, any plan. Even if you have to plan to make the plan --do that! Doing one thing everyday in the directions of what you have identified in step 1 is the key to creating the life that you want. You can even plan a lazy day or "I'm gonna go out drinking day" the point is to plan it all. Make an agenda and then..........
4. STICK TO IT
This is the most important step of them all. Consistency is Key. We can want and do a lot of things in life but if we are not consistent we will never get anything at all. We will be writing a really dull confusing story. You need to be consistent. Make it work, over, and over again. And if you ever get lost go back to step 1. Without consistency I'm sorry but your not anything at all. Consistency literally defines who you are, how your known, how you are remembered, and what you ultimately achieve.