If You Don’t Know Where You Are

Going, You Might End Up There

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This newsletter is based on a seminar I gave entitled, Getting to the Soul of Your New
Year’s Resolutions. I will review the important points of the seminar and also expand upon
them.
If this article stimulates an interest in having the seminar in your area – now
called Enlightened Life Directions – Connecting with your unique purpose in
Prabhupada’s mission – please contact me.
May you always think of Krsna,

Mahatma Das

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If You Don’t Know Where You Are Going, You

Might End Up There
 What’s Your Mission
“If we don’t change the direction we are going, we’re likely to end up where we are
headed.” (Chinese proverb).
The reality is that you have already ended up somewhere. The question is, “Is this where you
want to be?” If it isn’t, there are steps you can take to get somewhere else.
But first, of course, you must know where you want to go. So it’s important to ask, “What’s
my life’s purpose, what’s my life’s mission.” Anyone on a spiritual path will say something
like, “My mission is self-realization, to love God, to help others become Krsna conscious.”
The problem is that is too general to be completely meaningful to you. If your mission is to
make spiritual advancement and help others, it is important for you to know specifically how
you will do this? What special gifts do you have? What inspires you the most? As
Prabhupada often said, “How do you want to serve Krsna?” Get specific.

I know that some you think this sounds selfish? Aren’t we supposed to do what guru and
Krsna want? Of course. But we have parameters in which Krsna asks us to serve and within
those parameters there are many possibilities. Srila Prabhupada was asked to preach in the
west and write books in English. Within those parameters his inspiration motivated him to
establish an international organization and open temples, farms, schools, museums and
restaurants. He was also inspired to go back to India and develop big projects there. That’s
because Prabhupada’s inspiration was to not only make the West Krsna conscious but to
make the world Krsna conscious.

What inspires you? What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? What would you
regret not having done in your life if you were to die tomorrow? What would you do if you
had enough money that you didn’t have to work?
If you met Prabhupada today, what would you like to be able to tell him that you did (that
you haven’t done yet)?

Here’s another way to connect with you mission. Imagine it is the year 2016 and we are
having a reunion of all the people who were at the Get to the Soul seminar in Houston in
January of 2006 (for the sake of this exercise, if you weren’t at the seminar imagine you were
there). Now imagine you are telling everyone you meet what you are doing now. What would
you like to be telling them (i.e. what would you like to be doing in 2016?)?
Clarity is Power
 As I mentioned, in the early days Prabhupada
asked devotees how they wanted to serve Krsna. Usually they would say something like,
“Whatever you want, Srila Prabhupada.” And he would respond, “No, I want to know
what you want to do for Krsna. Prabhupada was doing what he taught his managers to do:
challenge devotees to find out what they are most inspired to do for Krsna.
“Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside,
dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” – Carl Jung

Our life’s purpose should not necessarily be chosen because of what others expect of us.
Often what others expect is the very thing we are least motivated to do. We shouldn’t choose
our mission to impress others, neither should we do it to take advantage of others. And we
shouldn’t choose it because someone else is doing it.

Sometimes you may have goals that are in contradiction with one another. For example, you
may want to be a professor but don’t want to spend the time and effort to get a PhD. You may
want to a play in the Philharmonic orchestra but don’t want to spend much time learning
music and practicing your instrument. This is what happens when you make goals that are not
connected to your life mission. In this state you’re likely to take one step forward and one
backward, and you often get in your own way. To accomplish such things you may need
continual outside direction. Strong motivation isn’t going to be there when your goals are not
inspiring.

When goals are connected to your mission, they feel right – you get excited when you think
about them. They empower you; they bring you life. They provide you with creative energy
for their own attainment. Just imagining what it would feel like to achieve these goals will tap
into the courage and determination to accomplish them. Working on goals that are connected
to your mission are enjoyable and absorbing. A goal not aligned with your mission becomes
something you “have to” do while waiting to get around to do what you want to do. You
become exhausted and time drags. Work is often stressful.
Connecting with your mission vitalizes every aspect of
your spiritual life.

Self Sabotage
As you can see, connecting with your mission is crucial. Once you know where you want to
go, you will need to know the best way to get there. There are steps to do this and I will
explain them at the end of this article; but the steps alone are not enough. If we doubt we can
achieve our goals, it’s likely we won’t even take the first step. Or if we do, we are likely to
sabotage ourselves along the way. So attitude is fundamental to success. Taking a new step or
entering a new kind of work is what people fear most. The real fear should be the
opposite; we should fear remaining stuck.
Of course, if you make a goal that is virtually impossible to achieve it is understandable that
may have doubts. At the same time your goals should at least be big enough that they stretch
you and take you out of your comfort zone. My experience is that if your goals are aligned
with your unique mission, they become so important to you that there is nothing more you
want than achieving them. As a result, your consciousness becomes fixed on the end results,
not the obstacles. If you are focused on the obstacles, it is probably because you have not
connected with your mission.
How Do I Get There?
Once you know where you want to go, how do you get there? What follows is a practical
seven-step formula you can use to achieve your goals for the rest of your life. This is more or
less the same formula every successful person employs. You can view this as something like
the laws that govern accomplishment, and they can be applied to achieving any of your goals.

Decide What You Want

Step number one, decide exactly what it is you want in each part of your life. Become a
“meaningful specific” rather than a “wandering generality.”
Write It Down
Second, write it down, clearly and in detail. Always think on paper. A goal that is not in
writing is not a goal at all. It is merely a wish and it has no energy behind it.
Take this one stage further and form your goals into prayers. Get Krsna more involved with
your goals. After all, they are for Him.

Set A Deadline
Third, set a deadline for your goal. A deadline acts as a “forcing system” in your
subconscious mind. It motivates you to do the things necessary to make your goal come true.
If it is a big goal, set sub-deadlines as well. Don’t leave this to chance.
Make A List
Fourth, make a list of everything that you can think of that you are going to have to do to
achieve your goal. When you think of new tasks and activities, write them on your list until
your list is complete.
Organize Your List
Fifth, organize your list into a plan. Decide what you will have to do first and what you will
have to do second. Decide what is more important and what is less important. And then write
out your plan on paper, the same way you would develop a blueprint to build your house.
Take Action
The sixth step is for you to take action on your plan. Do something every day that moves
you in the direction of your most important goal at the moment. Develop the discipline of
doing something 365 days each year that is moving you forward. You will be absolutely
astonished at how much you accomplish. I knew someone who wrote one page of his book a
day, usually an hour before he went to bed. In one year the book was done.
Most people don’t work on their goals because they seem so big, distant, or difficult to
achieve. Forget all that. Just take little steps. Ask yourself at the end of the day, “Did I do
anything to get closer to my goals?” If not, do some little thing, even if just to tell
somebody your goal and why it’s important to you. Doing anything builds momentum.
Building momentum is essential.
Somehow or other you need to fight inertia. Inertia is what holds you back from clearly
defining and working on our goals. Arjuna lost his connection with his mission. He was
paralyzed until he again connected with both his duty as a ksatriya and his duty as a soul.
“Stand up and fight.”
Exercise
Make every effort to connect with your mission. This may take time. Just keep working on it.
Krsna will help. Once it becomes clear write it down and make a plan. Then take action on
your goals.

Second, determine why this goal is important and what it will cost you if you don’t achieve
it? It’s also important to know what price you will have to pay to achieve this goal. Then get
busy paying that price – whatever it is.

Too many people just keep their goals in their head and hope by some stroke of luck they will
achieve them. They talk about them a lot but do little or nothing to accomplish them. Others
take a more so-called soothing approach. They tell others exactly why they can’t achieve
their goals (lack of this or that). In this way they won’t feel guilty about not pursuing them. I
don’t think you want to do any of these because – YOU REALLY DON’T WANT TO GO
TO THE GRAVE WITH YOUR LIFE MISSION STILL IN YOUR HEAD.
And Here is the Most Helpful Part of the Exercise
If you have time, do this right now. IF NOT, DON’T PUT THIS OFF AND FORGET
ABOUT IT.

Take out a piece of paper and write down your answer to these two questions; What story are
you going to tell yourself if you don’t connect with your mission and take the necessary steps
to achieve it? And the next question to answer is, Does that same story come up a lot in your
life? If so, I suggest you take that paper, tear it up, and throw it away (throw that story
away).
Now, doesn’t that feel better. Good. Now, that your self-defeating story is gone you can get
on with your real mission. I can’t wait to find out what you are going to become and what
wonderful service you are going to do? It’s going to be exciting!