1. Make a list of the fifty things that you have always wanted to do but have not yet done.
   
   
2. Make a list of ten to twenty of your most prized accomplishments. Rank order your list in order of most prized to least prized.
   
   
3. Make a list of your worst habits. Rank this list, too, from worst bad habit to least bad habit.
   
   
4. Shop in a store that does not appeal to you, and buy something there. Eat in a restaurant that serves food you have always claimed to dislike.
   
   
5. Ask people what they think of you. Ask if they think you are smart, if they like your clothes, if they would choose you for a friend or relative if they had a choice.
   
   
6. Be honest for an entire day. Notice how you feel about that.
   
   
7. Go to church (any church will do). Or if you do this already, go to church on a day you never go.
   
   
8. Describe three people real or fictional, current or historical, that you most admire. Describe them in detail and why you admire them.
   
   
9. If you had a $10 million dollars what would you do next with your life?
   
   
10. If you could change anything about your childhood, what would you change?
    
    
11. What was the most important value you learned from your father as you were growing up? From your mother? From another significant relative or friend?
    
    
12. If you could live anywhere, where would you live, and in what kind of house?
    
    
13. If you could do your life over again, what would be the most significant change you would make?
    
    
14. Write down one thing you are so ashamed of you have never told anyone. If you are brave enough to share it, do so. If you are not yet brave enough, seal the paper in an envelope and hide it from others until you are ready.
    
    
15. After you are dead, what one thing would you most like to be remembered for?

Evaluating Your Responses

If you have truly applied yourself to the questions and tasks above, you should have acquired a great deal of information about yourself. Now gather up your notes and begin sifting through them. Read them over and over several times until you begin to see patterns, both in your behavior and patterns in your thoughts and beliefs. These patterns are the foundation of your new life plan. Share your notes with others to see what patterns they notice. You will be surprised how often someone tells you that they knew about this or that pattern all along.

Many of your life decisions have been made out of habit, or because your parents told you so, or because of a foolish consistency. Look past these patterns to the patterns that truly reflect the inner you. If $10 million dollars would allow you to go back to school to study zoology, and you won several 4-H awards as a child, and you would live on a ranch in Wyoming if you could live anywhere, and you wear cowboy boots with your three piece suits and donate liberally to the Humane Society, what are you doing living in an apartment in New York and running an advertising agency? What are the patterns here?

After developing a list of patterns and priorities in your life, play with possibilities for a while. Perhaps you can continue living in New York, running your ad agency and wearing cowboy boots, but now you can also develop a plan to attract Wyoming clients. Or you can develop a specialty in advertising for non-profits that support animal rights. And on holidays and vacations, you can head on out to your ranch and ride your favorite horse.

Summarizing Remark

Write one sentence or a brief paragraph summarizing what you learned from this exercise and what you want to change.