The Interview Game

Have you ever seen a book, a TV show, or an article about something that really, really caught your interest? Maybe you thought, "Gee, I'd love to be a barrel rider in the rodeo", or "I could be a world famous cupcake baker, too!". When you thought about doing these new, exciting things your body felt alive, and you felt really happy and excited, remember?

If the thing that sounded so enticing to you was a bit off the beaten track, especially if you're already in an established life, you may have quickly shrugged off your new desire and replaced it with what you think are more rational thoughts, "Eh, I didn't want to learn to tap dance, anyways. I don't have time for that", or "Well, my parents wouldn't like it if I left my stable job selling carpet samples just so I could become a dolphin trainer."

That's cool, as long as you're happy with your job, hobbies, etc. But if you consistently feel drawn to or excited about something, or even if you just want to play a fun game where you envision your future, play along with this little game.

FYI, I'm blatantly stealing this from Martha Beck, the Oprah columnist, best-selling author, originator of the profession of life coaching, and the person who trained me to be a life coach, although I have changed the questions a little bit. Thank goodness she lets us steal her ideas! I picked this game because I LOVE it and I've done it a couple times and it always revs up my energy.

First, pick a time in the future, it can be a year, five years, twenty, whatever you want. You just picked up a copy of a glossy magazine (or, if it's twenty years in the future you probably had the magazine downloaded to your implanted-brain-chip-scanning-device) and you're on the cover! Now I'm going to ask you some questions, but don't think too much! These answers are based on what you "see" when you read this future magazine.

1. What magazine is it?
2. What type of people read this magazine?
3. Why are the readers interested in your story?
4. What information do they want about you?
5. The magazine has a description of your home and town, what does it say, specifically?
6. Is there anyone else living in your home? Who?
7. What is your romantic life like, as reported by the author?
8. The author writes about how you spend a typical day. What is it like?
9. The article focuses quite a bit of attention on your best-known achievement. What is it?
10. There's an inspiring paragraph about the hard times in your life and how you worked through them. What does it say?
11. The interviewer asks what advice you'd give to your younger self. What is it?
12. What's the most interesting part of the article?
13. The interviewer asks about your plans for the future. What are they?

If you want to get really into this, write the whole interview out in full. Don't edit based on your fears; just write what comes to you. Nothing you write is too big for you to achieve, instead just get excited about all the possibilities for your future.

Sometimes people do exercises like this and get really freaked out, wondering if they have to leave their lovers, move, upset their families, quit their jobs, etc. The answer is: of course not! The idea is to open up and express what you really desire out of life, and maybe start taking small steps towards your goals, no life-altering changes need to take place today!

Be Joyful!