When I was a lot younger, I used to go on “seek and destroy” missions at my local mall during Christmastime.

This was how I did my Christmas shopping. I imagined all the people I was buying for, and then tried to buy everything, in one fell swoop, in under an hour.

I know, sounds crazy.  And some of the gifts I ended up getting for people were pretty crazy.

But it was a lot of fun.

I was like the Terminator, walking quickly, my head always turning side to side scanning all the shops.

The only thing on my mind was the list of people I was buying for.

Often I would see something “cool” and then buy it, not yet knowing who I would give it to.

But they always enjoyed them. Always surprised. Always different.

On the other hand, when I’d go to the mall to watch a movie, I’d get there an hour or so earlier just to kill time.

Wander around, check people out, bring a book. Find someplace to kick back and read it for a while.

And even though I was in the same place during both situations, it seemed completely different.

One was killing time. When I was finished, I was just as bored as when I’d started. Sure, movies are fun to watch, and people are fun to watch, but afterwards, I’d always had a feeling of “OK, now what?”

But when I went seek-and-destroy shopping, I had a completely different feeling when I’d finished.

I’d be walking back to my car, lugging all kinds of bags feeling like I’d just conquered the world.

That feeling would even linger over the next few days. Anytime I’d see anything related to Christmas, I’d remember that feeling of accomplishment.

On the other hand, if I went to see a so-so movie, and then later in the week somebody would ask me what I did the previous weekend, it would take a while to conjure up the memory.

Most people spend their entire lives like this. No plans, no dreams, no goals. Just drifting from place to place, job to job, relationship to relationship.

Hoping to get something good and at the same time, hoping to stay out of trouble.

But when you’ve got some solid dreams, goals and visions, the world looks completely different.

Especially if you’ve got an internal set of filters helping you sort through all the stuff out there to help you find what you want.

All it takes is a decision.

A decision to take ownership of your life. To take responsibility for choosing what you want, and the courage to go after it.

What do you want?

Are you willing to get it?

This will help:

Belief Change