The Merlin Principle

There are small but significant milestones in my mind, that I have always known I would really like to achieve. I believed that these things would, of course, happen to me- all in good time, when I was ready. In my early twenties I felt I had all the time in the world to fit everything in that I wanted to do. I had imagined that some of these accomplishments such as, places I would like to visit and some things I would like to do, would be things I could leave to do at a later date. I felt that I would definitely get them done, but I wasn’t sure how or when that actual time might occur. Then I discovered that I was actually just waiting for these things to happen to me…I realised that time is ticking away. What was I doing with it?

So when I was faced with the question ‘What do you want to achieve before you die?’ Firstly I felt like that was too big a question to bother myself with, but then as the question sank in I realised that there were some things that if I didn’t get around to them, ever, I would feel that I would not have been true to myself.

Discovering the Merlin Principle

There is only so much time in a single life time. Our time here is finite, we can choose to start working on achieving our dreams now. When we put our mind to something we can achieve so much more than we imagine, if only we allowed ourselves. My grandma, who died at 99, regretted not really going for things she wanted from life and told me regularly that I mustn’t waste a minute on things that don’t matter! She told me she wished she’d run a post office or a small shop-but she just never got around to it. She regretted the chances she didn’t take. Her dream wasn’t climbing Everest, but it was what she thought she’d get around to one day, and that day never came. She held a lot of sadness inside her. It was horrible to see that in her. Her words still inspire me today to reach for what I want. As you can see, it wasn’t because she died young, it wasn’t time that she ran out of, it was the choices that she made which she ended up regretting!

Merlin Exercise

Here is a way of choosing and creating the life that you really want!

Pacing is key. Comparing is useless.

It is a fun and exciting planning exercise called the Merlin Principle:

• Spend 20-30 minutes writing what you want your life to look like in 20 years time. Let your mind run wild. What do you really want?
• Where you are living; place and type of accommodation?
• What you are spending your days doing?
• Who are spending your time with? Family, friends, parents, partner, children..?
• What have you achieved, what are you planning to achieve?
• What do you feel like? Are you peaceful, quiet, free, energetic?

Once you have completed the first part of the exercise, do the same thing but this time note down what must have been achieved in 10 years time, for your life to truly look the way you have composed in 20 years time.

Spend at least 10 minutes doing this.

Then repeat the above exercise, imagining it is 5 years from now, note down what must be achieved.

Then repeat the exercise again, imagining it is 1 year, 6 months and 3 months from now.

Now here is the beginning of your action plan…

What must you do TODAY to achieve the life you really want to have and live in 3 months time to lead you on to 20 years time? Is there anything pressing? Now get out your diary, plan some time to do some things, tell someone, create some support and accountability. Then stick to your word, for no-one else, but you!

That is your action plan! It is fun to do this exercise with someone else to motivate and support each other.

When I first did the Merlin Exercise in 2003, I realised that I had actions I could do STRAIGHT AWAY, to get me on the path of where I wanted to be. Actions that if I ignored, the life I wanted might just always elude me. Instead of imagining a life that had always appeared to be just over the next horizon, I had actively begun creating that life and living it in the NOW!

Things change too, circumstances can differ to how we might expect. However, I did this exercise again recently and realised that I had accomplished most things on my 10 year list, and I had achieved them in 9 years!

Now I have the things I imagined: 

a wonderful, loving and inspiring partner,

a healthy and happy child,

my black belt in a martial art,

my own business.

When I look at things that I have achieved, most of them have been things that I have made a large LEAP OF FAITH to gain. Most things aren’t exactly how I imagined they would be too! My motivation and conviction to keep creating my life ON PURPOSE comes from the authenticity and integrity I feel when I follow my desire to be fully self expressed, no matter how scary it is!

Three months focussing on empowering you.

Mindcraft – How to Self Coach. Starts December 2024 til March 2025.