Barbara Sher - I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It

ONE
What Are You Supposed to Be Doing?

TWO
How to Get Lucky

THREE
Resistance, or Whats Stopping You, Anyway?

FOUR
The Sure Thing

FIVE
Fear of Success: Leaving the Ones You Love Behind

SIX
IWant Too Many Things; Im All Over the Map

SEVEN
On the Wrong Track, and Moving Fast

EIGHT
Want Something I Shouldnt WantIts Trivial or Unworthy

NINE
Help! Im Not Ready to Be Born Yet

TEN
Regrouping: Its a Whole New Ball Game

ELEVEN
Ive Lost My Big DreamTheres Nothing Left

TWELVE
Nothing Ever Interests Me

THIRTEEN
A Rage Against the Ordinary

FOURTEEN
The Red Herring, or Trying Hard to Love Something You Dont Really Want

Preface

N OT KNOWING what you want to do with your life is no joke. Its painful to be without direction. My first book, Wishcraft: How To Get What You Really Want, defines winning as getting what you want, and it shows step-by-step how to become a winner, how to create a life that fulfills your greatest dreams. But for years readers have been calling me, saying I love Wishcraft, but I cant use it because I cant find a goal. I just dont know what I want.

I got curious. I wanted to know what the problem was, so I started meeting with these people who couldnt figure out what they wanted. I let them all tell their stories, and I asked some questions, and in a short time, every time, the same thing emerged: each of these clients was locked in an internal battle and didnt even know it.

It had never occurred to them that down deep they really knew what they wanted but their desires were masked by an inner conflict. Knowing the problem came as a great surpriseand a great relief. Now all we had to do was design a program to get around each conflictand designing these programs turned out to be surprisingly easy. People woke up and swung into action after only one or two sessions!

This was wonderful. I decided to gather these discoveries and strategies into a book so everyone who needed help could find it. You are now holding that book.

Are you having trouble going after what you want in life because you cant figure out what it is? I want you to know that you are not alone. Your problem is a common one and there is a way out. Youre going to find yourself in these pages. And almost as soon as you recognize yourself, youll be learning techniques that can help you. Dont be surprised if you find yourself in more than one chapter. Read them all. Most of us are complicated creatures with many sides, and the exercise that could create a breakthrough for you might be in any chapter.

Working your way through this book is going to be exciting, enlightening, sometimes a bit painful, and often very funny. Learning whats really going on inside you can be difficult, but its also invigorating, and the rewards are enormous.

You can do anything if you only know what it is. And youre about to find out.

Introduction

T HIS book is designed to help you find the good life. By that, I dont mean swimming pools, mansions, and private jetsunless those are really your big passions. But if you picked up a book called I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was, youre probably looking for a lot more than a swimming pool.

You want a life you will love.

A friends father got it right when he said The good life is when you get up in the morning and cant wait to start all over again.