I came across a YouTube video a few months back about following your ‘Internal GPS’ for the ‘The Next Best Move’ and I really resonated with it. It was by a YouTuber called David McEwen if you want to check him out. I couldn’t actually find the video again to post it on this blog. But I still want to talk about this idea.

I get very overwhelmed with all the things I often have to do across multiple projects, and I can easily freeze with inertia with too many things. So this approach works quite well for me. By tuning into my ‘internal GPS’ and listening for guidance on the ‘next best move’ I am simplifying things for myself. I only have to follow the next move. What a relief!

To tune into your inner GPS, first of course you need to know where you want to go. You have to be clear about your goals. The first step really is to have a vision or idea to move towards. And there will be smaller steps along the way to this vision.

I use a to-do list, and put these smaller steps or actions on the list. I have a particular way that I do my to do list. I will talk about my process with this another time perhaps. Having a to do list definitely helps me stay on track.

But at the same time, if I try to force myself to do something on the list I am not in the right mood to do, I can easily end up with burn out, or giving up.

Which is why this approach of tuning into the internal GPS for the next best move really resonated with me. Because it is really about tuning in to myself, and listening at the deepest level to myself. It is caring for myself, loving myself number 1.

Because I may know what I want to achieve, but I don’t always know the best steps to get there. Often it just unfolds.

So if I listen to my internal GPS for the next best move, I am giving myself care and consideration first and foremost, rather than treating myself as a means to an ends. I am respecting myself.  

Sometimes the internal GPS might be counter-intuitive, especially when there are a lot of things to do on my list. My internal GPS might tell me to have a little rest first. Or it might tell me knock particular things off my to-do list which I hadn’t prioritised. It might tell me to go for a walk and think about the thing I am about to write first. Or to cook myself a good lunch.

The point is, there is always a next best move we can feel when we really tune into our ‘internal GPS’. And I have found if I tune into that, and trust it, even though it might at times be counter intuitive, I tend to be much more efficient. I tend to be more inspired when I finally get to doing a task. And often I work hard without feeling like I am working at all. It is like following the feeling of joy.

If you think ‘Well then I’d never get anything done, I’d just watch TV’, well, your internal GPS might tell you to watch TV. But if you keep tuning into it, (and this is the trick, to really keep tuning into it) you will know when it’s enough. You will want to get into action mode. It will happen naturally. Not because you are forcing it. But because you can feel when you are ready.

Of course this works well if in tandem with other things which support your mental, physical and spiritual health. Exercise, meditation, or whatever you do that helps you attune to yourself. Because this is all about attuning to yourself. Caring for yourself. Making yourself the priority. Not running roughshod over yourself to complete things. But letting your actions emerge from your inner guidance. And if those actions are to rest, to meditate, to go to a doctor, then that is just as important on your journey to achieving your goals as anything else. For me, I love walking at my local park every day, and going to the pool and sauna 3 times a week.

Coming back to my To Do list. One thing which is so so important for me, is crossing things off my list. This is a must. When I have crossed an item off my list I get such a sense of completion. A dopamine hit. If I forget to do this part I start to feel lost. Definitely, cross off things you do from your list. If you do something which is not on your list, write it on there anyway, then cross it off, even though you have already done it. This is the best brain hack for me. It keeps me excited to keep progressing and achieving goals. Really really helpful for the ol’ ADHD brain.

I am deep in creating and rehearsing my show The Swallows which is coming up, so I haven’t written a post for a couple of weeks. My last post had many people commenting and reaching out to me. I feel a sense of completion writing this now. Reflecting on how tuning into myself, to my inner GPS for the next best move is so important to my process. Even the rehearsal process works best for me when following these principles. We know, somehow, what the next best step is, rather than forcing a structure onto the process. This doesn’t mean we don’t plan and aren’t organised. But the way reveals itself. And rehearsals unfold, in a natural way. In an obvious way. Things come together, with so much beauty and inspiration following this way.

Hope you like my little moon froggy. This is part of a series of moon creature collages I made. Celebrating the connection between the moon and many creatures on this planet. You can check them out on t-shirts and organic hoodies in my shop!

Many thanks

Sandra