Your Vision for 2015

What is your vision?  If you’re already clear about your vision for the coming year, congratulate yourself for being exceptionally well organized, inspired and on top of your game. 

If your answer is “I don’t know” or you just haven’t had the time or the energy to craft your vision, here are some suggestions for gaining clarity.

1.       Determine the parts of your life to focus on. It’s easier and less overwhelming if you pick a few key areas.  Assess your level of satisfaction in the following: Career/Business, Financial, Relationships – intimate and social, Health & Wellness, Home environment, Personal Growth or Spirituality, Fun & Recreation.  Choose two to four areas that you’re least satisfied with. Focusing on these will bring the greatest rewards.

2.       State what you want. It’s really easy to say, I’m overwhelmed  (or bored) with my job, I don’t like my relationship, I’m broke, my social life sucks, I don’t like where I’m living.  You can start with that, but turn those thoughts into positive intention statements. For example instead you could say - In 2015…

a.       My work is stimulating and manageable.

b.      I am in a loving relationship

c.       My financial situation is improving

d.      My network of friends are supportive and positive

e.      I live in a home that I love.

3.       Be inspired.  If you’re experiencing a lack luster response to creating your vision, it may be that you are stressed or lacking energy.  One of the things I commit to each year is having some downtime between Christmas and New Year for rejuvenation and inspiration.  After a few days of rest and quiet my energy is restored and the future looks brighter.  What rejuvenates you?

4.       Engage your imagination. If you are too focused and analytical when you are creating your vision it’s difficult to see possibilities. If you are stuck on a linear, logical track take a break and engage your senses. Go for a walk, listen to music, get out into nature and breathe deeply.  When your mind is relaxed there is more room for imagination.

5.       De-stress When stressed we become very linear and focused and it’s much harder to access imagination and inspiration.  Did you know that shifting how you’re looking at things, literally, from narrow focus to taking in your peripheral vision calms the mind and reduces stress? Try it.

6.       Use divination tools Throw the i-ching, rune stones, lay out a tarot spread, or pull wisdom cards to guide your process.  This is a great way to shift from logical to creative thinking. For example, at a gathering with friends on the solstice we used the i-ching.  We each asked a question about something we’d like to focus on for the year and the reading gave us insights on how to approach it. 

7.       Share your vision Explore and share your vision with a trusted, supportive friend or partner.  Make it more real by talking about it, seeing yourself in it, feeling the experience of it. Perhaps, you could enlist this person as an accountability partner.

8.       Take Action if you want your vision to become reality your thoughts and statements need to become goals with action steps that you can and will take.   Now you can shift your focus back from expansive and imaginative to narrow and linear to make it happen.

9.       Have fun Choose goals and actions that you enjoy. Or find some way to make the hard stuff more enjoyable. Get help, share the load, and reward yourself for small accomplishments.

10.   Be grateful, always. Appreciating what you have keeps you in a much happier place and validates your ability to have and create more.

Still Need Help?  Hire a coach

Lynne Brisdon, PCC

lynne@livinginvision.com

 

Your Vision for 2010

What’s your vision?

Do you have one for your business or career path? Is it aligned with your personal vision? Having a clearly defined vision, increases the odds you will bring your desires to fruition. Ask any successful business person and you will find they started out with some sort of a vision.

Working closely with start-up entrepreneurs provides me with an insider’s view of what happens in the first year of operations. Those most likely to succeed are the ones who have a clear vision, which resonates deeply within.

Often inspired, these business owners have a clear image of where their business is going. One story I heard a few years ago from the founder of a now multi-national franchise chain started when he was a student looking for summer work. Eating at the Golden Arches one day he noticed a pick-up truck full of junk at the drive through window. “I can do that”, he thought and within a couple of years had 3 or 4 trucks running. Knowing he wanted to achieve growth, and inspired by “Good to Great” Jim Collins, he mapped out a five year vision plan. When I heard Brian Scudimore speak in 2003, he was a month away from that 5 year goalpost. 1-800-Got-Junk was situated in 29 of the 30 cities he’d envisioned and was 3 stores away from the 150 he’d targeted. Oh yes, he was in negotiations with new franchise owners in city number 30. Impressive! To this day you’ll find revenue and growth targets emblazoned across a vision wall at the “Junction,” the company’s head office in Vancouver.

A vision doesn’t necessarily come in a blinding flash of inspiration. It can be crafted, dreamt up; sometimes it is a subtle feeling of recognition, at others it seems like a far off and distant fantasy. A vision may constantly be amended as we move through time and learn new information. Ideally it is aligned with your core values and your highest intentions. (see last month’s post on Intention) The vision that comes to fruition is the one that is believed and that we are compelled to move toward; the one we never let die.

Living Your Vision
Achieving it has everything to do with experiencing the possibility of it becoming real in the present moment. Consider that you have a particular business milestone you would like to attain. Perhaps it is serving a particular number of clients, speaking to a group of a certain size, or for many of us there are specific financial targets we want to hit. Imagine for a few moments that your vision has been attained. Let yourself fully experience what that feels like, imagine the scenarios associated with this achievement: the activities you’d be engaged in; the sights, the sounds, even the smells. Allow yourself to ‘live’ in your vision for a few moments. Doing this starts to build synaptic connections in your mind so you can recognize the opportunities that lead you to fulfill your vision more immediately. Not to mention all the metaphysical principles which come into play when you focus on your vision. “Ask and it is given”, “Believe it and you can achieve it” “Boldness has genius in it, begin it now”. These are not empty words, but quotes from masters who achieved great things.

Sometimes we get stuck envisioning what we don’t want. The propensity to worry about the future and imagine the worst possible outcome is due to the human trait of gravitating to negative potentials. But consider how much energy it takes to keep insisting and convincing yourself, based on previous experience, that something bad will happen. What if you directed the same amount of energy toward believing that what you desire can happen too? If you find that you are habitually projecting negative outcomes you may have some internal barriers to resolve before your vision can be realized.

Vision is quite simply having a clear sense of where you would like to go. If you need more clarity or should you need to resolve some internal barriers, help is available.

Lynne Brisdon
BC: 604 570-0764
WA: 360-393-8996
lynne@livinginvision.com


Join Lynne Brisdon and Jacque Small of Catalyst Business Coaching for a conversation about Vision on the Catalyst-LIVE! Radio Show on Wednesday, January 6th at 12 noon. Follow the link below to register.


http://myaccount.maestroconference.com/conference/register/XGM3SW23U4G1UEPJ