Preparing to Vision
The last few years I have enjoyed making a “vision board” just after the New Year. It is usually an indulgent afternoon with close family or friends spent dreaming, planning and inviting the life I desire. I am looking forward to doing just that next weekend.
But before I do, it’s important to do some preparation. It’s important to ask myself where I am now. Because unless I am clear about that, I will not be very effective at choosing a course to get where I want to go.
Preparation
For me, preparation is a process of getting quiet, going within and asking myself some reflective questions. Questions that examine the essential parts of my life and rate my satisfaction with them. I want to consider things like:
How satisfied I am with my physical health; with my personal well-being; with my emotional health; with my intimate relationships; with my spiritual life; with my work; with my finances; with time for leisure and fun.
What would I like to be different in my life in any of those areas?
Vision
Once I am clear about where I am now, I am free to open my mind and heart to the endless possibilities available. Free to throw away all the “buts” that limit my horizon and THINK BIG about my life. Free to dream, imagine, envision and playfully “try things on for size” in my mind. Free to claim what resonates with me and invite it into my life. Free to be bold enough to put it on my vision board and share it with my family.
Planning
Planning means knowing what resources are available to support my goals, and what I am willing to do differently. Without a willingness to change, outcomes rarely change either. Its’ not necessary to have the whole journey mapped out, but it is important to identify the next step and be willing to act on it.
Having a vision helps set a course in using my time and my energy. I keep my vision board near my workspace where it stays in my awareness. It provides a guide in making decisions, clarity in confusion and inspiration in stagnation.
Whether “visioning” is new to you or a practiced art, I invite you to join me in this New Year’s tradition.