Step #3 – Create a Compelling Vision of Your Future
There’s an old saying, “if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” That’s a recipe for mediocrity. People of great achievement know exactly where they’re going, and they take the necessary steps to get there. But, where is “there” for you?
“There” is your ideal future scenario. This is the dream life and dream business you would create if you had absolutely no constraints, and could simple wave a magic wand and make it happen. It’s your vision for your environmental surroundings, the people you associate with, what you spend your time doing, and what you want to accomplish. It’s different for everybody. For example, perhaps you want to work for a non-profit organization that speaks to your heart and live near your children and grandchildren. It can be anything, but it must be something and it must be clearly defined. It must include tangibles so you can see it, feel it, touch it, smell it, and hear it so you can get all you senses involved in helping you drive toward it.
Your vision must be compelling. It must be something that motivates you to jump out of bed in the morning and get working. Your vision is what will sustain you when the going gets tough and you face major obstacles. To develop it, disengage from the present and position yourself in a future with unlimited possibilities. Eliminate your limiting beliefs and think big. With this frame of mind, you can develop a vision that propels you to success, contribution, and happiness far beyond what you’ve ever imagined.
The key to your compelling vision is to create one that motivates you to take action and helps you persevere even when times are difficult. Here’s an example of a compelling vision of the future.
“I enthusiastically jump out of bed every morning full of love for God, family, friends, and life. I am a husband my wife is proud of, a father my children look up to, and a friend people count on.”
“My family is financially secure, physically fit, and emotionally close. We live in a comfortable home on one acre with a postcard-perfect view of the Pacific Ocean. Our home is light and airy with crisp ocean breezes blowing through. Pictures of my family and special moments in our life line the walls. The sound of grandchildren fills the house. As I look out the window, I see waves lapping the shore, seals playing on the rocks, and surfers hanging ten.
My days are spent helping the people around me reach their fullest potential. I do this by meeting with my top clients, guiding them in reaching their dreams and aspirations, and communicating my wisdom through my life planning website. My financial success enables me to be a reverse tither, and I give away 90% of my income and live on 10%. My schedule is flexible and I spend several hours a week mentoring disadvantaged children. For recreation, my wife and I travel the world, visit our kids and grandkids, read, and take time to enjoy the beauty of the great outdoors.
When I go to bed at night, I sleep soundly knowing I helped make the world a little better than it was when I work up.”
In this exercise, you will paint a picture of your compelling vision.
Directions – Answer the Following Questions
1.My ideal working environment is…
2.The relationships I want to surround myself with include…
3.I want to spend my days working on…
4.If I wasn’t so afraid, I would…
5.My life will not be complete unless I…
6a.If I knew for certain I would die peacefully in either 14 days or 14 weeks (and I didn’t know which of these two dates it would be), I would do the following in the next 14 days…
6b.And, I would do the following in the remaining 12 weeks (assuming I live that long)…
7.If I had all the money I ever needed, I would spend the rest of my life…
8.I want people to remember me by saying I was…
9.My most memorable experiences include…
10.The part of my weekly routine I look forward to is…
11.I feel alive and energetic after I have just…
12.The community/world issue I feel most strongly about is…
13.It may seem impossible today, but my life would be dramatically improve if…
Review how you finished all the previous statements. From this, use the following outline to write a compelling vision that motivates you to take action and gives you great excitement from just thinking about it.
My Compelling Vision is to:
Remember to include who you’d like to surround yourself with, where you’d like to live, how you’d like to spend your days, and what you’d like to accomplish.
Once you create a compelling vision that gives you goose bumps, review it on a daily basis to continue hardwiring it into your life so it will keep inspiring you.