LIFE HOMEWORK: CREATE A VISION FOR YOURSELF

Are you overwhelmed with all this vision talk this month? Are you frustrated in trying to start writing your vision down? Are you stuck and have writer’s block to jot down your vision? Do you lack the information to write a proper vision? Do not delay and let one more minute go by and not focus on writing your vision for 2014. I have a homework assignment at the end of this post that will change your mind and your LIFE right now.

Video: This is Your Life

A Mind of Our Own

I have to tell you that our minds are the most valuable asset that we possess. Our minds have the ability to live in the past and relive experiences just by mere thought. However, our minds also have the ability to live in the future and imagine experiences that have not happened yet.

When we think about something we do not realize that we have no limits to what we think about. Thought is unlimited, and your mind harnesses your thoughts. Your mind has an unlimited amount of potential but in order for you to harness control over your mind’s potential you MUST give it a direction. The Bible tells us that “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” Therefore, we have the ability to think about things that haven’t happened to us yet. If we possess the ability to think of things that haven’t occurred, this leads me to ask the question why haven’t you created your vision yet?

I believe that if you have a goal or an objective that you are aiming toward this can be the most important element in increasing your level of motivation. Here is a quote that I find profound:

“Champions create their vision and work towards it. A person with an average level of thinking moves through life without planning for the future, simply living and existing with what they have been given. Champions create a vision, specific and detailed, and work towards it each and every single day.”

Creating a Vision Can Be Hard

What should you do once you decide and commit to creating a vision? Should you get a vision board and cut out clippings from magazines? How is that supposed to motivate me you ask? How am I supposed to know what I want? How do I know that in 5-years I’m going to want the same things that I want right now? Well, creating a vision board can be a great exercise but there is so much more to developing your vision than just clipping pictures.

Because life constantly changes and moves, life presents us with new opportunities all the time when others come in and out of our lives. With this variable of change it makes it difficult to know what will remain and what will change. Thus making it difficult in knowing where we should place all of our energies when goal setting.

The problem is we are unable to travel in time. Although we cannot physically relive those experiences when we were in kindergarten, nor those high school days, however our mind can. We can travel back to the days of our youth and childhood through our memories and relive those wonderful times. As our mind also has the ability to think about past occurrences we can do the same for the future. We have to take caution though to not use our thoughts in a negative manner- worried about the future. We should live in the future imagining our ideal life, the positive aspect, the overcoming events, thus giving you a destination to work towards.

Who Do You Want to Become?

Why not use our minds to live in the future to create our ideal life? Well, I did something to start on that journey. I wrote a letter to myself 5 years from today. I tell myself how proud I am of my accomplishments, feats and how my relationships have developed. When I wrote my letter, I wrote it as if I had already accomplished everything within my dream. My letter speaks of those things as if they have already happened.

A vision is to be created without censorship. Do not limit your thoughts on “how it will happen” or “what the steps will be to make it happen”, do not worry about that or try to find a solution. A vision should be created through unhindered writing. It is only through a free flow of ideas that you will reveal what you want and who you really are. Ask yourself these questions, “Who do I really want to become? Am I tired of living the same old life, doing the same old thing, stuck in the same unproductive routine? Do I really want something different for my life? Is it time that I start living my dream?”

4 Steps to Create a Vision for Yourself

Here are 4 simple yet strategic steps that you can take toward creating a vision for yourself and watching it unfold. Create a Vision and put it where you can read it every single day to remind yourself of what is motivating you.

NOTE TO SELF: Remind yourself of the reason you are working, what are you saving money for, what is pushing you to make your relationships healthier, what is giving you the drive to prospect and get the “no’s”, what is giving you courage to persevere even when you do not see a change, etc. WHAT WHAT WHAT. The great “what” is what you need to remind yourself of.

Here are the 4 steps to create a vision which is the most basic thing you can do to substantially increase your motivation levels.

1.Set aside 1 hour of time

(Set aside 1 hour of time. 15 minutes of that time will be spent on “Step 2″, and 45 minutes of that time will be spent on “Step 3″. Set an alarm on your phone.)

If you’re starting at 5:00, set a timer for “5:15″, giving you 15 minutes to complete step 2, and “6:00″ giving you 45 minutes to do step 3. Plug in your headphones and link to a soft instrumental. I turned on the classical music channel and my wife turned on the gospel instrumental channel when she did hers. The music was continuous which allowed us to dedicate the 1-hour to the project which allowed us to keep our thoughts rolling for the time you create your vision.

You want to remove any possible distractions while you’re creating your vision. Turn off Facebook, turn on airplane mode, plug in your headphones for an hour and start creating.

2. Spend 15 Minutes writing down the things you desire accomplishing.

Develop a list of accomplishments that you see yourself achieving in 5 years. Again, make sure you write without censorship. What I mean by that is write down the achievements that if asked “if you could do anything, that people would think you were kind of crazy for even dreaming of, what would you do?” No limits.

Write your list in a bullet point format. These bullet points should be of things you would do if you could do ANYTHING. Remember, that your phone is set to go off in 15 minutes. It will remind you when you need to move to the next step. FORCE YOURSELF TO SIT and FOCUS FOR 15 MINUTES! You’re creating your ideal life, you MUST it seriously. It may surprise you at how much you think about when you sit down, plug in for 15 minutes and have a timer telling you when to stop thinking. Here are some examples of things you may come up with:

Examples:

- I own my own house

- I am travelling the world painting canvasses

- I have an amazing, sexy wife/husband

- My family relationships are strong and loving

- My house is on a beach

3. Spend 45 Minutes Writing a Letter to You

You are just 45 minutes away from living your dream. Spend the next 45 minutes plugged into your selected music or if silence is your song of choice that is fine too. Now it is time to write out your dream.

Write a letter to yourself as if you’ve ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED your dream! The letter should be to yourself 5 years from now imaging yourself opening it and smiling at your predictions.

Keep your headphones in for 45 minutes. It’s going to take mental energy to plan out your dream. You’ve never imagined yourself owning a house on a beach, with an amazing wife that cooks over-easy eggs for you each morning. Don’t name PEOPLE in your dream, because people change, but name the role that they will play. Example: “You have an amazing wife named Jennifer and she is 5’9” versus “You have an amazing wife and she loves you very much”.

Keep the headphones in, and keep writing! Tell yourself how proud you are of what you have done. It is important for you to stay focused because our minds have the tendency to re-play our past, which keeps us from living in the now. Our minds also have the tendency to think about the future, but typically thinking about our future that halts us from moving forward. Right now I want you to use your minds ability to think of YOUR future. When you’re finished, put the letter in a place that you can read it every single day.

4. Keep your ultimate vision to yourself.

Did you know that psychologists have now proved that when you inform others of your intended accomplishments, and they recognize you for wanting to do so, admitting your intentions has a reverse effect? It does not compel you to push toward your desire it actually removes the motivation to accomplish the feat in the first place. The social acknowledgement you receive from TALKING about your vision is enough to keep you from actually WORKING towards your vision, go figure. I will call this “validation by what you say” or “validation by what you do”, meaning once you have your vision, you can either talk about accomplishing it or you can actually do it.

I do not want you to think that you should not share your vision with family and friends quite to the contrary. However, you should exercise discernment about what you reveal--NEVER, NEVER tell your ultimate vision. That is yours to keep and read and enjoy and love and cherish. Your motivation levels depend on it so I have attached a template letter for you to use to help prompt you to write your vision letter.

Live Your Dream

You can be anything, anyone, and anybody that you want to be. Your thoughts are unlimited, and your mind possesses thoughts for your future. Your potential to become anything is at your fingertips in this moment right now. What will you do with your potential? Will you sit back and continue on the path that you are on or will you take control of the direction of your life right now? Remember it’s your vision so start creating! You can have Purpose Directed Success today! Yours In Christ!

P.S.: If you have not tried it, FocusUp is free for the first 50 people who visit www.tryfocusup.wix.com/the1thinkdrink. FocusUp is the world’s first “think drink” that will energize you for hours. Get yours while supplies last.

(Unfortunately, this offer is only available for individuals who have never tried FocusUp and are not currently in the Xooma system).

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to lose weight simply by drinking water or sleeping? You can Check out how right here.

P.S.S. : Don't forget to visit www.cwilliamharper.com for your January Recommended Reading list of books that will empower and train you to become a better network marketer.

Did This Help You? If so, I would greatly appreciate if you commented below and shared on Facebook

If you got value from this, please share and comment. Would a vision workshop or academy be beneficial to you? If so, leave me a comment! If you have topics, questions or suggestions please email me at wharper@cwilliamharper.com.