3. vision: means getting clear on what you want out of life including and in addition to fulfilling your purpose, deciding what you want, what your destination is, getting clear on the vision of your perfect life. Principles: deciding what you want, dreaming, being clear on your destination, beginning with the end in mind, innovation, imagination, visualizing, and manifesting
Hi, my name is Ben Balden. My life’s mission is to help everyone live a happier, fuller life. My intention for creating this information here is to realize my vision of a world full of happy and successful people at peace with themselves and in harmony with others. I warmly invite you to join me in this passionate cause: to help all people everywhere live a happier, fuller life. Let’s start with ourselves.
The Main Idea
The main idea is that you need to know where you are going or where you want to go if you are to get there at all. Moreover, not only CAN you decide your destination, you MUST decide your destination. There are two reasons you MUST decide your destinations or draw out your dreams: (1) you are the one at the helm of your life and (2) life takes you in the direction you steer. If you haven’t decided where you are steering, you are not steering to anywhere. Therefore, if you are not sure where you are going, you will not go anywhere. To ensure you end up somewhere you like and will be happy with, (1) create it in your mind, and (2) clarify it and focus on it. So, take the initiative and Draw Out Your Dream as soon as you can.
“If you don’t know where you want to go, then it doesn’t matter which path you take.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
This process takes a few steps…
- Learn about who you are and what you like
- Dream big & write it down – put it in physical form
- See it, remember it, use it, make it happen
EXPECTED TIME FOR COMPLETION: 1 hour
What We Will Cover
Let’s first get clear on what a vision or dream is and what role it plays in your life, then we will get into how you create your vision and what you do with that creation.
- Why have a dream/vision
- What is a vision
- Create your vision
- Use your vision
Why have a dream/vision
There are several benefits to deciding your destination or drawing out your dreams.
- Confidence & Consistency – Having a clear idea of what you want in life dissipates most of your doubts. And in the absence of doubts and in the presence of clarity, you will be confident of the direction your life is taking. In the absence of having clear targets in life, you instinctively aim at anything good or pleasant that comes your way. I could be that you have not chosen or defined what you really want. That takes effort and is the purpose of this lesson here. Presenting to your mind a consistent vision of where you are going is reassuring and strengthening your faith in you. consistency brings confidence.
- Subconscious & Reticular Activating System (RAS) Giving our subconscious mind a clear idea of where we want to end up ensures it is working on something that will help get us there. You have two minds working with you for a better future: your conscious and subconscious mind. Although we are not conscious of the thoughts and calculations our subconscious mind is making, it is working full-time in whatever directions we feed to it. The RAS is an example of this. “The Reticular Activating System (RAS) is a bundle of nerves at our brainstem that filters out unnecessary information so the important stuff gets through. The RAS is the reason you learn a new word and then start hearing it everywhere.”1. When we see and often think about those things we want, our mind more readily recognizes them when we come past them. More important than that, we are ready to adopt those things in our life when they appear. The clearer we can get on what we want, the better this mental feature works.
- Law of Attraction – Whether you believe the law of attraction is magical or scientifically based, the overwhelming evidence shows that when you decide on something and focus on it, the odds of that something appearing or being created in our lives increases dramatically. So, having a clear dream or vision of where we are headed is important not only to give us bearings of where to steer our ship but may sometimes seem to “magically” get us there.
- Finally, You Are 100% MORE Likely to Get There – This is just mathematically true. You can’t get to a destination that doesn’t exist. To put it in other words, you have a 0% chance of success in getting there when there is no “there”. And the mathematical difference between zero and any remote possibility is 1 or 100% because anything divided by zero is undefined or infinitely smaller. So, if you want to get there, you need to bring, “there” into existence. Although just writing your dreams down won’t bring them into existence in the physical world, they do begin to exist even if only in your mind. Regardless, their existence needs to start somewhere.
The Role Of Your Vision
The final puzzle of understanding what a vision is before we dive in and create one, is understanding the role a vision or dream plays in your life. Similar to the role your life’s purpose plays, a vision can guide you and help you archive what you set out to achieve. A vision is there to …
- Guide you
- Provide a target
- Help you feel accomplishment
- Help you see the future
- Begin the process of creation
What’s the opposite?
What happens if you have no dream or idea of where your life is going at all? It may be that you keep going in circles in your life, or you keep doing things that other people want you to do. Sometimes a person without dreams just finds themselves building the dreams of others. Others find themselves taking the path of least resistance and never amounting to anything significant at all. They live mediocre, unhappy, unfulfilled lives. I’ve put these people into three categories because although some do dream and have a vision of where they want to end up, their dreams don’t play the role in their lives they are meant to play.
- No dream at all – These people really don’t know what they are doing with their lives at all. Mostly because they don’t really know themselves, yet. They have a rough general idea that they want to be rich, comfortable, have fun, and a lot of happiness. But there are no specifics. Therefore, they never really go anywhere — not even toward those general ideas.
- An ever-changing dream – While it’s perfectly natural and normal for your dreams to evolve over time, having an ever-changing dream is even worse than having no dream at all. It creates frustration, confusion, and a lot of wasted time and effort. This kind of person runs after every “good idea” that floats past never committing to anything. Most of their efforts are really aimed at getting away from themselves rather than finding themselves.
- A low-aiming dream – Some set their dreams so low that achieving them is a hollow victory that although is much better than little or no victory, it is not quite fulfilling or satisfying. Why would someone aim low with their dreams? One word: Fear. They are (1) afraid of failing or worse, they are (2) afraid of succeeding.
- (1) Those who are afraid of failing lose out because the truth is they never really tried. And those who did try and failed are nothing more than the same people only many more miles down the track because “failure” is a part of every journey. It’s not about luck. It’s about getting up whenever you fail.
- (2) While those who are afraid of success feel this seemingly illogical fear because they believe they are unworthy or unloved. Most of these people continually self- sabotage their lives to bring it in line with what they believe they really deserve. These people also miss out because they have all the knowledge and ability to get there. They must simply change their self-beliefs. Simple to do, but not easy to do. Changing your self-beliefs are also part of every journey.
The solution for all people in these categories is to draw out the dreams, dream big, and begin the journey today. For without vision, you can take any path and you will end up in the same place: nowhere. At least nowhere you wanted to be.
What is a vision
We are going to do an exercise in creating your vision or dream. But first, we must talk about what a vision is. There are several words for a vision: a destination, your dream (think dream house, dream job, dream spouse, etc.), your perfect life, life’s accomplishments. It is in essence what you want, it’s beginning with the end in mind, it’s not a narrow view of your job or a single aspect of your life, and it must take form and guide you.
What YOU want
Your vision needs to start with YOU. It will be unique to you. This is another reason to get to know yourself more intimately. As you consider what you want, you will see and understand yourself more clearly. You will also begin to love and appreciate yourself more.
When you remove your limitations and work with what you really want out of your life, your dream and your vision start to evolve. Don’t limit your dreaming when you do the exercise below. This is a list of what you want without regards to possibilities or the agendas of others.
Your dream or vision is your bucket list. It’s a list of everything you want to do or want to have or want to be. A list of skills or knowledge or attributes. You must take the time to list it all out over and over until you have exhausted the whole of your list. Don’t be afraid that your list will never end. The more detail you have on your list, the better.
The end in mind
Your dream or vision is your funeral. I’ve heard this referred to as the Dickens effect, a reference to Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol, where Scrooge comes to terms with a depiction of what his life is truly like and what it will end up like when it’s over. This realization motivates him to make major changes in his life. So, start with your funeral. What do you want people to think about you when your life is over? What do you want them to say? These can form the basis of your “destination”.
The main idea is that you will have completed your vision for your life when you complete your life. If you can imagine how you want your life to be seen from the end, you have a good idea of what your vision is for your life.
What it’s not
Your dream or vision is NOT the same as your life’s purpose. This distinction is important because you may work your whole life to get the perfect house, car, job, and even the perfect wife, but still feel unfulfilled, that your life lacks meaning. Your life’s purpose is about “What You Do” whereas your life’s vision is about “Who You Are” and what kind of life you live. If we drew a Venn diagram, you would see that your life’s purpose should be a space inside of a much bigger picture of what you want to have, be or accomplish in your life.
This distinction is merely semantics, or rather playing with the meaning of words. However, I find that there are many in the field of personal development that just merge the two ideas together. Although it can make things simpler, it can also add confusion. For example, someone deciding on what their life’s purpose now faces confusion over how their family fits into that picture. There is not one more important than the other. They are both important and need ample attention to grow within our lives to realize the bigger vision we have for our lives in the end.
Not a Condition to Happiness
Your dream is not your conditions for happiness. Happiness is a choice. You can and should just enjoy that now. It’s your prerogative and your privilege. Let yourself enjoy life and be happy now. Detach your happiness from your dreams.
Your dreams and your vision of them help make you full, they are a goal to happily strive for. Realizing your dreams will bring a sense of completeness and fulfillment. But when you get there, you will begin to dream of the next destination. Eternally getting better. Eternally progressing.
If you stake your happiness on reaching your destination, you have made it conditional on a goal that will always be moved forward. Your need for progression will put happiness out of reach. Whereas all that time it was your privilege to enjoy at any moment.
Detach your happiness from your dreams. You do not need the extra motivation. Give yourself happiness now. Your desire for progression will propel you to your dreams.
When drawing out your dreams, don’t ask yourself, “What will make me happy?” Rather ask yourself, “What do I really want? or What would fulfill me and make me whole? Satisfied? And bring me a sense of achievement?”
The form of it
So, what does this look like anyway? If you leave your dream in your head, it will remain there. You must bring it from your head into the physical world and begin its creation. The problem with it only being in your head is that it can constantly change and you have not actually committed to anything. Writing out your dream is the simplest form of committing to it. The mere process of bringing your dream out of your head is a process of understanding, visualizing, and creation.
So, what does it look like when you capture your dream in physical form? There are many ways to do this.
- Vision board – This is a collage of images and words that represent what your ideal or perfect life is like.
- Vision document – This document is a list in every detail what you want your life to be like. This is not a mission statement (a mission statement is more appropriate for a purpose) but the concept is exactly the same, except this one will be much longer.
- Images – A collection of several images that exemplify what you want your life to be like. These are very good for your mind to concentrate on because your mind thinks in images.
- Recording – You can make an audio recording of your vision that you can listen to as you fall asleep at night.
- Other – Anything else that will capture the idea of what you want your life to be like.
Create your vision
Great. Now we have a clearer idea of what a vision is. Now what? I intend to give you some real practical guidance in creating your vision statement, board, or image collection, or whatever else you decide to use to capture your vision. I’ve broken the process down into 5 steps.
Step 1) Start with YOU
Step 2) Dream Big (don’t limit thinking)
Step 3) Life in Areas
Step 4) Your Bucket List
Step 5) Capture it
Step 1) Start with YOU
The more you can learn about you and what you want the better. Take a moment to learn more about you. Although you can spend your whole life learning about you, for this first step, just make an effort to remember what you like and what’s important to you. Here are some ideas you can try:
- Identify your values – Make a list of the most important values and areas of life that mean the most to you. These might be things like, but not limited to, the following: religious, loving, community-minded, charitable, famous, helpful, productive, knowledgeable, trustworthy, etc.
- A character or personality test – If you have access to them, there are many personality tests, character tests, vocation assessments, or even talent or strengths tests that can help you learn more about yourself. This may be something you will just need to take advantage when the opportunity arises. If you already have the results of any of these tests, you can review them before you continue on to the next step.
- Try new things – This is an ongoing form of learning and is also a reason why you learn even when you fail at something new. Each experience we have in life can teach us something about us: whether we like it or not, whether we’re good at it, etc.
- Speak to others – You can ask trusted people to tell you what they like the most about you, what you are good at, or where they see you in the future. This may work very well for some, but not at all well for others. It’s just an idea of one way you may learn more about yourself: through the eyes of others.
You learn mostly by doing. So, this is actually not a step that you can complete today. You may have to continue to work on this in the background as you continue on to the next step. The main idea is to remind yourself about who you are, what you like, and what makes you happy. Then begin the next step, dreaming.
Step 2) Dream Big
Let loose your mind. For you to really dream big, you need to remove some of the limitations. Let your thinking run free from these and other limitations.
- Be an abundant thinker – Don’t let scarcity thinking eliminate any possibilities. For instance, if you want to own a particular car, you can’t think, “There are only x-many of those cars in the world, so not everyone can own one.” The truth is that everyone can have exactly what they are dreaming about because we all dream about so many different things. Let yourself dream big and very specifically.
- Focus on your own wants first – Don’t consider what others want. This is your dream, not your wife’s, or your son’s dream. Your dream is your responsibility and their dream is theirs. Consider exactly what you want first, then you can work together to help each other achieve your dreams. This is a selfless focus because as you get clear about what you want, you will be more able to help serve others, too.
- Think big – For the purpose of dreaming, don’t worry about physical, monetary, or personal limitations. Let your mind and imagination carry you as far as you can. Be wild in your dreaming and lavish in your embellishments. Let yourself loose.
Step 3) Life in Areas
To give you some structure to how you see your future life and to help ensure it is well balanced (not too centered on one goals such as wealth), spit your life up into areas. You can section your life in any way you want. I’ve seen lots of lists or life areas to focus on, but this seems to capture most of them. Some are a simple as character, contribution, and achievements2. Some are more complex like a list of ten things to think about. Here are the six elements that I have both simplified and synthesized from many other of these lists.
Your…
- Life’s purpose or calling – This has reference to your career, the work or service you do for others, how you make the world a better place, and how your life contributes to humanity. Without a purpose in life, regardless of what success you find in the other areas (how rich, loved, or healthy you are), you will feel a void lack of meaning.
- Physical health – This is a very important aspect of your life that will either enhance or erode the enjoyment of other areas of your life, and there is so much you can do to improve your chances of living a vibrant, healthy life. If you achieve in every other area and ignore your health, you will not be able to enjoy life because you will not physically be able to.
- Wealth – What you own. Your things. What finances the other areas of your life. If you achieve in every area of life except wealth, your financial worries will drown out and impede every other ability in life. If you succeed in every area of life, but hate your lifestyle (free-time, fun, and how you spend your days), life is just not worth living.
- Lifestyle – What you do with your free time, how you enjoy your life. They type of home you live in, the type of car you drive, your hobbies, etc.
- Relationships – Who loves you and who you love. The people in your life. You may find success in every are of life, but with no one to share it with, it won’t be worth it.
- Personal Growth – Who you are as a person, your abilities, capabilities, knowledge, skill, and personal qualities. This also includes any achievements you hope to accomplish that don’t necessarily relate to your life’s mission. If you are successful in every area of life, but believe you are a worthless lowlife who was just lucky, sorrow will rob all other joy. Meaning in life will be very limited when you look in the mirror.
- Other – Any other area of accomplishment that may not fit into the categories above
These six areas seem to capture all the important elements that should be considered in your life’s vision. I think happiness will be elusive if you fail in just one of these six areas.
What do you think? You can post your comments below.
Step 4) Your Bucket List
Now for the dreaming. You understand why you must create a solid, non-changing dream. You understand more of what that is. Now, you just start dreaming. He is a way you can approach making your lists of things you want to be, have, accomplish, experience, and enjoy in your life.
- List it – Begin with one area at a time and just list and list out what you want in your life in that area. List and describe everything as much as possible. Challenge yourself to fill 50 pages of description. You will find that your imagination can run wild. Be very descriptive. It may take some time but will be very enjoyable.
- Brainstorm – Just start writing higgledy-piggledy on a blank page. When that page is full get out another one. The main idea is to get all your thoughts on paper. Once you have emptied your head, then you can go through the ideas and begin to arrange them in a useful form. You can start with one life-area at a time of just write things as they enter your head and use the vision areas to spur thought when you hit a stupor in thought.
- Diagram – Similar to brainstorm but more organized. Write your name in the middle of the page in a circle and draw outlines to the areas of life you want to concentrate on. Put a circle or shape around those. Then begin to list and connect ideas and concepts you would like in your life to each of the different areas and grow the diagram like a tree.
Dream big, but be specific. One difference in your purpose and your vision is that we are encouraging you to be lavish, extensive and verbose in your vision, but to be focused and specific in your life’s purpose. You would be well to narrow your life’s calling and be really good at something you have a natural talent for. Choosing to the world’s expert on one topic may be of more value than working in 42 different careers. But, when it comes to dreaming big, let your head go wild with ideas of what you want. And then draw those things out into specific, detailed elements.
Step 5) Capture it
Now that you have the ideas out of your mind, capture them in a form that reminds you of that vision. This can be any of the forms we spoke about before:
- Vision board – Find images and words to represent what you want to achieve, be, or do in every area of your life and arrange them on a board or poster that you can look at often.
- Big document – Write out in very detailed form everything you want in life. Make this as long and as detailed as you want. Organize it into sections and areas for ease of use and reading.
- Series of images – Choose images that represent your vision or dream for your life. Play these as a slideshow, put on your desktop, or review these daily to keep your vision in your mind.
- Record it – Record yourself in a voice memo telling yourself about what your vision is. You can play this while traveling, walking, preparing breakfast, or at any other time of day suitable.
- Other – Any other form you find suitable. The main idea is to get it down in physical form where you can review it often.
Which is the best? Well, that’s up to you. The form that is both simple to use and powerful in creating those images in your mind would be the best. It needs to be something easy enough to use daily. It also needs to be effective at creating in your mind those images.
Feel it
Your mind sees in pictures and understands in feelings, so the more vivid and real the images created in your mind when you review your vision, the better. If you can feel it, the emotion and the physical senses, it will become more real to you.
Use your vision
Now that you have your vision created and captured, how do you use it? It goes without saying that if this action does not create change in your life, it is without value. You must be your own vision keeper. I remember seeing a documentary on Steve Jobs when he was working with a group of highly skilled people and telling them that every organization needed a vision keeper. You need to be the one reiterating to yourself what your vision is.
“There needs to be someone who is the keeper and reiterator of the vision. […] A lot of times, when you have to walk a thousand miles and you take the first step, it looks like a long way, and it really helps if there’s someone there saying, “Well we’re one step closer. The goal definitely exists; it’s not just a mirage out there. […] So in a thousand and one little, and sometimes larger ways, the vision needs to be reiterated. I do that a lot.” – Steve Jobs
You will do this daily, if not several times a day. What’s your vision? What’s your goal? Where are you at.
Do everything in your life that you can to bring your vision one more step closer to a conclusion. Take the effort to make even the smallest step. Those steps will add up.
You must also do whatever it takes to bring the vision into reality. Here are some ideas:
- Share it – Sometimes it may be uncomfortable or embarrassing to share your dreams with others. Share them with those who love and support you. If you don’t have these people, just share your dreams with those who will ridicule you, and endure it, using that energy to motivate you to succeed.
- Visualize – Daily take time out of your schedule to see your vision in your mind. It must become a daily ritual. Every time you have a moment, concentrate on a new section of your vision and hold it in your mind as long as you can.
- Feel it – When you visualize, feel what it is like. What are your emotions? What do you see, feel, hear, and taste?
- Manifest – Look for any evidence no matter how small in your life to support to your mind that your vision exists and you are one step closer.
Conclusion / Recap
Your vision is a solid idea of what you want. There are three main parts to this…
- Learn about who you are and what you like
- Dream big & write it down – put it in physical form
- See it, remember it, use it, make it happen
Without vision, you have no bearings to head toward, and no way of knowing when you get there. So, decide it, dream it, and bring it into being.
Application in Your Life
Now it’s your turn. Follow the steps above to explore and capture your vision for the future.
- Step 1) Start with YOU
- Step 2) Dream Big (don’t limit thinking)
- Step 3) Life in Areas
- Step 4) Your Bucket List
- Step 5) Capture it
Put together a plan to reiterate and review your vision and begin to bring it into existence:
- Share it
- Visualize
- Feel it
- Manifest
The Oil Advantage
Essential oils can help unlock your mind, get your moving, and bring courage and conviction in times of doubt and hesitation. They can help give you the extra boost to get you where you want to go. Here are some blends to try.
About The VISUALIZE Blend
This blend is to help you visualize, imagine, and sense the future, to make it real for you and help you see it clearly. Once you have a clear idea of the future you would like, you must focus on it. This blend is intended to help you see clearly your intended future.
Learn How To Make The VISUALIZE Blend Here
I only use doTERRA essential oils. The best way to buy doTERRA oils is through a wholesale account where you can save 50%-80% when you buy.
Open a Wholesale Account Today
Thank You
Thank you for joining me on this Personal Development journey.
Books Mentioned in This Post:
Footnotes and References
- If you want it, you might get it. The Reticular Activating System explained Link
- fromThe 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
View Contents
Anyone can comment