Creating your own vision

It is often said that we keep our dreams too small. We do not dare to dream big. Before we even start, we already expect too little and think we are only worth small successes. The first step towards creating your own vision is to be aware of the negative affect self limitation can have. Don’t hold back.

Creating a little vision or a big one will take you the same amount of time. So why not start off big. Instead of envisioning a two-bedroom cottage, why not paint the picture of a three-bedroom home with a lovely garden, a swimming pool, and an entertainment area.

Don’t stop at just creating a vision of your ideal home. Spend time deciding on what you would like to see happening in your work life and where you would like to be within the next ten and then the next twenty years of working.

How do you see your personal relationships develop? Have you any ideas on your life partner, whether you wish to have a family, the friends you would like to socialize with and the associations and worthwhile causes you would like to get involved in?

Where do you see your education and knowledge developing? Do you have ideas about a degree you might wish to study for, or a new hobby you would like to learn? What about speaking a new language or immersing yourself in a new culture?

Which distant countries would you like to explore and visit? Any adventure travel you have always wanted to try such as river rafting, hot air ballooning, water skiing or snorkeling? Have you got around to running your first marathon or competing in a ballroom dancing competition?

Creating your vision and putting milestones to when you would like to have achieved your dreams will enable you to get where you want to be much easier than if you amble through life without any particular focus.

What you will find once you have created your vision is that there will be many people who will want to talk you out of them. They will be the ones who will assure you that you are crazy and it can’t be done.

There will even be those who laugh and ridicule you. Possibly for these people the disappointment that they did not reach their goals is what drives them to try to destroy other people’s. Whatever their reason, ignore them. If they persist, change friends or avoid meeting up with them.

What you need in your life is not “nay-sayers”. And regrettably there are more of those around than the ones that you truly need. You need to surround yourself with people who love your dreams, wish you all the best and encourage you to go for them.

Sometimes those people are not easy to find. Regrettably the world has more people that do not believe in dreaming beyond one’s ‘station’ in life. They are the people who believe in keeping the status quo and not moving past perceived boundaries.

It is absolutely true that you can achieve what you dream about. With the growth of social media like facebook, you can easily find a group of like-minded people who will support you in your quest to achieve your goals.

Tomorrow we'll start a step by step goal setting process. In the meantime start thinking about goals you want to set for the different areas of your life.