If you’ve reached a plateau in the process of bringing your visions into reality, perhaps a little tender loving care is in order.
If you’ve been following along with us as we explore living more powerfully and significantly by harnessing the process of understanding your MISSION, creating vibrant VISIONS and designing on-target GOALS, then you are probably well on your way to the realization of one or more visions by now.
For those who may have hit a snag or become somewhat bogged down in the process, don’t give up! You covered a great deal of ground already! You’ve discovered and recorded your purpose and mission. If not, I urge you to refer back to “Discovering Your Life Purpose” and “Keys to Discovering Your Personal Mission” for the first steps in the process.
You’ve learned that as a visionary you are charged with exercising your imagination. And finally, separating the visionaries from the dreamers, you crossed over into designing as you put your nose to the grindstone and began to draft real life goals to bring it all to pass.
But you’ve probably discovered – there’s a price to pay.
Nothing grows without nurturing, tender care and encouragement, essential to any healthy development. In the old argument of nature vs. nurture I am personally a proponent of nurture. Just as you would never leave a child you’ve birthed to grow uncared for, the visions you are creating need to be tended.
Though not an issue during the dream stage of the process, once you embark on the design of on-target goals (see article, “Designing On-Target Goals”) you must be on guard. If you’ve moved on from dreaming to designing, you’re learning that it requires dedication, energy, and sometimes the willingness to forego creature comforts. You’ve pulled out all your resources and contacts and done your research. But now you may be stuck somewhere along the way. You’ve laid it on the line and you’re exhausted and discouraged – sound familiar?When progress is slow and the going gets tough, here are some simple suggestions to infuse the process with a dose of TLC and get you back in the game again.
1. Return to the Vision. Put aside your calculations, projections, and spreadsheets and revisit the vision. Set aside time to step into it once more and move around. Now that you’ve actually begun the work of designing goals, your vision will feel even more compelling to you. Take your time and get comfortable in there.
Bring your senses into the exercise. If your vision involves a location, see colors, feel surfaces, smell the air. Leave nothing uncovered in making your vision real to you. When the vision once again assumes urgency and you are again accountable only to the birthing of it, you are ready to return to goal design.
2. Remember Why. Return to your journal and revisit your notes. Remind yourself why you are engaged in this process. Begin with your Mission Statement. Remember this is the hub of the wheel and without passion for your Mission, nothing else will have relevance.
Then look at your list of Visions and remember why you chose this one over the rest. Perhaps you will find you chose the wrong vision to begin with and you may need to table this one for another time. Regain your perspective.
3. Don’t Become Entangled in the Goals. Though they are labor intensive, goals are simply the means to an end. They are merely the stepping stones to the destination – guard against allowing them to overpower you. While extremely important as catalysts, work at keeping them in perspective or you risk being plowed under at this point.
4. Refresh Yourself. Allow yourself the luxury of basking in your milestones. There is no better way to nurture the vision than to nurture the visionary. After all, the vision is about you and your future, whether it involves an organized closet or a change in career.
5. Change Your Focus. If you’re stuck on your goals, revisit your picture of success and failure, celebrating your successes and refocusing away from any failures.
6. Talk about the Vision – keep it alive. There is no better way to stay enthusiastic than to talk about your passion and no better way to stay passionate than to talk about your vision. Make the language of your vision an active part of your vocabulary. If you need to learn a new terminology or a new language, do so and infiltrate your speech with it. If you’re beginning a new career or pursuing a degree, begin to refer to yourself in the associated terminology.
However you choose to nurture your vision and keep it vital, don’t ever give up your dreams. Your methods might need tweaking and your timing adjusting, but don’t ever stop dreaming. You are ultimately responsible for keeping your passion level high.
Above all else, remember that you have something to offer the world that only you can offer – the world is waiting! Victory does not necessarily belong to the best. It belongs to the most persistent.
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