What’s Your 3-Year Vision?

This time of year always gets me thinking about vision and planning. It’s a good time for taking stock. July marks the end of the first half and the start of the second half of the year - plenty of feedback (from the first 6 months) and time to make adjustments (6 more months to go). The energy of this time of year is perfect, too - the fiery energy of Midsummer!

I’ve always been a big goal-setter (it’s a habit I picked up from my dad). Indeed, I can’t really imagine life without goals of some kind. But I have to be honest. Lately I’ve been questioning the whole goal-setting thing.Why? Well, if there’s anything I’ve learned from working for myself, it’s that nothing stays the same except change. I don’t know about you, but here’s an experience I’ve had more times than I’d like to count: I make a long list of goals - beautiful goals! - and I’m movtivated and pumped up and excited to meet them - I’ve even started working on ‘em! - and then… something gets in the way. A prject spiraled out of control, a better idea, or just… life.And all momentum comes to a screeching halt. (Sound familiar?)

I don’t know about you, but it’s enough to make me feel like making goals are a big waste of time. (quite literally - I can’t tell you how many times I’ve spent HOURS on a list of goals only for them to become irrelevant a month later). So, more and more, I’ve traded goal-setting for visioning.

What is visioning? Quite simply, visioning is painting a picture of what you’d like your entire life to look like - work, money, relationships, family, spirituality, everything - within a given time frame.

Visioning allows you to drop the inhibitions and “shoulds” of goal-setting and think BIG: what would you like your life to look like in 1 year, 2 years, 3 years? (I suggest a 3-year vision because it’s plenty of time to make the vision come true, but not TOO much time that it seems unreal.)

What would stretch you, push you, challenge you? Better yet, what motivates you, gets you really excited? A good 3-year vision should scare you a little.

Be sure to write down your vision in the present tense. Pretend it’s three years from now. “It’s July 1, 2011. So many things have happened since July 1, 2008. I left my day job in January, 2009 to become a full-time Reiki practitioner and I now have a six-figure income…”

But don’t stop with just your calling and your income. What does your home look like? Who is with you? What trips have you taken?

Don’t hold back! If your vision doesn’t get your heart racing, you’re not stretching far enough. Your vision should make you want to jump out of your chair. Make sure, though, to add plenty of specifics; i.e., tangible results that you can measure. If it helps, get a goals book or a vision book, where you can place pictures and talismans that remind you of your vision.

Once you have your vision, it’s time to work backward. What do you need to do to make it happen?

Don’t worry if you can’t figure it all out right now. But it is important to get into ACTION as soon as possible. Avenues you haven’t dreamed of to make your vision come true will open up to you… but only once you are in motion.

Lastly, print out your vision and keep it close at hand. Read it often, and allow yourself to really feel it happening now.