Lesson 5: Clarify your vision

Exercises:

Do you know what you want to be when you grow up? It took me forever to figure it out. I had lots of ideas, so I dabbled in a few different areas, but there was always an underlying theme of two roles: Chief of Staff and Coach. So, I pursued both. Having a vision was critical to feeling fulfilled. These paths aligned with my values, my purpose, and how I want to contribute to the world.

Having a vision for yourself sets the direction, sets your intention, so both your conscious and subconscious can take actions to work towards it.

Creating a vision may take 20 minutes, two months, or longer depending on how self-reflective and decisive you are.

Here are 4 things you can do to create your vision:

1. Visualize: find a cozy place to sit or lay down, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Picture yourself in the future, 5 years from now. Visualize where you’re waking up, what you’re doing in the morning, what you’re doing during the day, what you’re doing at night, how you feel, what you’re proud of in that moment about your life. Open your eyes and write down your notes --- what did you visualize and what does that tell you about where you want to be? The video above includes this visualization, so press play if you’d like to be guided through it.

2. Map it out: answer the questions, what do you want to learn, what do you want to experience, what impact do you want to have, and ask yourself what career aligns with that? Download the above PDF.

3. Create a vision board: get some old magazines and cut out images and words that speak to you. Create a collage on a piece of paper of these clippings and see what it tells you about your future. Post where you can see it.

4. Journal: reflect and answer these prompts. Download the above PDF.

• Write for 3 minutes on: “what do I want to be doing before I retire?”

• Write for 3 minutes on: “what are the experiences and the impact that I want to have leading up to that?”

• Write for 3 minutes on: “what do I need to do now to lead to that?”

  After 9 minutes of journaling, see what insights you get.

There are several ways to come up with your vision; the key is to make sure it’s your vision. Let go of any “shoulds". Listen to your intuition. Reflect, visualize, create, or write… do what you need to do. This is your future we’re trying to create. It’s important.

Having your vision enables you to land a job that aligns with your longer-term goals, so you can thrive. Otherwise, you’re taking a job that sounds interesting in the moment. It has perks, but it may not align to your long-term picture. Your vision will help you figure out what you want to do in this next role and the next.

Take your time, come up with your vision starting today.