Build a Personal Vision

"The first thing is to love your sport. Never do it to please someone else. It has to be yours."
Peggy Flemming (1968 Olympic Gold Medalist)

Building a personal vision sounds hard, doesn't it? That's because we rarely stop long enough to figure out what we really want. We don't do it for three primary reasons. First, it scares the hell out of us to think about our happiness and what makes us happy. Second, we think we are too busy living our lives to take the time necessary to stop and figure out what we want out of life. And finally, the last major reason we avoid doing the work to build our vision is because we think that by writing it down, it will be written in stone - and when it doesn't happen, we feel like we've failed. As long as we don't write it down and don't face it everyday, we will always be able to blame someone or something else for not having our vision - we are afraid of what committing actually means.

Nothing could be further from the truth - our vision grows with us. It doesn't have to be permanent and it certainly doesn't have to be anything we fear. So, before we can make our desired future a reality, it must first exist in the real world, tangibly - not in your head, but written down in a place and in way that you can see it, touch and feel it, each and every day of your life.

So, we're going to make it simple to build your personal vision. . .

RIGHT NOW!!!

Let's start by getting a piece of paper, the bigger the better - I recommend a poster board that is at least 24"x36". You have a lot to put on it and it will need room to grow, over time - as you grow. Get some Sharpies (lots of colors), some paste, a pair of scissors and lots of newspapers, magazines and even old junk mail.

You can start anyway you want, but what I recommend is taking a little of time and think about what you want your life to look like - what you want your life to be. And how you hope your life will have been when it is all over. And how you want your friends and family to feel about you when you are gone.

I've included some questions to think about to help you do this. You can answer them individually, or just read them and let them soak into your thoughts.

Then, just start writing on the poster board with the Sharpies (in as many different colors as you have), every thing that comes to mind. Fill it with your thoughts and your dreams writing them out as randomly or as organized as they come to you.

- You've been given a gift - instead of going strait to heaven, you get to hear what all of your friends and family are saying about you at your funeral. What do you hope to hear?
- What people, things, hobbies, jobs and activities make you feel good about yourself?
- What were your favorite things to do when you were younger? Think about all the major stages of your life. What are your favorite things now?
- What things do you want to do, but either don't know how or are afraid of trying? What is your "Bucket List"?
- Have you ever been so intensely working in or on something that you completely lost track of time? What was it?
- Who in your life do you respect the most? Who inspires you? Who do you turn to when you need help? Why?
- What are your God's given talents in life? What are you best at? What things do others come to you for help with?
- If you had the opportunity to teach something or pass along a message to a large group, what would it be?
- What would you not give up in your life? Looking back, what things, people or events in your life would you most regret if you had not had the opportunity to experience?
- What are your core values - the non-negotiables in your life?
- What were some challenges, difficulties and hardships you've overcome or are in the process of overcoming? How did you do it?
- What causes do you strongly believe in? Connect with?
- How do you give back to the world - your friends, and your family, your community and total strangers.

Now, you've got words, phrases, ideas, and principals that shape your thought process right in front of you. But let's not stop here. Let's bring your ideas to life - make them jump out at you everyday.

Let's make your ideas a visual collage that will capture your imagination!!!

Finally, get out your magazines, old newspapers, old pictures, and any other images that you can find (including those you print off of the internet). Go through everything you have, cutting out images, headlines, phrases (anything you can find) that encapsulate your words and start pasting them all over the board.

Make them overlap, like the ideas in your head. Organize them if you would like. Or make them completely random, it doesn't matter. The key is that it is your Vision - no one else's. There is no right and there is no wrong.

This poster is your Personal Vision!!!
Whether you are having a good day or a bad one, look at it everyday. Let it get inside you and remind you what matters most to. Use the images to guide you through your decisions everyday. And make sure that you live each day, doing what you can to make each it become more than your vision - make it become your reality.

Five Minutes A Day - That's All It Takes To Change Your Life

When was the last time you looked at your long term goals?

When was the last time you started your day analyzing what you did yesterday to help you achieve your goals, and what you did that prevented those desires?

And when was the last time you took a minute or two to visualize your day ahead. I'm not talking about seeing in your mind's eye EVERYTHING you are going to do that day (that's silly), but at least visualizing yourself accomplishing all that you hope to achieve that day . . . before you do.

All things on this earth happen twice - first in your mind, then in your action.

See what your day will be. Ground yourself in the goals you choose both in the long term and the short. Put those ideas in the forefront of your mind and they will begin to affect the decisions you make throughout your day.

That's right. Start your morning a bit differently. Take FIVE Minutes to review in your mind what you want to be, who you want to become in your life, and what you are planning to do to bring your vision closer to becoming a reality. See yourself acting the way you want to act, doing what you know you need to do, and achieving all that you want to achieve that day.

To help yourself even more, write these things down on read them every morning. Write them down because consistency matters.

Just Take FIVE Minutes - No More . . . No Less.

- FIVE Minutes is all it takes to start your day off with the frame of thought that puts the most important things in your life (for that day) into you conscious mind so that you have them there all day long.

- FIVE Minutes to ground yourself on who you are, what you want to be and how you are planning to get there.

- FIVE Minutes to review your "yesterday" - looking back at everything that both worked and didn't work for you - so that you can make the coming "today" better than yesterday.

- FIVE Minutes to stop and plan out your day, so that you have more control over it than you normally have.

- FIVE Minutes to live life on purpose, rather than just let it happen to you.

Be Different Than Most Others Who Make Excuses Why They Can't

This idea is a key element to my coaching process and I've seen it work, time and time again. I ask all my clients to give themselves just FIVE Minutes to start their day - time to set their mind straight and prepare themselves for the day ahead. Unfortunately, most people tell me they don't have enough time in their day to do this - and I suspect you are thinking this as well.

They tell me, "There is so much to do in the morning - shower, eat, get the kids ready for school, get dressed, and get to work on time."

All of these things are important, right?

Absolutely!

And we all know that there is never enough time to get all the sleep we need, so . . .

Where does the FIVE Minutes come from?

It comes from your attitude.

If you want the FIVE Minutes to be there - if you set your mind to making sure that it is there - it will be.

You might eat and shower a bit quicker, start empowering your children a bit more to get themselves ready in the morning, or even get up just a minute or two earlier. My point is that when something matters, you make time for it.

So before you start making excuses for not having FIVE more minutes available to you in the morning, ask yourself what's more important - making today better than yesterday or making sure that nothing changes from one day to the next in your life?

It's Not What You Are Taught, But Rather What You LEARN

I had an interesting conversation with a client the other day. As it turns out, he had a GREAT day. Despite all the issues that life threw at him - as it always does - he was able to handle them all and still meet his loaded agenda of daily goals.

Being the ever mindful coach, my question to him was, "Well, what did you learn?"

His answer reaffirmed a very important lesson to me (which I then dutifully brought full circle back to my client) . . .

It's Not What You Are Taught, But Instead What You LEARN

So many of us go from book to book, class to class, and degree to degree seeking out the knowledge that will give us the edge - the advantage over our competitors.

I've got some bad new for you.

Life isn't about what you are taught - no matter who the teacher is. All that matters is what you learn - and often times you can learn as much from your own experiences as you can from the greatest teachers in history.

The Premise of My Coaching Practice

I don't care where you learn what you learn - the source is irrelevant. I don't care where you go for your teachings, so long as you apply them to your daily life and make a difference with them. And in the context of coaching, what matters most to me is that you learn what works for you and your business and you apply the ideas for repeat successes time and time again.

According to The Free Dictionary, learning is "the act, process, or experience of gaining knowledge or skill."

That's right you have to gain the knowledge for it actually make a difference. So you can be shown, read or listen to anything you want, until it becomes knowledge to YOU, it is worthless.

So, when you find what does work for YOU - even if it's your own invention . . . KEEP DOING IT. It doesn't matter if it works for anyone else, so long as it works for you and helps you achieve YOUR goals and the goals of your organization, then you better LEARN what it is that you just did. Because rather than just doing it randomly or haphazardly, you need to start doing it intentionally.

Do it by choice rather than by chance.

Furthermore, when you find something that isn't working in your life or your business . . . that's when you turn to the experts. That's when you pull out Seth Godin for Marketing support, Zig Ziglar for motivational Sales support, or even turn to a coach for a little bit of everything.

That's when you turn to your teacher to help you find something you don't already know. That's when learn something new.

Sounds Simple - But Life Often Is

I know it sounds simple, but that's all there is to improving your business and your life - two steps. First, look at what's working and do it by choice. Two, figure out what isn't working and find out how to make it just a little bit better. You don't have to go crazy with change - just take small steps. If those small steps work, well, back to Step One, if not repeat as necessary.

Believe it or not, you will be amazed at how quickly you can make your dreams come true.