Nope. I am not talking about the Lotto, though that adage applies there as well. We all have dreams, goals and desires, many of which just languish on the shelves of our minds. We treat our lives like a non-participatory sport; constantly running up and down the sidelines cheering but freeze when asked to get in the game.
Wanna lose weight? Absolutely. Well what have you done about that particular wish? How many half completed diets have you been on only to opine “oh that doesn’t work!”. The question is; was it the diet or was it you? Diets only work if you do. Ditto for exercise. Starting off the year with a brand new gym membership does nothing for your activity levels unless you actually get up and go.
In much the same way we point to our vision boards or journal entries as evidence of goals. There is significant power in visualizing what we want. It distills our desires into focus. The very act of putting that focus into words or pictures can recruit our unconscious to continue working toward it even when we have rested. The operating word, however, is rested. That implies we have put in the WORK and have paused only to regroup and refresh. Visions are just dreams deferred without active work.
Since we are still at the beginning of the year, this would be a perfect time to use the SMART technique we discussed in a previous post to put some focus to our dreams.
Why not break out the scissors, the glue and the poster boards and get to visioning your year in pictures. Cut from any magazine pictures, articles or even ads that speak to you. Print off blog posts or web based graphics that energize and inform. Go wild with the creativity, instill into your boards the energy that you would like to imbue into your lives this year.
Once you have that board made, review it, edit if you must then post it in a prominent place that catches your attention every time you pass. Most importantly, Get in the game! Get to work on making reality out of the pictures in your mind. Remember “Success is not a Movie. Sitting back and watching brings you first to Intermission, then to closure in someone else’s life, NOT yours.”
