The Warriors Voice

Overview:
Now that we have defined what a Vision is (Vision, Mission and Values – Part 3: Vision) it’s time to create, clarify and focus on your Vision. There are many techniques to do this. Meditation is a popular technique and the one which is attractive to me, but there is also ‘Vision Board’, ‘Vision Video’ and ‘Mind Map’. I will discuss and give examples of each of these techniques. There may be other tools which I have not yet discovered so don’t be afraid to go and do a little research to find other ways that work for you.

Vision Tools for Creation of Vision:

Meditation: What is Meditation? Meditation is the act of being conscious and mindful. Sleeping is not meditation as you are not conscious. Jon Kabat-Zinn describes it as, “Simply put, it [Mindful Meditation] is a method for paying attention in your life, on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.” It is not about Not-Thinking, but rather it is about not following your thoughts as thoughts are about the future or the past and not the present. There are many excellent sources on meditation and I will include some in the links section.

The type of meditation that works for visioning is not about being in the present moment but rather to project your self into the future and to feel and experience your life as you would like it to be.

1. You may play soft music or light a scented candle for relaxation.
2. Start off the session with some stretching exercises and coordinate them with long deep breaths.
3. Sit in a comfortable upright position with your hands placed lightly in your lap.
4. Close your eyes, relax your body and focus on your breathing. Do not judge or change your breathing, just notice it as it flows in and out.
5. Once you feel completely relaxed, at peace and your mind is calm, begin the visualization.
6. See yourself at the end of your life (far in the future), feeling completely content and satisfied with everything you have achieved and having done everything you wanted to do. What does it feel like? Experience how you would feel when you have accomplished these things.
7. Write down what you have seen as your long-term goals put these goal in each area of your life or as Stephen Covey says, “Your Roles”. For me these roles include: Husband, Son, Contribution to the community. These should be where you want to end up in life, so they should be grandiose.
8. You can then work backwards to make short and medium term goals that are more achievable. These will be milestones to help show you that you are on your path and be in the direction of your expected outcome.

If you have never done meditation or visualizations before, it may take several practice trials, but when you do get the clear vision of what you want your life to be, it will be a profound experience. I know for my self that I have found my path when I can’t help smiling or giggling. These are signs for me of true excitement. This exercise should also be repeated as many times as necessary and on a regular basis in order to realign yourself with your vision, as well as to accommodate any changes as your life progresses.

Vision Board – A Vision Board is a collection/collage of images which represent the goals and dreams you want to attract and achieve in your journey. It can serve as a reminder and
keep you focused on where you are going, kind of like a map. It is important to be specific on this board, for example if you want to attract a car then it is important that you have a picture of the exact model, year, color you want.

Creating a vision board is as simple as having a flat piece of cardboard, a pair of scissors and some glue. Then go though magazines and find pictures on the web, cut them out and paste them on your board. You can also include words or affirmations like “I Love my new house” on the board. Then hang or place this board in a spot where you will see it daily to remind your self of where you are going.

NOTE: Be sure to notice when each of these items appears in our life and be grateful for the abundance. If you are not thankful then you will diminish how much you attract.

Vision Video - Similar to a Vision Board a Vision Video is a collection of pictures and movie clips that you put together to watch on a daily basis and remind your self of where you are going. Add to this movie a piece of music that you find inspirational. These videos can be made with many free/cheap pieces of movie making software like Windows Movie Maker or iMovie.

Mind Mapping – A Mind Map is a diagram of ideas (words and images) that center around a key concept. Researchers claim that is more effective than a list as it actually represents the ideas in the same way our brain thinks about them. I have included a link to a video where Tony Buzan describes what and how to do a mind map so I will not go into great detail here.

Although I’ve not found an example of how to use this tool to create Vision, the way I’d approach Mind Mapping my vision is to have the central piece be me at some future time (e.g. Me at age 90) and then draw out the links and concepts of what I have achieved at that point.

Conclusion:
So now I’m going to spend some time trying these techniques and focusing on my vision. I plan to start with one or more mediation sessions to clarify my vision and as I do this I will likely spend sometime putting that into a vision board to remind my self.

I will ‘document’ my progress in future entries. If you are called to do so, please share with us your own journeys.

Thanks again to those before me who have shared their knowledge and wisdom in the area of creating guidance tools.

Walk in Peace,
Warrior Jevon:In-Service

Sources and Resources:

Meditation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc

http://www.mindfulnesstapes.com/

Vision Board:
http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Create-A-Vision-Board-And-Attract-Your-Goals&id=430204

http://videotutorialoutpost.wordpress.com/2008/07/09/how-to-create-a-vision-board/

Mind Maps
http://www.jcu.edu.au/studying/services/studyskills/mindmap/

http://www.flyingsolo.com.au/p231811849_Creative-planning-techniques-mind-mapping.html

Vision Statements:

http://www.flyingsolo.com.au/p245813700_How-to-create-a-vision-statement.html

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Create-Your-Vision&id=957304

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cornelis_Boertjens

http://top7business.com/?id=573

In the third part of my journey on Vision, Mission and Values I will be discussing Vision in detail and presenting to tools and techniques to assist with this. For a review of what I have already discussed please see my previous articles in this series. Vision, Mission and Values – Part 1: Overview and Vision, Mission and Values – Part 2: Values and Beliefs

Overview:
What are Values, Vision and Mission? These are tools designed to focus and guide to you in your life’s goals. We create these so that we can measure our daily actions and insure that we are on track with where we want to go. With these we are able to take a critical look at what we are doing, where we are putting our energy, and decide if it is assisting us in getting where we want or if we are doing something that will hinder us.

What is a vision? A vision describes where you want to go either personally or organizationally. It must be inline with your values and cannot contradict these values. This does not mean that visioning won’t affect your values. While visioning you may discover that it provides clarity and changes or re-prioritizes your values. This is OK. None of these guiding tools are written in stone. If you find that they don’t work for you then take the time to re-evaluate and modify them so that they are in line with who you are and the direction you want to travel. These statements are likely to shift over time as we our selves develop and grow in ways we did not anticipate.

Stephen Covey often draws a parallel between the United States Constitution and a Mission Statement. He notes that sometimes changes to the Mission statement may be required if it no longer serves us. The US Constitution has since been amended twenty-seven times, the first ten amendments being known as the Bill of Rights. So as we develop and create this guiding tools for our selves it has to be ok to amend them as times change.

NOTE: Personally I feel that when we create these items we should work with them for a significant period of time before changing them otherwise we won’t get closer to our goals. I don’t have a set period of time in mind for my self, but I feel that I must try and make these work prior to changing them.

What are the Elements of a Vision? These can and should be unique to each situation a vision is developed for. For my personal vision statement I will seek to answer the following questions.

Personal

* How does your life look in 5 years, 10 years, 25 years, and at the end?
* Where will you be living?
* What have you achieved in this time?
* How have you grown personally and spiritually?
* How are you a better person?
* What are doing in your non-work time?
* How do you feel about your life?
* How much is your personal income?

Questions to ask around Visioning.

1. Why are you creating a vision? Create a vision because you want it, not because everyone has one. The value of a vision should be in its ability to provide direction.
2. Don’t be afraid to change it. If the current vision is not working and does not inspire you then, throw it out! Decide what you want and start making it happen.
3. Keep it Simple. It will not serve you if you can’t remember your vision and where you are going. So short and memorable is far more beneficial.
4. Focus: It may be necessary to have a multi-layered vision. Some people think you should not have a vision that is too grandiose as you won’t be able to achieve it. For example ‘World Peace’. It is suggested that you bring this down to something that you can see and get too. For my self I have a feeling that having a grandiose vision can be very inspiring, but also note that I may want to break it down into more manageable pieces or milestones. For example if my main vision was to ‘Create World Peace’ I might want a shorter term vision of creating peace in my house and then neighborhood.

Process and Suggestions:

1. A vision is never about the HOW. Do not concern your self with how will I get there. It is more important to put the emphasis on where you want to go and leave the getting there to the mission statement.
2. While you are visioning do not assume that things will work the way they are now. Don’t get bogged down in ‘tradition’ or ‘that’s the way it has been done’. If the way you are doing things now was working that well then chances are you’d already have your vision met. You will probably need to broaden your frame of reference in some aspects of your life, make some changes which will then allow your vision to come to fruition.
3. As you develop your vision it should get you very excited and be full of energy otherwise why would you bother going on the journey. If your vision is not exciting to you then you must be missing an important piece of the puzzle.
4. Creating a vision can take some time especially to fully ‘flesh’ it out. Take the time now so that you are on the right journey for you and don’t forget you can always tweak and modify your vision as it becomes clearer.
5. Creating a clear vision statement for your life and your life can be fun! Take some time out, ask yourself some key questions and allow yourself to dream.

Closing:
I am splitting Vision into two posts so that I can more thoroughly cover it. In the next part I will discuss tools and techniques that can assist us in creating the fullest Vision. I would like to thank all of those who have done this work and provided so much material to assist others, like myself, in doing this work.

Sources and Resources:
http://www.flyingsolo.com.au/p245813700_How-to-create-a-vision-statement.html

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Create-Your-Vision&id=957304

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cornelis_Boertjens

http://top7business.com/?id=573