What do you imagine your life to be, someday? What do you say to yourself after a big sigh?
I want to be happy.
I want less stress.
I want an uncomplicated life.
I want my own business.
I want to retire on a beach somewhere, anywhere.
Well, my love, those are life visions, your dreams for your life, your ‘wouldn’t it be great if…’ ponderings!
Having a life vision is a seriously important thing to consider because without one you are adrift at sea, shifting directions as the weather changes and hoping and wishing that you will land somewhere tropical with drinks sporting little umbrellas!
Oh sure, some roll their eyes when they hear the words ‘life vision’, “give me a plain old plan” they say, but a plan is of little good if you don’t have a view of what is out on the horizon. Life visioning means looking at the Big Picture of your life, you know, all those raw dreams and wishes you have contemplated throughout the years then packed away and labelled ‘one day’.
Some people believe that they are unable to dream, imagine or design a life vision. Well it’s as easy as starting with one question,
“What do you want?”
Yes, that simple little question, so ripe with possibility, is a vision question. ‘Wanting’ encourages you to stretch beyond your comfort zone and to challenge yourself to realise more of your potential. Whatever you choose to call it, your life vision, life dream, wide angle view or Big Picture, visioning your life as you want it to be allows you to move into the realm of possibility and opportunity.
Now dreaming about, thinking about, and exploring your Life Vision isn’t something you ‘tick’ off the list and consider it done…for life. Well, first off, in Burnout Queen land that would be kind of boring, and second it’s just not likely. Your life vision will morph, evolve, disappear, reappear, and reinvent itself many times over. It will change with age, experience, wisdom (!), and life events. There will be many times that you will find yourself questionning and reconsidering what you once thought was absolute. Of course that can be disconcerting but I guess all we can say to reassure you is that it means you are living your life fully awake.
Anyone can dream what is possible. What is difficult is staying open to your dream and refusing to greet it with skepticism, criticism, cynicism, or censorship. (Between you and me, there are always enough people in life willing to dole out the doubt, so no need to get in that line!) Think about it, since the beginning of humanity every miracle of achievement began as a sparkle of an idea somewhere in someone’s mind. (And somewhere there was someone saying, “What, are you nuts?!)
Visioning simply means setting yourself free from the way things are and thinking about, or dreaming about, how things could be different.
Now we are not necessarily members of the ‘dream it and it will happen’ school of thought, however, we do believe that when you begin to ‘dream your life in the future’ you breathe life into your vision and at that moment it becomes a very real possibility.
Here’s an everyday example from one of our VIP clients: Last year our client/friend had a most unfortunate accident which laid her up for weeks unable to get to work. Thus ensued worry, stress, and then something different…a sparkle of an idea. Hmm, she began to think, I kind of enjoy this time away from work, I think I’d like to work less and have more free time to discover who I am outside of work. Well, part-time wasn’t an option in her position, so a new vision began to emerge…retirement. This was a huge surprise to my client. She hadn’t been planning this at all, but she breathed life into the vision and as of May she is retired, pro-tired, and re-wired for a new adventure!
Now you may think that this was ‘just a goal’ that now has a plan attached, but it is way bigger than that, it is a total life redesign, the end result of that simple question, “What do I want?”
So what does life visioning have to do with burnout? Easy. Visioning sets you free from the way things are and allows you to think about or dream of how things could be different. Like we keep saying, burnout isn’t about having too much to do or juggling too many roles, and it most certainly isn’t ‘just stress’, no, burnout happens when your life becomes stagnant.
Burnout sneaks in when you feel empty of any dreams or vision of your future.
Allowing yourself to dream, to design a life vision, means gifting yourself a sneak preview of life to come. When you look to the future you tap into optimism, hope, and yes even faith. You begin to believe again. Bye-bye burnout!
Some people are afraid to look too far into the future, to acknowledge their dreams, or to hope that they are capable of striving for them. Yet we know that is exactly what many of you are looking for; a new dream, a different direction, deeper satisfaction, new challenges and adventures, along with more time to laugh and love.
Are you ready to embrace your life vision? If you are you know where to start. One simple but profound little question…
“What do you want?”
