Many of us go through our daily lives feeling overwhelmed. One day seems to blend into the next, full of activity, and before you know it days and weeks have gone by. You are busy and there are so many things to do, but there never seems to be enough time or energy to do them all. When you look back, you struggle to figure out exactly what you’ve accomplished.

Sound familiar? Like many, this may be how you feel about your business, career, or life in general. Have you promised yourself that this month you are going to make some serious changes, but you just aren’t sure what those changes need to be?  Well, that is where creating a vision can be a valuable tool in helping you to get focused and take action. Without changing your focus and habits you will never be able to change the results.

The process of creating a vision for yourself starts with a thought, a great idea, a passionate want, or a dream of something you want to achieve. These are the intangible sparks that ignite our drive to move forward and turn the intangible into our reality. Without taking action you will never move forward and reach the results you want.

Ready to get started?

Begin by brainstorming.  Your first brainstorming session should be free flowing, so do not edit your thoughts or ideas. If you are working on your personal vision and your work vision to define what you want and how you want to spend your time, start with the personal vision.

This will give you absolute clarity about what is important to you, what you want, and what things you are passionate about that make you feel fulfilled.

After you have created your personal vision, you can create the vision of your ideal business or career aspirations.  You will then be able to take action to bring want you really want into your life.

To conduct this exercise successfully, focus on what you really want and be very specific. Don’t just say you want a lot of money, a nice home and no stress. Create a picture in your mind of exactly what you want, then use words to draw that picture until your vision is clear.

Here are some examples:

• I will work five days a week between 9:00am and 4:00pm and devote the rest of my day to self-care –  exercising, reading, and spending time with family and friends.

• I love to learn so I will spend at least 40 hours a year in educational workshops and training programs for personal and professional development.

• I will create several workbooks and learning products that fit into my personal and vision statement.  This will provide my clients excellent value and tools that will help them to get on track with their lives.

• I will avoid stress by focusing on the positive and focusing my energy on the things that are really important to me.

Next, take action!

Now that you have your vision statement, it is time to take action. Devise some smart objectives that will allow you to make progress.  Take into consideration what is realistic and what you are able to commit to on a short-term and long-term basis. You are responsible for the momentum.  Without the forward momentum and inspired actions you will not achieved the desired results of your vision. Therefore, it will be up to you to take the actions on your own unless you choose to have the support, encouragement, and accountability that a coach would provide.  A coach would listen to what you want to achieve and work with you by setting out measurable steps to be taken that result in action and success.

REMEMBER: You create what you put your energy on. If you concentrate on all the things you don’t want and all the things you don’t have enough of, it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Instead, start creating what you do want beginning with your vision. Clearly lay out your life, career, and business vision and then take the steps to make it your reality.