Tag: Visualisation. James Allen

FORGET GOALS; HERE’S WHY YOU SHOULD GET A VISION FOR YOUR LIFE

You’ve probably already set your goals for 2024.

Perhaps you’ve even failed some of them.

Fear not, though, because there’s an even more powerful tool you can use to create the life of your dreams.

CREATING A VISION FOR YOUR LIFE

Where are you now? What’s your current life situation – your environment, your relationships, your job, your health and finances?

This is your reality. Your day-to-day life and everything around you are the sum total of your decisions, beliefs, actions and thoughts (of course, your life will also have been impacted by the environment you were born into).  

At times, it may feel like this reality confines and limits you, but it doesn’t. Even if it feels like you’ve been living the same reality for years, there’s something you need to know.

Your life CAN change. However, a big part of changing your reality is knowing what you want to move towards.

You must know the answer to the following questions.

How do you want your life to be?

Where would you like to live? What do you want to do each day? Who do you want to spend time with? Would you like to travel? What impact would you like to have with your life?

Now, sprinkle in a little destiny.

What were you born to do? Why is your uniqueness needed?

Answer all of these questions, without notions of what society considers possible or acceptable, and you have your vision.

Now test it.

Is there an emotional draw?

When you close your eyes and conjure up images of how you want your life to be, do feelings of love, inspiration and freedom occur? Does it feel like home?

If you can’t access these emotions then your vision isn’t compelling enough.

Go back to the drawing board.

Answer the above questions again but make sure you’re not limiting yourself in any way.

Remember, the negative energy of society is going to influence you to think so much is impossible. Furthermore, living what society considers a “good life” might not be enough to inspire you.

Break free from conditioned thought. Connect with your heart. Even if it’s telling you to create the first human colony on Mars, go with it. (Elon Musk doesn’t limit his thinking).  

Also, be prepared to take your time.

You might have to revisit this exercise on a regular basis and refine your vision until you’ve created something really compelling.

What next?

TRAVELLING WITHIN

Now that you have a vision for how you want your life to be, you need to understand how your reality will change.

The Secret, or some people’s misinterpretation of how the book/film works, has garnered a lot of criticism for the law of attraction and visualisation.  

Because thinking about your desire DOES NOT cause the immediate manifestation of your thought, many people dismiss the idea that a vision can change their reality.

On a surface level, these people may be right but how long have they persisted with their visualisation?

Have they contemplated their vision, not just in passing moments, but for every day of their life, for months, years and even decades?

It’s unlikely, because if they did, they might find that something incredible occurred.

James Allen explains it best in his book As A Man Thinketh.  He writes,

The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg; and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities . . .

Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not long remain so if you but perceive and Ideal and strive to reach it. You cannot travel within and stand still without . . . Whatever your present environment may be, you will fall, remain, or rise with your thoughts, your Vision, your Ideal.

Pay close attention to this sentence, “You cannot travel within and stand still without.” Assimilating your vision (through constant contemplation), changes you at a fundamental level (you “travel within”).

As a result, you show up in the world as a different person. This more motivated, confident, charismatic version of yourself, with greater clarity of purpose, receives a different reaction from his or her environment. Doors that were once closed will now open. Ideas that were once ignored will now be embraced.

The world will react differently to you (you travel without) because, through becoming one with your vision, you have changed.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER’S VISION

To help you in this process, I thought you might benefit from an example.

Recently, I’ve been reading Arnold Schwarzenegger’s book, Be Useful: 7 Tools For Life. Arnold’s first rule is (and seemingly the most important), “Have A Clear Vision.”

At every stage in his remarkable life, Arnold had a clear vision of what he wanted to achieve. The following example highlights his vision for becoming a champion bodybuilder. Use it as guidance for creating your own.

When I fell in love with bodybuilding, I didn’t have vague hopes of becoming a champion. I had a very specific vision of it, borrowed from the pictures inside of muscle magazines of guys like Reg Park celebrating their victories. I could see myself on the top step of the winners’ podium holding a trophy. I could see the other competitors on the lower steps looking up at me enviously, but also in awe. I could see their tight smiles, I could even see the colors of their posing briefs. I could see the judges standing and applauding. I could see the crowd going wild and chanting my name. “Arnold! Arnold! Arnold!” This wasn’t a fantasy. This was a memory that just hadn’t happened yet. That’s what it felt like to me.

There are a few things you can take from Arnold’s vision.

First, notice the detail. Arnold created an in-depth scenario which he returned to, again and again, in his mind. Small details like the colour of his opponents posing briefs were included, making the vision more real.

Also, notice where he found the inspiration for this vision. This wasn’t something created entirely in his imagination. He leaned on the pages of muscle magazines to prime his imaginative motor.

You can do the same.

Use something real to base your vision upon.

Below, you can see two images I’ve used to help create my vision.

This first is a tiny photo given to me by someone who was at the 2008 Wimbledon Final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Often referred to as the greatest match in tennis history, it saw Nadal emerge out of the shadow of Federer to win his first ever non-clay court grand slam (and become world number 1 soon after).

As a Nadal fan, this represents the ultimate moment of triumph. He’s collapsed, exhausted but victorious, having played his heart out (I know the picture isn’t easy to see but the white mass is Nadal, the white line is the baseline of the court and his racket is about 10 foot below his feet).

Although I gave up on my tennis dreams decades ago, this moment of triumph resonates deeply.

In my mind, I’ll have a similar experience once I’ve sold the millionth copy of my books. I can imagine myself emotional, collapsed and elated that a journey which has taken me so long, and for which I’ve fought so hard, has finally come to an end.

The second image is from a Christmas card I received many years ago.

It resonates with me because it evokes feelings of a warm, loving home and family. I don’t know if I’d describe it as my dream home but the environment is certainly one I want to create, and live in.

These images are powerful to me. They helped me create a vision in my mind that is full of triumph, love and meaning.

OVER TO YOU

You should now create your own vision.

Remember, visions are visual, so use whatever stimulus and inspiration you can find.

Some people like to create a vision board. If this works for you, use it.

Whatever you do, make sure your vision feels real.

Take note of what Arnold Schwarzenegger writes. He describes his vision as, “a memory that just hadn’t happened yet.”

This isn’t a fantasy.

Some physicists theorise that everything that has ever happened is occurring right now, just in a different dimension.

Treat your vision the same.

It has happened.

It will happen.

Of course, you can always settle for the alternative and dismiss the idea of creating a vision for your life.

Treat it as pseudo-scientific, new age nonsense and just allow yourself to be guided by the society you live in.

Do that, though, and it’s quite certain where you’ll end up. In the words of Tony Gaskins Jr, “If you don’t build your own dream, someone else will hire you to help build theirs.”

Visions are more than just the musings of an overactive imagination.

They provide direction.

If you know what your life is about, and where you’re headed, you won’t fall for lesser goals or settle for anything less than the full expression of what you could be.

Stay true to your vision.

Stay true to yourself.

GET YOUR FREE COURSE  

If you want to discover a passion you can make a living from and overcome the fears that are holding you back, check out my free course 30 Days to Escape The System. Click here to get the course right now! (You’ll find the tips on developing belief and self-confidence fascinating!) 

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Photo by Rahul Bhosale on Unsplash