Have you ever heard the expression “Out of sight, out of mind”? It means if something leaves your visual range, you’re probably not going to think about it anymore. It’s human nature. We are instinctually and habitually visual creatures. When you think or hear the words “red wagon,” you don’t visualize the letters r-e-d-w-a-g-o-n in your mind. You likely picture a little red Radio Flyer like the one you had when you were a kid. Pictures are the language of your subconscious mind. We think in pictures, dream in pictures, and even use words to paint pictures conversationally. So why not use this powerful medium to reinforce our vision for our lives?
Years ago I heard about a vision technique that called “the vision notebook.” A vision notebook is a notebook that contains pictures that represent your vision for your life. Separated into several different sections—relationships, health, career, finances, and spiritual—each part contains pictures that are meaningful to you in relation to your vision for your life.
If your vision for your life is to be an active, vibrant senior one day, then use Google to look up pictures of people that seem to embody that lifestyle, print them, and place them in your book. If it is one of your relationship visions to give your daughter away at her wedding, then find pictures that represent that action and place them in your notebook. If it is part of your vision to be active in overseas mission work, then find relative photos and put them in your notebook. If it is your financial vision to be financially free and independent, then place pictures in your notebook that represent that lifestyle to you.
The only qualifier for the pictures in your vision notebook is that they have an emotional connection to your vision. You want to be able to look at these pictures on a daily or weekly basis and be reminded of the place that you want to go and the reason you are on your journey. Remember: Your vision = Your purpose + your desires. Find pictures that remind you of your purpose and desires and look at them on a regular basis.
When you practice this technique, I think you’ll be surprised how well it works. Things that I had in my notebook five years ago, I’ve already removed because those things are now reality. I looked at them on a regular basis, then found a way to make them happen.
Of course, we live in a digital age, so your notebook doesn’t need to be paper. You can create your “notebook” of pictures in a file on your computer. The only downside of this method is that your notebook could easily fade from use. You need to place it so that you see it every day. With a paper notebook, I encourage you to place it where you have to physically bump into it or trip over it every day. Of course, there are ways to configure a digital notebook so that you “bump into” it every day too. The important thing is to be sure that you see it on a regular basis so that your mind can absorb the images. The more your mind sees these images, the more you are reminded of where you want to be and why you are on your way.
How are YOU tuning YOUR vision?
Excerpted from The Seven Powers of Success; Unlock Your Strengths, Unleash Your Dreams. www.charlesmarshall.net © 2013 Charles Marshall
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