How’s your vision? Oh, I’m sure you thought I was asking how is your eyesight, right? But no, I’m actually asking about the vision that’s in your heart! You know we all go through our days visualizing something. Every thought we have is accompanied by a vision. When I say the word dog, you don’t see D.O.G. in your mind, you see a picture of a dog…probably your dog, if you have one. No matter the vision, we all have one.
Many of us have had visions that were given to us by our parents or maybe a teacher when we were very young, but usually given by someone that held significance in our life at some time. These visions were created when certain things were spoken to us. It might have come in the form of a question to us when we were very young, such as “what do you want to be when you grow up”? These conversations evoked images in our mind that often were carried into adulthood. An example of this is a child being told at an early age that they were “nothing but trouble”, “always a problem”, “you’ll never amount to anything”. That child formed an image of those things in their mind and it began to be apart of their thinking on a daily basis. They pictured a person broken, never having anything of value and someone that no one wanted. What a vision to carry around all your life! This actually happens, it happens often. Many of us are told incredible things and are praised and loved and therefore carry a vision much different than the first example.
So why am I bringing this to mind? I’ve been thinking about the year 2020. I automatically thought of 20/20 vision. And that prompted my thinking about the vision we each carry within us. Vision is extremely vital to our success. The mental images we paint in our minds literally influence the outcomes in our lives. Before our thoughts can be acted on they have touched our emotions. It is after this that we can choose to allow our emotions to influence our reaction to that thought or we allow the process of the filter in our brain to help us logically assess that thought. Visions begin with a thought that has touched our emotions. This is important to know because although emotions play a vital role in our thought processes, we have to be careful to not allow our emotions to dominate that process. Emotions are not always based in fact and can often times be very unreliable and unstable.
I want each person that reads this post to develop a healthy, viable and exciting vision for their 2020 year!! I want to share how I’ve developed “Visions” for my life at various stages. Some are still in the process of materializing and others have manifested and with that, encouraged me to get new visions for my life. Let me briefly share with you how to get 20/20 Vision in 2020.
1. Access where you are in life. Are you happy in your career choice/school/ vocation in life?
Are you healthy? Are your finances stable? Are your relationships healthy and peaceful? Do you experience a level of happiness and contentment in life that is satisfactory to you?
2. Get your pen and paper. If the answer to one or more of the questions above were not in the affirmative then write which one or ones down on your paper. I encourage you at this point to ask the Holy Spirit for his guidance as His approval will always ensure your success. Out to the side of what you have listed, write what you would like to “see” as far as how this could be resolved. Example: If you’re overweight and it’s causing health issues, write out to the side of that, “I want to lose____ pounds and seek help to resolve my health issues”.
3. Get Two Poster Boards and Magazines. Use one entire poster board to put the things you listed under #2 in large print. Find pictures that capture what you want to “see” happen regarding what you listed. If it’s weight loss, find a picture of yourself at a healthier weight. If it’s finances and debt reduction, find pictures of money or a contract with debt cancelled. If it’s better relationships, find pictures of happy people…you get the idea. Once you’ve found your pictures paste them next to your “What you want to see happen statement”. Take the other poster board and cut into 4 equal sizes. List everything on your large poster board on each of the four smaller pieces. These smaller versions without pictures will need to be placed in prominent places around your home, preferably where just you will be viewing them often. Your large poster board needs to be placed where you know you will see it everyday!. You may put the smaller one inside a kitchen cabinet, your glove box or visor in your car, maybe the wall just in front of your toilet. You get the picture here! These posters are your visual representation of the 20/20 Vision for your 2020 year.
4. Formulate an action plan for each item listed. On the same piece of paper you used for #2 write down everything you know you can do to solve this problem. List people that can help you. Write down the resources you will need to accomplish this. Then set reasonable time-lines to accomplish these action plans. Don’t be so rigid that you set yourself up for failure. Then write down a starting date that you are willing to implement your plan. You may not be able to do this immediately but you know you can in two weeks, or in four days. Just write it down. Hopefully you prioritized your items on your board. This is what you will place your main focus on but will be mindful of the others and what you can be doing regarding those as well. Don’t put more than 3-5 things on your board and your list. You won’t have the energy to daily focus on more than that.
5. Keep the Vision in Front of You. Make sure you are seeing your boards daily and often; Visualize them in your mind. Talk about them out loud to yourself. Don’t share big ideas with small minds…they will discourage you. Only share your vision with a person or people (should be only a few if that many) that you know truly care about you and will support you and not criticize you. When I made my first “Vision Board” I found scripture that confirmed to me that these things were God’s will for my life. I know it is His will for me to be healthy, blessed, prosperous in finances and relationships and His Word has a plethora of confirmations of that. I quoted them everyday along with my statements on my vision board. I also kept a journal from the time I began my board until each goal had been manifested. I loved seeing the time lines move and how quickly many of these things came to pass in my life.
This is a very brief description on how to start a "Vision Board". I am in the process of developing a short course on this that will give much more detail, but this is enough to get you started.
I want to encourage you to life your best life now by getting a Vision for your life this year. Things don’t have to stay the way they are. You weren’t meant to just survive, you were meant to thrive. Get serious about living a good and joyful life!! It’s totally possible!! You can start a new year with 20/20 Vision.....a FOCUSED Vision! I encourage you today to invest in yourself and your future!!! Here’s to a HaPpY NeW YeAr!!!!!!
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