with FutureVisions^SM

creating sustainable results in growth and performance

When you practise idealisation and future orientation, you make no compromises with your dreams and visions for yourself and your future. You don’t settle for smaller goals or half successes. Instead you "dream big dreams" and project forward mentally as though you are one of the most powerful people in the universe. You create your perfect future. You decide what you really want before you come back to the present moment and deal with what is possible for you within your current situation.

So, imagine that a perfect work life five years from now. Take  a few minutes to create your future scenario. Do not begin with what is now in place but let your mind wander and stretch. Answer the following further (more probing) questions about your work life and, if possible, share them with others. It will be helpful to you to communicate what you most want for the future with relevant others, if you have them (staff, co-workers or boss, personal or business partner/s). How do their answers agree with yours? Where do you part company? What do you value the most? The feedback others give you can help you sharpen your vision.

1.    Close your eyes and imagine the future place (or places) where you will work. What will it/they look like? Building, field, house? Community centre, office, factory, courtroom, school? What are the colours, shapes, sizes of the structures? 

2.    What are you doing? Are you at a desk, in front of the room, on a telecommunications network, working on a computer, talking with a team, drawing charts and graphs, in a meeting? Are you teaching others or learning?

3.    What is the feeling or tone? Are you laughing, serious, thoughtful, playful, focused or scattered?

4.    Who is with you? Are you alone, writing or thinking? Are you with others solving problems or talking about an issue? Are you in charge, taking orders, working with colleagues?

5.    What resources are available to you? Do you have desks, computers, electronic networks, telecommunications, videos, rapid transportation, computer-aided graphics and instructions? What other resources are available?

6.    What skills will you need to be successful? How do you gain them? How will you expand and continue to learn? What interests and talents will you need and have?

7.    What is the focus of your work? How do you spend your time? What is the most important accomplishment you can picture?

8.    How do you feel/think about yourself in the new environment? How are you treated? How do you feel about your support people, co-workers, supervisors/bosses (if you have any of these)? How do you feel about working for yourself or the organization (as the case may be)?

This exercise was designed to open your imagination and help you bypass any fixed assumptions you may have about how your work is organized. Let these questions, and your answers, simmer on the back burner for a few days and then re-visit them.

What will actually change in the future is unimaginable today but it is clear we will all be required to possess new sets of skills, adjust to new ways of thinking, learn new technologies, and engage in new behaviors that most of us never learned or experienced before.

Let go of what is happening now and start with a blank slate, don’t take what you have and just re-arrange it.

Practice No-Limit Thinking

When you answer these questions, imagine that you have no limits. Imagine that everything is possible for you. Now, idealise your perfect financial life sometime in the future:

1. How much would you be earning five years from today?

2. What sort of lifestyle would you have?

3. What kind of home would you live in?

4. Would you have a car? If so, what kind of car would you drive?

5. What kind of material luxuries would you be providing for yourself and your family?

6. How much would you have in the bank?

7. How much would you be saving and investing each month and each year?

8. How much would you want to be worth when you retire?

Imagine that you have a Magic Slate. You can write down anything you want. You can erase anything that may have happened in the past and create whatever picture you desire for your future. You can clean the slate at any time and start over. You have no limits.

Community Connections

Now imagine that you are an important influential person, a "player" in your community. You are making a significant contribution to the world around you. You are making a difference with your life and in the lives of other people. If your social and community status and involvement were ideal:

1. What would you be doing?
2. What organisations would you be working with or contributing to?
3. What are the causes you strongly believe in and support and how could you become more involved in those areas?

Examine yourself in terms of your personal inventory of skills, knowledge, talent education and ability. If you were developed to the highest level possible for you and there is virtually no limit), answer these questions:

1. What additional knowledge and skills would you have acquired five years from now?
2. In what areas would you be recognised as absolutely excellent in what you do?
3. What would you be doing each day in order to develop the knowledge and skills you need to be one of the top performers in your field sometime in the future?

Once you have answered these questions, the next question you ask is, How? How do you attain the skills and expertise you desire in the years ahead?

Design your Perfect Calendar

Decide how you would like to live your ideal lifestyle, day in and day out. Design your perfect calendar from January 1 to December 31:

1. What would you like to do on your weekends and holidays?
2. How much time would you like to take off each week, month and year?
3. Where would you like to go?
4. How would you organise your year if you had no limitations and complete control over your time?

When you have clear, exciting goals and ideals, you will feel happier about yourself and your world. You will be more positive and optimistic. You will be more cheerful and enthusiastic. You will feel INTERNALLY motivated to get up and get going every morning because every step you are taking will be moving you in the direction of something that is important to you.

Resolve to set aside time to think about your ideal future. Remember the very best days of your life lie ahead. The clearer you can be about your long-term future, the more rapidly you will attract people and circumstances into your life to help you make that future a reality. The greatest clarity you have about who you are and what you want, the more you will achieve and the faster you will achieve it in every area of your life.