Vision Is Everything

Have you ever heard of Victor Frankl? He was a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp and he found that no matter what, we are always in charge of our behaviours and attitudes.

“ We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.” Pretty impressive hey?

Since this experience Viktor returned home and began to develop and lecture his own approach to psychological healing, he believed that people are primarily driven by a 'striving to find meaning in one's life,' and that it is this sense of meaning that enables people to overcome painful experiences. He found that “People without a meaning in their life are exposed to aggression, depression and addiction”. Now all this is pretty interesting and his book is called Man's Search for Meaning, if you're interested.

It however, brings us to the question, how do we find meaning in our lives?

The answer is to set goals. Dreams. Aspirations. To have a vision of where you want to go and who you want to be. When we have this vision we have meaning in our lives, we are alive and enthusiastic and energetic. We find joy and hope in the journey.

The most fun and rewarding way I have found to find this vision is through the use of vision boards.

 I have had a vision board for a few years now and have found them a powerful way to direct my thoughts,feelings and aspirations. Every morning I get up and visualise my goals and meditate on my vision board to help manifest my goals. Using emotive images and words are key. It needs to bring you joy and excitement when you view it, so pics of accomplishments as well as dreams are all important. On my vision board I also include values of who I want to be eg abundant, grateful, courageous and then describe all the ways that I can attain these concepts. You can be as creative as you like, the most important thing is that it inspires you to feel the desire for your goals. (To learn more about this go here)

 Here are  6 steps to think about when considering posting on your vision board.

1. Consider your Eulogy and what you would like people to say about you?
2. What are your successes?
3. What are your strengths or talents? Enlarge on them.
4. What or who inspires you? Display images of that.
5. Why should you be successful?
6. Imagine you meet with an old friend in the future, what would you say to them about what you've been doing? What would you like to say? That's the heart of your vision board!

(My friend Hinerera is a vision coach. To learn more from her go here)

We need to make healthy habits to assist us in having meaning and joy in our lives. One thing that is key, is to be consistent in reviewing our goals. Consistent action creates consistent results.

The next and final things to consider when preparing a vision board are these three steps:

• Have
• Do
• Be

What is it that you want to have?

What do you need to do to achieve this?

And what behaviours are needed, what do you need to become?

Here is my personal example of using these 3 steps: I had a baby last year and by Christmas she was 9 months old and I was ready to lose my baby fat. I wanted to have a size 12 body and be fit and healthy. What I was going to do, was, exercise, eat healthy, grow organic food in my garden, sleep enough and drink plenty of water. Lastly I decided I needed to be consistent, organised and diligent. I needed to stay in a routine, purchase food ahead of time and look up recipes, tend the garden and go for daily walks. I found an old pic of myself at a similar phase and put it up to inspire me and joined up with healthy eating groups on Facebook. All of this helped me to achieve my goal and stay committed to my new healthy lifestyle. 

I have found now that I am a stay-at-home mum that I am particularly grateful for my vision board as it gives me meaning and joy as I go about seemingly mundane tasks in my day. One of my current goals is to extend my daughter with learning experiences each and every day. I have been excited and rewarded through this process and am really enjoying the adventures we are having together. There is nothing mundane about my day now that I have meaning and purpose in it. Its been a fun and fulfilling process. Thank you Viktor Frankl for your insights and for sharing them with the world!!