Improving Your Long-Term Vision

I’ve talked about how difficult it can be to look into the future and know exactly what you want. Yet, the ability to do that is fundamental to being able to achieve your long-term goals. Over and over again you will learn that the clearer you can imagine your future - with emotion - the better your chances of achieving what you want. Here is a way to do just that.

If I were to ask you what you would like to eat for dinner a week from next Tuesday, could you tell me? I doubt that there is anyone who can. But if I ask you what you would like for Thanksgiving dinner, you can probably tell me in great detail, including all the trimmings and the guests you would like to have at dinner. You could probably do this for other big events like your birthday, a promotion and of course, wedding planners do this all the time!

One of the secrets to perfecting your long-term vision is to create a celebration around a specific event. Suppose you have been working on a promotion or other long-term goal. What happens when you achieve it? The feeling that comes with the promotion itself will last only a short while. We tend to adjust rapidly to new situations. As any goal achievers know, you arrive and then keep going. That doesn’t do much for motivation.

What I suggest is that you build something bigger around the achievement. It could be a dinner, a vacation or a major purchase you’ve been delaying. Imagine yourself getting the promotion AND taking a long awaited trip. See yourself on the trip and imagine how you would feel if you were doing it. Activate all of your senses so that you can not only see yourself on the trip, but smell the air, hear the sounds and taste the food you’ll be enjoying. Repeat this exercise and connect it to the achievement of your goal. It will increase your devotion to the goal which will improve your action which will make the goal come into your life faster.