It’s that time of year when many of us are swamped with kids back in school, holidays approaching and sales quotas hanging over our heads. The dog days of summer are behind us and the short, cold days of winter haven’t yet sent us indoors. Since the weather is so beautiful this time of year, I have a task for you. But not just any task. This is one that will change your life forever if you do it right. Are you ready for the challenge?
This is it- get a notebook, a legal pad or some other large volume of paper and your favorite writing instrument. Put them in a bag with a snack and your beverage of choice and get in the car. Now drive to the most beautiful outdoor place you know in the area. It might be Maymont, a lake in Innsbrook, or the river. Wherever you end up, plan on spending four hours there. Just you, the paper, pen, food and drink.
Once you arrive at your destination, get comfortable and begin to write the the answer to one simple question- “If I gave you $500,000 today to do anything you wanted with, what would you do?” That’s it. Answer that question in as much detail as you can. Remember you have four hours. List all the places you’d travel, the things you’d buy for yourself and your family, the adventures you’d have. Don’t hold back. Dream. Dream big. Dream really big.
After you answer that question, I want you to spend the remainder of the four hours figuring out how you are going to get the money. The first things that will come out on the paper are the easy things, the obvious things, like sell more or get a job selling things with bigger commissions. Dig deeper and get creative. Don’t limit yourself to what you think is possible. Just list everything out. Could you start a business? Could you be the number one salesperson in a national firm? Could you invent something revolutionary? Figure out all the ways you could earn $500,000. Don’t stop until you have the perfect solution or your four hours is up. Open your mind and don’t limit your thinking in any way.
This is a great way to expand your horizons and begin doing the things that will make your life extraordinary. So often in life we get caught up in why things can’t work, that we forget to find ways that things can work. If you put on your list that you could boost your sales 50% each year and get to that $500,000 mark but dismissed it because it didn’t seem realistic, start brainstorming all the ways that you could actually accomplish the increase. Just because you haven’t done it before doesn’t mean it’s impossible; it simply means you haven’t figured out how to do it yet.
There are examples of creative thinking all around. A few years ago some guy somewhere decided he wanted be able to travel with his favorite music and his solution was to make a small CD player. A few years later someone decided that the CD player was too cumbersome and he looked at portable music in another way. The iPod was born. Same problem, different solution. Get creative in your thinking and solve the problem of getting the extra money into your life.
Once you’ve figured out how to get the money you want, create a list of the things you have to do in order to accomplish the goal. Be specific. Picture yourself doing these things. If you need to increase your sales, picture yourself networking with the right people, making the right connections, sending the marketing items and getting referrals from the right people. If you need to hire someone to help you, picture that person and what he would be doing for you. If you are going to start a business, what kind will it be and how will it be run? The purpose here is to get a clear vision of what you need to do.
Many of us are great dreamers. We know what we want but it all seems out of reach. The only thing missing between that dream and reality is a clear vision of the path we need to take to get the things we want in life. Spend time “seeing” the journey ahead of you. Get a clear picture of your path.
After you have your vision written out and clearly defined in your mind’s eye, go live it. Don’t just settle for a dream. Wake up and live the life you want. It’s waiting for you if you are willing to go after it. Be bold and daring and live by choice, not by accident.
A Dream, A Life, A Vision - To learn more about this author, visit Laura Posey's Website.
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