Change Your Future with This Simple Exercise

When you look back, what will you see? Will you be looking back in anger, sorrow, or joy?

The future is yours to create, right now.

Your Personal Development Exercise

Take a few moments to imagine yourself five or ten years from now. You’re sitting in a cafe, with a friend and you’re both reminiscing. Maybe you have a glass of chilled wine, or a mug of coffee or a cup of tea.

You’re really happy with what you’ve achieved over these last few years. You listen contentedly to your friend describing her life and now it’s your turn. What are you going to say? What do you want to see when you look back and share some significant events in your life? What would make you proud of yourself?

Focus for a few moments on the following key areas in your life and consider what, if anything, you want to change:

• Significant Others?
• Career?
• Where you live?
• Friends or family?
• Places you have visited?
• Hobbies or pastimes?
• Add your own…

What do you have to do now, this week, this month or this year to make those reflections become a reality? To allow yourself to look back in JOY, to be proud, content and fulfilled in your life?

Photo Credit: Ivan Freaner

Create Your Own Visualisation

There are several ways of using visualisations: the common denominator is that they should help you in some way.

I use them a lot in my courses and coaching, sometimes for relaxation, sometimes to help achieve goals, and sometimes to get into touch with your inner wisdom or intuition.

D.I.Y. Relaxation

Often when I’m coaching I’ll design a personal visualisation for my client for them to use as they wish but you can easily do your own!

First decide what you want it to do for you. If it’s to relax and unwind then think about what unwinds and relaxes you best. For example, the imagery of sea and beaches is often used but if all you feel is gritty sand in places you don’t want gritty sand (!) it definitely won’t relax you! You may prefer to be indoors in the lap of luxury, or you may choose a real place where you were relaxed and at peace, and conjure up the memory.

Achieve Your Ambition

If you want to use the visualisation as an aid to helping you achieve your dreams  you need to be specific and honest with yourself about what achieving that dream means.

If it’s rising to the top in your organisation then see yourself in that role. The more detail the better: see how you’re dressed, who is with you, what your office is like, etc. When you feel dispirited just take yourself there for a few moments.

Or if you are trying to change your body shape, lose weight or get fit, imagine yourself exactly how you want to look and being happy with your new body.

If you can create a realistic  and inspiring scenario you can tap into into when your motivation is lacking.  Just close your eyes and take yourself there. It gets easier the more you practise!

But remember all visualisations work best if you ease yourself into them and allow your breathing to slow and relax first (There are some instructions for that in this post)

Write It Down

I suggest you write it down and rework it until you are happy with it, and then record it, speaking slowly and calmly. If you don’t like the sound of your own voice then maybe ask a friend – you could do one for each other! Load it onto your MP3 player and you have your own ready made motivation class at hand!

If you have used visualisations do let me know how they work for you! And if you have something that works better, please share that too!