“Dream and give yourself permission to envision a You that you can choose to be.” — Joy Page
What do you want your life to be about? How do you want to live?
You can answer some of these questions by using envisioning.
Envisioning is not fantasizing.
It’s directed day-dreaming with meaning. And you can use it to reveal insight about yourself and how to find your way forward through the chaos of life.
It’s the same tool that leaders use to imagine a better world, a better life, and the art of the possible.
In The Inner Edge: The 10 Practices of Personal Leadership, Joelle K. Jay shares the power of possibility through the art of envisioning.
See Yourself in the Future
Take a trip into the future with your mind and explore all that you’re capable of.
Via The Inner Edge: The 10 Practices of Personal Leadership:
“Envisioning means using your imagination to see yourself in the future — what Wharton School of Business researchers call ‘the leadership skill of time travel.’ You actually close your eyes and get a visual picture of what you want. It’s a day-dream with meaning. In your mind, you see yourself succeeding. You … and improved.”
Envisioning Reveals Intuitive Wisdom through Vibrant Images, Alive with Details
Pictures are worth thousands of words, and reveal what might be otherwise tough to articulate or think your way through.
Via The Inner Edge: The 10 Practices of Personal Leadership:
“Envisioning helps you see a more complete picture than you get from answering questions in words. When you envision the future (as opposed to just ruminating on it), you see it in the form of vibrant images, alive with details. The pictures serve to amplify important internal messages, explain gut reactions, and reveal intuitive wisdom. They are imbued with meaning, which can help you make decisions and take action.”
Envisioning is Not Fantasizing
Envisioning is your personal power tool for cutting through chaos and gaining clarity.
Via The Inner Edge: The 10 Practices of Personal Leadership:
“Envisioning is not fantasizing. Quite the opposite, it’s a practical, efficient technique to get clarity instantly by tapping into these rich stores of knowledge that sometimes get obscured in the chaos of daily life.”
The Story of William
William was on a path, but did his path match what he wanted out of life and how he wanted to live? Envisioning can help you step into the future and get a taste of what life would be like.
Via The Inner Edge: The 10 Practices of Personal Leadership:
“William seemed like a guy who had direction. Promotion after promotion had landed him in the tech firm’s general manager chair, and he was positioning for further advancement. He wanted that. In our very first meeting, he even told me where he saw himself in five years: ‘In five years, I expect I’ll be taking on some of the international work and helping to grow this part of the business worldwide.’
The trouble was that William’s job title was just one small (if significant) part of his life. The answer to the question ‘Where do you see yourself in five years/’ was this: ‘Running an international division.’ But unanswered questions remained. ‘Is that a life you want to live?‘ ‘What’s going to sustain you so you can lead without burning out?’ ‘How does this career path fit with your hopes for the rest of your life?’ To get to some of those answers, I didn’t have to spend all afternoon grilling William. All he had to do was close his eyes.”
Way to go William.
Long ago Stephen Covey said, “All things are created twice. There’s a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation to all things.” He also said, “All things are created twice, but not all first creations are by conscious design.”
You can use envisioning to reveal, imagine, and re-imagine all that you’re capable of.
Direct your life with skill
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Image by Frank Kovalchek.
