Comments to: crs@uvm.eduReviewed as of 4/20/98
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EXERCISE 2
Creating the vision
This is an exercise for creating a personal future vision that can
be used to determine one's life work. It uses the technique of
creative visualization, with an emphasis on exploring rather than
defining the future. Remember throughout the exercise that there
are no "right" answers, there are simply "honest" answers. What is
"right" for one person will not be "right" for the next person.
1) On a very large piece of paper, label and give an equal amount
of space to the following eight major areas:
Work & Career
Personal Relationships
Lifestyle
Politics & World
Spiritual Growth
Personal Growth & Creativity
Money & Possessions
Leisure & Travel
Beneath each area, describe as precisely as possible, exactly what
you want in the future. At this point, you are developing a
vision, so don't edit out any of your thoughts. It's extremely
important to "take the lid off" and let yourself be very free,
complete, and honest about what you want.
Pay particular attention to areas that stay blank for a long time
or that have very little in them; this will indicate the areas
where you need more awareness.
2) Once you have listed all the things you want in your ideal
future, assess these and ask yourself when you want this future.
Were you thinking 5 to 10 years in the future, or did you think
about next year? Pay attention to this, since it will tell you
what you consider a long-term goal.
Some people don't plan beyond a few years, while others know what
they want from life in 10 to 20 years. All visions need to be
assessed as time goes by, but those people whose visions are a few
years off are likely to do more frequent assessments.
3) Develop specific goals and plans for reaching the aims that you
described in each of the eight areas, noting where there may be
overlap or parallel goals that can be worked on together. Make
lists of goals for the following time periods:
l month
3 months
6 months
l year
3 years
5 years
(continue as necessary)
Review these goals and look for patterns or paths that develop.
Can you see how you might move, step by step, from the present to
the future you described? Does this movement from the present to
future feel as if it's a continuation of your life now, or does it
require you to make significant changes? Does it feel comfortable?
Does it seem interesting or exciting? If not, re-evaluate the
troubling items and see how you can make the goals and plans more
realistic.
4) Reassessment at appropriate intervals is one of the most
critical parts of this exercise. Your life will change, which may
have profound effects on your vision of the future you want to
live. Give yourself the opportunity to do this exercise again
whenever your vision feels inconsistent with your life, and give
yourself the gift of knowing you're living your life with the most
integrity that can.
> Further notes on the exercise:
This is an exercise in which participants actually create a vision
of an ideal future, and map out the intermediate steps that must be
taken for the ideal to happen. The underlying assumption with this
exercise is that people can dream, and plan to make the dream come
true.
A leader should go through each of the steps with participants and
remind them that they choose how near or far into the future they
envision; this will also affect the time periods for which they are
setting goals.
If appropriate, the leader can change or add major areas of
planning for the special needs of the group.
If a step requires further discussion before participants can go
on, that's fine. Discussion time noted below is not intended to
wait for the exercise to be completed, rather to be used at your
discretion.
This exercise should be done in a comfortable and unhurried manner.
The exercise starts with brainstorming; make sure participants
understand the importance of "taking the lid off."
> Time: 30 minutes for the exercise; 10 minutes for discussion
Comments to: crs@uvm.edu
Reviewed as of 4/20/98