The Power of a Vision for Motivation

Have you ever planned a super exciting vacation to get out of the mundane rituals of daily life and then when you get there, it doesn’t quite feel the same as you had previously envisioned it?

Can you envision sitting poolside with a frozen Pina Colada while the sun shines upon your body and the passing breeze cools your glistening skin? This visual will motivate anyone to do just about anything to make it happen!

So, you decide to do it…

You bust your butt to tie up loose ends at home and work.

You set up:

• where you will stay
• what you will do
• who you will do it with
• who will watch the pets while you are away
• who will cover for you at work
• set up vacation voicemails
• put mail on hold
• wash clothes
• pack everyone’s bags

…only to feel extremely warn out and prickly when you finally get to “BE” on vacation!

The trip actually ends up looking more like…

• the dogs getting into slightly unzipped suitcases and swallowing an unnumbered amount of socks and underwear as you are packing the car
• the kids arguing and fighting in the car the whole way there
• your spouse/significant other misunderstanding something you said as you are trying to have “good conversation and connect” only to have it end in the silent treatment for the duration of the ride
• oh, yeah…and you at one point during your trip remember that the people you chose to spend your time with on vacation actually drive you bat shit crazy!!

You finally get the opportunity to be poolside, and the sun is burning your damn skin off your body. You decide to find a server to order that “mouth watering” Pina Colada you were salivating over for the past month as you were planning this trip, but they are nowhere to be found. You track down an attendant and excitedly order your drink.  After about 20 minutes you finally get your melted ass Pina Colada because the heat already had scorched it before ever getting to you. You end up sucking it down like water to cool yourself down and later realize that that was the most expensive “water” you have ever purchased!

Has this ever happened to you????

I am being a little dramatic here, but really…do you see yourself in any part of this?

YUP, Me Too!!!

What happened to our initial vision and why do we keep on getting so excited about vacations that end up playing out very similarly no matter how much time we take to plan them?

The power of having a compelling vision is imperative for motivation…wouldn’t you say?

How much time do we dedicate to research, planning and creating a beautiful vision about what we want to experience before going on any vacation? A vision so compelling that every fiber of our being gets motivated to plow through the above listed challenges in order to fulfill that vision?

Have you ever stopped to think that our ability to use our mind in this way is one of our many superpowers? The ability to create motivation in this way is extremely underutilized!

Why is it that most people wait to feel motivated before they move towards any action?

The answer is that most people are not aware that there is a different way. The cool thing about this is when you know better you are called to do better. I am offering here a change in perspective for you to utilize in your own life when…

You don’t feel like it, or you don’t have motivation!

I want to use this as a reminder to assist you in getting yourself in motion.

So, what did you actually do with the vacation scenario? You used simple motivation strategies to achieve your vision.

• You initially wanted to escape the pressures of daily life and relax.
• You recognized the need to unwind, connect with loved ones and experience an adventure!
• You decided to plan a vacation that would help you feel refreshed, happy, connected, excited, and energized.
• Every time you felt life pressures you would visualize the vacation more and more in anticipation of it.
• Every time you planned an event and you saw yourself experiencing it, you were creating a deeper exhilarating feeling of the experience “in the present” and you had not even had it yet.
• The excitement kept escalating over time despite all of the tasks that needed to be done prior to going on vacation allowing you to plow through them.
• Finally, you were off to vacation!

I know, I know…most people might look at this and think, “I can’t see myself doing this every single time I don’t want to do something”! Well, you are right…kind of.

The reality is that we do this with just about everything and do not even realize it. The reason we do not take action when we want is because we are usually hyper focused on the discomfort, pain, or challenge caused by completing the required tasks.

Think about it…

If you thought of eating healthy, going to exercise, cleaning the house, mowing the yard or doing wash – where does your brain initially go???

YUP, the work it takes to do it right? But wait…

How come you did not think about the work it would take to go on vacation and let that keep you from completing that huge list of tasks that needed to be done before going?

Your focus was on something very different wasn’t it?

Your focus was on the pleasure you were going to have once you got there! In order to get everything done, you raised the level of pleasure and or necessity so it outweighed the pain of completing the tasks.

You made it worth it! Are you getting it now?

This is a method to teach you how to build motivation. In order to be able to use it on the smaller things in life, you must be very clear about how they also relate to the larger core values and deeper desires you have.

If you feel overwhelmed at the thought of trying to consciously figure this out, I have created a tool that breaks these steps down and can help facilitate the process for you.

7 Simple Steps to Create Motivation Towards Your Goals

(CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD MY FREE PDF)