Imagine a world…
What happened for you when you read that line? Where did your brain go? Did your thinking expand into the wide open future? Did you feel a little burst of curiosity and excitement? This is the power dreaming carries in our lives—to create an exciting story of the future, different and better than the present.
Each year, I reexamine my vision and do some dreaming about where I want to be and what comes next. We all do this automatically when we’re younger, envisioning ourselves in college, in a dream job, in loving relationships, maybe as a parent. But as we get older, dreaming becomes less … automatic. And that makes the future less … exciting. The solution is to make it intentional.
Actors do this for the characters they play. They know that to be believable, they need to connect the present and future for the audience, through what they do and say, how they show up on stage or on set. And that’s true for all of us, too. Actors visualize the character’s future and use it to make intentional choices about what the character should be doing in the present to achieve that future. So can we all.
My intentional vision work as a modern elder has helped me behave or make choices that led to fulfilling a dream to return to the stage, where I have played legendary writer Erma Bombeck in theaters around the country. It motivated me through the writing of my new book, Play You, the Role of a Lifetime. And it has fueled the growth of my business helping leaders around the world dream of and share their own exciting visions.
At any age and stage of our lives, crafting a vision for our future gives us energy and inspiration, creates a roadmap for our journey, and helps us connect with who we are at our core and consider how we want to bring that powerful human alive on the stage of life. And it makes us more believable to ourselves and to others.
If this sounds exciting, here are three ways to work on your vision:
Strengthen your vision muscle. When we are so zoomed in on what’s happening now it feels like the future will be more of the same. An inspiring vision, though, can help us focus on priorities and make better decisions about where and how to use our time and energy, changing the story. So we have to build our vision muscle, our capacity for dreaming, by breaking down unnecessary limits on our vision. When you dream there should be no constraints. Start a vision journal that allows you to write without constraints about where you are going. Write in it every day, even if just a few lines, and see how it changes your capacity to dream big.
Reconnect with your Future You. There is a part of your brain that is always thinking about or envisioning the future. All you need to do is leverage the power of your imagination to connect with it. Find a quiet place where you can feel completely relaxed. Think about a point in the future that’s not too far away. Put yourself into the future moment using all your senses. Try to experience the future as if it is now. Reflect on these questions: Where are you? What are you doing? Who are you with? When you bring yourself back to the present set a timer and write how you felt, what you learned, and how you will behave differently today to support the future you.
Craft Your Vision as a Vivid Story. Draw on the last two exercises, prime your emotional pump by writing a story as if the future has already happened, one that would be engaging to you and to others. Be intentional. Be specific, capturing all of the compelling details you can. And be bold.
When you build your vision muscle, engage your imagination, and write your vision as a powerful, compelling story, you are giving yourself what you need to build internal and external belief in it. Your energy will rise and you will be able to bring who you are at the core into that new story. It will become a guide for the future of your own making.
Because a dream is just a story that hasn’t been written yet. And you get to write yours.
-Pam
Pam Sherman is an in-demand speaker, facilitator, and leadership coach, helping people and teams find their EDGE: Explore, Dream, Grow, & Excite®. Pam was a nationally syndicated columnist for USA Today and starred in the one-woman show Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End. Her new book is Play You, the Role of a Lifetime.