Envision a life of success
...and move purposefully toward that goal
By Betty Louise


What does it take to live the vision you create for yourself? Many people have ideas that do not have a thought to support the ideas. Envisioning and purposefully moving towards success starts with a consciousness of thought patterns. Every single thought is a perspective...that can be changed. Give that idea a moment of pause. Science produces plenty of evidence about a strong mind/body connection. What is the mind/vision connection?

#1: Awareness of your perspective provides the frame for choice and balance..
When there is a focus on deepening consciousness, there is choice to create the life that is personally empowering. It is critical to be aware of the thoughts that frame our view of life. With awareness comes the realization that we are actually choosing that thought. If you do not see you're your thoughts are ways you do have control, then you do not see choice. When choice is gone, with it goes balance. When you feel stuck and hearing yourself repeat phrases like "it won't work" or "I feel backed in a corner", stop and consider how this thought pattern is affecting where you are headed.
Practice suggestion: Spend 5 minutes everyday, assessing what issue is in the way of moving you toward a life of success, and determine what perspective you hold around that issue. Ask "Is this helping me or not?"

#2: The body can open us to seeing new more helpful perspectives.
Perspectives have body positions. For example, a client of mine learned of the loss of a job and showed up at my office with slumped shoulders, heavy heart and eyes focused at the floor. As we explored perspectives, she acknowledged that her thoughts were on what a horrible person she must be to be fired, her father was right...she is a loser, and she had no talents that were worth beans to anyone. Before we considered any other possible ways to see her situation, I had her stand up and go outside and look up at the sky. With a skyward glance, she began to see that as doors close others open ...before the session was complete, she was on her way to creating a plan to move, become an entrepreneur and have another baby. Nine months later, she called to tell me she was relocating, pregnant and starting a home based sewing business. It all started with her body geography.
Practice suggestion: Visualize your body position of the life of success which you desire. Put yourself in that position often.

#3: Finding new perspectives for old issues are all around us..


Where do you find ways to shift your mindset on an issue? You find them everywhere...in nature, your artwork, animals, the enneogram, your horoscope, the various committee members that make up you, etc. When you identify that the way you are thinking about an issue is keeping you stuck and not moving you forward, it's time to draw a perspective wheel and create some choices and options. Get creative...find the bird perspective, the Gemini perspective, the dark green perspective, the 2 perspective, or what would your dog tell you about that issue? Fill in the eight wedges of the wheel and determine which one will forward your action purposefully in the success direction.
Practice suggestion: Fill out the perspective wheel whenever you find yourself not moving forward as you would like. (PUT THE WHEEL HERE)

#4: Making a commitment to yourself to explore a perspective means determining where you are saying yes and where you are saying no.
Once you have determined which perspective (and it may be more than one) will assist your process of moving forward, then you must commit to that new way of thinking. Decide what it will look like in your life to hold that view. When I launched my coaching practice I use to coach anybody and everybody whenever they had at least a half hour to sit on the phone with me. After I year of running home in the middle of a Saturday to take a call and feeling resentful at the interruption, I needed a new perspective. I chose the 'no need for desperation in getting clients' perspective which meant I said yes to coaching two days and one evening each week and no to working with clients other than those set hours. It took a huge commitment for me to stick with this plan, and I have even sacrificed clients because they couldn't fit into my schedule. In the end, my life continues to move towards my vision of success.
Practice suggestion: When you have chosen what you believe will be helpful in moving your life toward success, be clear about the yes consequence and no consequence. Give yourself at least a week to commit to that and evaluate the results.

In summary, take risks and use creativity in your thinking and do your own research on the mind/vision connection. Let me know what you find.

Blessings.