From ancient philosophers to modern-day scientists, everyone has talked about imagination and its importance in the evolution of the human species. And the most effective use of this faculty is to use it to create your future deliberately; this is what we call envisioning the future.
WHAT IS ENVISIONING? (DEFINE ENVISION)
The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines envision as “to imagine what will happen or what a situation will be like in the future.” In envisioning, you are essentially using your imagination to create your future.
“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.”
— George Bernard Shaw
The ability to create your future is a superpower (no exaggerations there!). When you have the right knowledge and tools to envision your future, you automatically become the master of your life. You can create anything and everything by creating a vision for it first.
And if I have to suggest one tool to help you envision your life with minimum effort, hands down, it will be this Vision Board Magazine Kit.
This vision board set lets you decide your goals while harnessing the power of your creative imagination. This kit has interesting exercises that help you identify what you want to manifest.
Then, you also get a magazine full of amazing pictures and quotes/affirmations. You can cut the ones that accurately depict your goals and paste them on the board with the kit. You can create your personalized masterpiece with labels, pictures, and activities.
A life without a vision is nothing more than a haphazard mix of experiences and emotions, and this vision board makes sure that you consciously decide what your life would look like rather than settling for whatever comes along.
Here are 7 compelling reasons why envisioning your future is a crucial and an absolute must:
1) ENVISIONING HELPS YOU SET GOALS
Unless you don’t have the ability to envision your future, you sure can’t set goals far into the future. Goals (especially long-term) are incredibly important for creating a meaningful life, and envisioning is integral to any goal-setting methodology. Your goals are the destination you yearn to reach, and they highly influence your decisions in life.
Until you don’t have concrete goals in place, you cannot create a path to success.
2) YOUR VISION ACTS LIKE YOUR GUIDING STAR
Once you have your goals in place, you will need some form of assistance and guidance to reach those goals.
You can understand your vision as your navigation compass for life. It will guide you through the easy and difficult paths. It will tell you where to spend your precious mental and physical energies. It will ensure you don’t settle for anything less than you deserve.
3) IT HELPS YOU MOVE THROUGH OBSTACLES
I have to be honest here; the path toward your long-term goals is not going to be all rainbows and sunshine. Sometimes you will encounter obstacles that will make you want to quit then and there. The discomfort caused by some problems is so enormous and overwhelming that it scares people for life.
In such a situation, what’s going to keep you on track? ENVISIONING!
Yes. Every time you come through a road bump, all you have to do is to think of your future or take out your vision board and revisit your goals. You will instantly get the energy you need to conquer that specific problem.
4) IT IMPROVES YOUR FOCUS
When you haven’t envisioned a future for yourself, you are more likely to waste your energy and attention on trivial matters that will consume your energy but won’t lead you anywhere.
However, you can utilize the gift of your awareness more effectively for your life goals (this is what envisioning helps you do). “Envisioning” assists you in redirecting your focus and attention to what matters for you and your success and takes you out of the trivial matters.
5) HELPS YOU AVOID “URGENCY TRAP”
The urgency trap refers to our innate (but flawed) tendency to work on matters that are urgent but not important. This means working on short-term (emotionally overwhelming) goals and avoiding long-term, meaningful goals which can be exponentially more rewarding for us and our life experience.
“We are kept from our goals not by obstacles but by a clear path to a lesser goal.”
— Robert Brault
A solid future vision helps you avoid this urgency trap that the majority falls prey to.
6) ENVISIONING GIVES YOU CONFIDENCE
Have you noticed? When you have something to look forward to in the future, you are more likely to feel confident and secure about your life.
No matter how hard we try to stay in the present moment, our mind wanders into (and often worries) about the future. So, a great way to give our anxious minds some rest and reassurance is to have a clear vision for the future.
7) YOUR VISION SETS YOUR STANDARDS
Creating a vision for your future creates your standards of success and failure.
Success can mean different things to different people. It might mean just earning a million dollars for someone else, but it could be entirely different for you. And what helps you define the success criteria for your life? Your vision.
Your future vision gives you a benchmark to measure your effort and achievement. It also allows you to set expectations for different areas of your life.
