One of the faithful readers of this blog, jeffreyPaul, wrote to me with some ideas on goals and being a visionary, in response to my last 2 blog postings. He had some great ideas, and I received his permission to share them with you. He says:

“Yes, making a To-Do list can “depersonalize” the path to the goal and take away some of the inspiration…UNLESS your list also includes a celebration for each item one completes…. So, for example, Bernice wants to lose 40 pounds, and the first item on her list is to exercise 4 times a week. She sets the goal that “I will exercise 4 times a week for 6 consecutive weeks.” (as a start) And she plans a celebration as a reward for completing that step in her goal: My husband and I will have a formal celebrative date night, where we will have an early dinner at a romantic restaurant, take a walk along the lake, and then take in a movie together. He is supportive of me in my venture, and it’s important that he share in my victory.

The point is that there’s a lesser, still emotional goal, connected to the step on the To-Do list, and a reward that comes along with it. More importantly, that step is connected to a support person/group.

And…it’s very important to have a visual “tracking form” for the progress toward the goal, even it it’s as hokey as little stars on a calendar.

And my further thought, regarding creating your vision. I offer a third alternative. Go to the butcher and get 10-20 feet of butcher paper… Tape it to the wall somewhere, inside or outside. Get a pack of markers…at least 6 colours… and just walk up and start throwing together ideas. ANYTHING is the limit. “Start with the end in mind, and work backwards.” Colour code your thoughts after they get up there… Draw pictures. Write thoughts. Put in quotes.

It’s faster than the collage idea, though it lacks the thinking that goes into picture selection.”

I particularly love the reminder that it is important to have an emotional goal as well as a performance one, because the emotional one gets your heart really engaged and makes it easier to stay motivated and enthusiastic.

And, stars on a chart aren’t just for kids. You’d be amazed at how much fun some creative tracking like that brings into the process. You can design anything that you like; make it fun and colorful!

What I love about jeffreyPaul’s butcher paper idea is that it engages your visual and kinesthetic “channels”, i.e., it gets more of you actively engaged, and yet it’s relatively quick compared to doing a collage.

Sometime maybe we can persuade jeffreyPaul to leave a comment on this blog site about his master technique of doing visionary collages. He’s the best I know when it comes to doing that!

Thanks so much, jeffreyPaul!

Filed under: Your Map, Your Compass, Being a Reinventer, Tools, Survival Tactics on April 2nd, 2008