The Sacred Art Of VISIONING (Visions vs. Goals)
/As a woman devoted to consciously creating my dreams, living in alignment with my purpose, and evolving to my fullest potential in life, February is my absolute favorite month! Because every February, I spend most of the month VISIONING everything and anything my soul longs to create over the coming year!
While VISIONING is such a critical step in consciously creating (or manifesting) dreams and change in your life, it’s also a step that’s often either skipped entirely, rushed through, or done ineffectively.
And so today I want to clear up all your misconceptions about the sacred art of VISIONING, so you can use this powerful practice to create the dreams and changes you truly desire this year (with ease, joy, and flow…. not stress & overwhelm)!
SO, WHAT IS VISIONING?
Visioning is a powerful practice that helps you DEEPLY CONNECT WITH YOUR TRUE SOUL’S DESIRES, longings, and purpose, to help ensure you’re consciously creating them (and not someone else’s desires).
A strong vision will REIGNITE and FUEL YOUR MOTIVATION, EXCITEMENT, HOPE, & COURAGE to show up and take aligned actions toward your dreams and purpose (when it feels really hard, impossible, or hopeless).
It’s one of my core beliefs that if more of us were truly living life from our purpose and soul’s desires, over time we would naturally heal ourselves, our communities, and our planet. And Visioning helps us do just that!
VISIONING VS. GOAL-SETTING
“Visioning” is often confused with “goal-setting”. And while they’re related (and equally important skills for creating change), they are most definitely not interchangeable!
While the power of ✔️GOALS✔️ comes from them being specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound… the power of 🔮VISIONS🔮 come from them being, well 🤔, pretty much the opposite.
In fact, one question I love to ask when helping people vision is this, 👉 “🔮If you had a magic wand, and time, money, or obligations weren’t a factor, what would you create in your life or the world??”
And while I rarely use the words “should” or “always”… I’m adamant that, Visioning should always come before goal-setting!
There’s a saying that a goal without a plan is just an unrealized wish. Well, wishes can’t harm people, but unaligned, and unrighteous goals can!
A goal without a righteous, soul-aligned VISION is at best, extra work. And at worst, the cause of harmful actions, products, or situations (for ourselves, others, or the planet)!
Most (all?) of the harmful actions, systems, products, movements, etc. in the world, were born from people who lacked a soul-aligned, righteous vision… and were really good at achieving their unrighteous goals! And the same goes for any harm you’ve caused yourself from wasting time, energy, money, or other precious resources on the pursuit of unaligned goals and plans.
And it’s for this reason that we each have a personal and collective responsibility to properly Vision what we want to consciously create in our lives this year, before creating goals or taking actions!
And so before you start planning, making goals, and diving into all the things you think you want to do, create, grow this year… please🙏 do yourself and the world a favor, and take some time to VISION and ensure those goals are rooted in the exciting and righteous desires of your soul (and not rooted in your fears, your wounds, or the toxic expectations of society).
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DON’T TAKE TIME TO VISION?
Remember, Visioning is what gives you the CLARITY and WISDOM to create soul-aligned goals that help create positive impacts in your life and the world.
Visioning is also what gives you the MOTIVATION, EXCITEMENT, and COURAGE to show up in the face of doubt and adversity, and take the often difficult and uncomfortable actions (that create those big beautiful changes you crave in your life and the world)!
And so when you try to skip, rush, or improperly vision before goal-setting, 3 things tend to happen.
You waste a lot of time, money, and energy taking actions that build careers, relationships, or other situations that don’t make you happy (and move you further from your purpose and soul desires).
You stay stuck in unfulfilling jobs, relationships, or situations that don’t light you up because you have no idea anything else is possible; you feel hopeless to create change; or you can’t muster up enough motivation or courage to begin creating the change you crave.
You get excited about a new idea or change (and maybe even create a plan and some goals), but quickly fall back into the cycles of busyness, distraction, or drama, only to maintain the status quo in your life for yet another year.
SO, HOW DO YOU VISION EFFECTIVELY?
Well the art of Visioning is something best taught through guided practices vs. a blog post. Which is exactly why I created my ART OF VISIONING WORKSHOP SERIES! I host it live every February, and enrollment is currently open (as I write this blog post now)!
☞LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ‘ART OF VISIONING WORKSHOP SERIES’ HERE☜
But for now, here are 5 tips to point out some of the most important aspects of Visioning.
5 TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE VISIONING
(1) Spend some time contemplating powerful “VISIONING” REFLECTION QUESTIONS that help you move beyond your mind and go deep to uncover the “righteous” soul-aligned Visions you truly desire (and not just settling for what your mind thinks you want).
You can start with the one I shared earlier👆 in this article! And if you’d like a workbook filled with powerful Visioning prompts, check out my “Art of Visioning” Experience here.
(2) Use visualization meditation to ENGAGE YOUR BODY, SENSES, and FEELINGS when you do your visioning (and not just your mind). This is why in “The Art of Visioning”, in addition to journaling questions, we also do guided meditation to help you activate your Visions in your body system (as well as your mind)!
(3) FOLLOW-UP YOUR VISIONS with an aligned plan, goals, action (and the support systems to safely take those actions), to ensure you can actually create your Visions.
Remember that Visioning is just one part of the conscious creation (or manifestation) process! I’ve developed a 5 step Conscious Creation System that helps you move from any soul-aligned Vision to the tangible creation of that Vision (and I share it in the “Art of Visioning” too).
(4) Create a visual reminder to RECONNECT TO YOUR VISIONS often! Especially when you lose motivation, inspiration, or hope; you get distracted; or you start to sink back into old patterns.
This is why Vision Boards can be so powerful! And why I create one every year (and why we create one together in the ‘Art of Visioning Workshop Series’)
(5) ALLOW YOUR VISIONS TO EVOLVE as you evolve! Don’t cling too tightly to your Visions. Remember they aren’t goals. They’re the exciting dreams and possibilities that are meant to inspire, motivate, and guide your goals and actions throughout the year!
And this is why I don’t just spend time Visioning at the beginning of the year, but do it often anytime I desire to start something new! I also share a monthly New Moon Visioning Ritual with members of my Moon Circle Community (to use the power of the New Moon to set new intentions each month).