Everything happens twice, once in our mind and next in our life. It means that the mind sees it first, and then it happens. It is very simple to understand. The author first writes his story in his mind and then pens it down on the paper. The painter figures out his image & colours in his mind, before he puts it on the canvas. The sculptor sees his effigy in his mind before carving out his sculpture. In every walk of life, people know & see their future, but some believe it would happen in the same way while others don’t.
Before proceeding further, you must read the Visualisation – Step 1.
I remember, as a child, I was always asked this question – What do you want to become when you grow up? Today, my child also goes through the same question. Every adult puts that thought in the minds of the child in front of them about the future. It is not to scare the child, but to motivate the child for a future of her choice. When a child says that she wants to become a doctor, parents do gift her with toys related to a medical kit, she draws pictures of hospitals, and treats patients. When a child says she wants to be a pilot, she is bought a toy plane to play with. The experience of future is planted in the minds of the child, about what she would do when she becomes a person of her choice. How happy the child is at that time? Is her experience any less than the experience of a real doctor or a pilot or a who-so-ever she wants to be? As the child grows, the true-appearing reality of life is made to settle in the minds that it was just a dream. But the true reality is that for any dream to become true, a price needs to be paid. And many times, the price has to be paid, not just by the dreamer, but also by people around. People are not ready to pay the price, so they start diverting the minds of the child to their known reality, instead of the reality chosen by the child.
When the same behaviour is demonstrated by an adult, it is termed as day-dreaming. No one motivates the adult, instead they pull their legs. How often have you heard someone comment – Look at him, he is trying to become the next sensation on the internet, or he is trying to be the next millionaire. There’s a tinge of sarcasm clearly visible in such statements.
The real questions are – Are your dreams important to you? Do you know the price of making your dreams a reality? Are you ready to pay the price? Are you afraid about the price and ok to give up on your dreams?
Spend some time in defining your dreams first. It does not mean writing your dreams down on a paper. That can be the first thing you do, but always remember the child you were some years back. Those were the moments when you did not know the value of money or the meaning of price. Dreaming was much easier. Becoming a doctor meant buying a set of toys and wearing the apron whenever you wanted to be a doctor. Can you do that today? Yes, you can. Your subconscious does not know where you are, and what you are doing. It believes you a 100%. Give it a feeling that you are flying, and it will rush the blood in your veins to give you the best feeling. Follow the below steps, after you have practiced Visualisation – Step 1 at least for a period of 2 weeks regularly. The kind of changes it will bring to your life would be amazing.
Step 1
List down 20 dreams under 4 different categories in a diary. The categories should be 3 months, 12 months, 5 years and 20 years. Under each category, at least 5 dreams should be written. It should be written neatly & nicely, so that you can come back & refer to them in future. It must have space to expand upto 100 or even 200.
Step 2
Take a chart or a paper, and draw the picture associated with your dream. Remember the toy bought by the child to become a doctor. You must see your dream in front of you. If it is a place to visit, it can be a scenery from that place. If it is bank balance, it can be a stash of cash. If it is a career path, dress up like that or draw a picture like that. All this can also be done electronically and then you print it. This is your vision board or life map or dream board, so give a name to it. If you bought a new house, what would you name it. Similarly, give it a name.
Step 3
When you start your day, after completing Visualisation – Step 1, look at your dream board and give a smile. See yourself present in each image, and feel it for at least 5 sec each. If you feel good, spend more time. The more, the merrier. Repeat this step at least 2-3 times daily. The most critical times to do this step are morning when you get, and just before you sleep. So keep it close to your bed. It can help you overcome your tension, your fears and basically destroy many negative feelings unnecessarily clogging your internals.
Step 4
Like food is needed multiple times during the day, mind & heart needs the energy multiple times during the day. And a flash card helps at that time. Make a small card, the size of a business card, and write your most important dreams on that. Look at the flash card as many times during the day as you can. That would help you keep your mind in the correct zone of positivity & attraction.
Step 5
This is an intense step. This needs some practice, and also needs discipline. Add some pictures or write-ups or symbols which also shows you the steps the that you need to take to fulfil a dream, and stick it under the picture of your dream. When you see the dream, and feel the happiness, at the same time you must also see the activities you need to do to achieve those dreams. That will keep your feet on the ground, and mind in the sky.
There are people who desist from trying this. A lot of people complain that this method does not work. Their argument is simple – if looking at your dreams, made it a reality, why would there be so much suffering in this world. True that is. Looking at the dreams won’t make it a reality. But looking at your dreams would keep reminding you the direction of your life. It will keep pushing you to move in the correct direction. Will it end all your troubles? Not at all. Will it add to your troubles? Yes, it will. That is the price. Will it make your life happier? Yes, but that would be in the long run. In the immediate terms, you would get the energy to deal with whatever you are doing to achieve your dreams. The actions would be difficult, but it would be worthy.
Do remember the time you decided to learn how to ride a bicycle. It was a momentary decision. But it took a couple of days to learn riding a bicycle. But the feeling of riding the bicycle one day, kept you going. You may even have had a fall from the bicycle during that period, but nothing stopped you from learning it. That is the power of having a vision in front of you, along with a feeling of it and a brief action plan. All combined together, that is your vision board. I call mine as “Siddhi”.