Browsed by
Tag: innovation

Why You Need a Vision and Plan

Why You Need a Vision and Plan

by Linda-Ann Stewart

When you choose to grow a garden, do you start watering the plot without planning what you want to grow in it? Or do you decide what plants you want, and till and fertilize the soil to make it receptive for those kinds of plants? Don’t you clear the area of growth that doesn’t fit with your plan? And then you choose seeds or seedlings you want and place them in the soil. To care for your garden, you water, feed the plants, and weed out what doesn’t belong.

Your mind and life is like a garden. If you just jump into a garden, or life, without a vision or plan, you’re going to receive what plants and seeds are already in that plot. By not sowing any new seeds, you can only harvest what is already growing there. You won’t reap anything new. In this case, to misquote an investment disclaimer, “Past performance will indicate future results.”

The Downside to Going with the Flow

Many people just want to go with the flow, having no intention, vision or plan. They want to follow instinct or intuition, without any real idea of what they want. This kind of philosophy is fine if you want to float through life. But if you want to change a habit, or achieve something, you have to be more deliberate.

The problem with the idea of just flowing is that it means you’re acting on what’s already in your subconscious. There’s no new destination or goal. It’s like watering a garden without putting any thought into what you want. You’ll get what you get, not necessarily what you want. Your subconscious can only deliver on the ideas you’ve already sown into it. If you’re simply following your subconscious, you’ll wander in circles, never accomplishing anything new. And the weeds in the garden of your life may choke out most of the flowers.

The Role of Your Conscious and Subconscious

Your subconscious has a specific role to play in your life and it’s a powerful one. Your subconscious is your problem solver, and where your creativity and insights come from. But your subconscious can’t make decisions for you. Choices must come from your conscious mind to be fulfilled by your subconscious. Your subconscious uses all your knowledge and experience to help you achieve your intention. But your subconscious can’t seek any outside information to help. New information has to come to, and through, your conscious mind.

Your conscious mind chooses your destination, intentions, goals or vision.  Your subconscious provides you with the ideas, innovation and insights to realize them. When you have a vision and plan, you give your subconscious concrete information to work with. With a vision, your subconscious knows what to seek and scans your environment to help you. Your plan creates guiderails and makes it easier for your subconscious to locate and discover opportunities.

Tending Your Intention

In your garden or your life, not all the seeds you sow will germinate and not all of the plants will survive to maturity. The same is true of your vision and plan. You’ll need to discover what didn’t survive and why, and address that problem. It could be that you didn’t tend to your garden as much as it needed or that the soil wasn’t fertile enough. Maybe circumstances changed, and your vision and plan needs to be adjusted.

If you want better results in your life, you’ll tend to the garden of your intention. A garden takes constant attention to support its growth and fertility. Only after putting in the effort will you reap the rewards. Your life deserves the same care, love and consideration as a garden.

Affirmation:

As I choose my direction in life, it gives the Law of Attraction definite details of what to draw to me. The Universe is on my side, and wants the best for me. I’m Divinely Guided and Directed into the right path for my Highest Good. Everything I need is provided in the best way possible.

Watch the accompanying video, Get Greater Satisfaction from Living Intentionally.

[suffusion-the-author display=’description’]

Use Journaling for Mindfulness and Success

Use Journaling for Mindfulness and Success

In today’s world, we rush ahead to the next thing, without assessing what’s worked and what hasn’t. We don’t take a step back to recognize problems and seek solutions to them. But you can use a technique that many successful entrepreneurs and business people employ. Journaling is a proven method to help you find clarity, find solutions, improve your health and your life. Learn how to start small with this practice and begin to enjoy its benefits.

Transcript:

Thank you for joining me. In today’s hectic pace, it’s hard to take time to be intentional, mindful and evaluate our lives, isn’t it? But there is an easy way to find clarity, engage your creative mind, discover possibilities, solve problems, encourage and motivate yourself, as well as improve your mental and physical health. It’s something that many successful entrepreneurs and business people practice. What is this tactic? It’s journaling.

I’m Linda-Ann Stewart, a vision strategist coach, and I’d like to share with you a way to use this technique to improve your personal and professional life. Most people are overwhelmed with the idea of journaling. They’re afraid it takes too much time. I was too, when I first started journaling several decades ago. But I decided to start small, just to form the habit.

To begin, I got a page a month desk calendar. I committed to just write one word each day, to describe the day, or what I was feeling, or something I’d done. By the end of the year, each square on that calendar was filled with sentences. The next year, I got calendar with a page a week. The year after that, I’d graduated to a page a day. Now, I use a book, put in my own dates, and write as much or as little as I want.

Journaling has helped me work out issues that were plaguing me, note my accomplishments, and learn from my experiences. It’s a time for me to reflect about the day, write any insights and what my plans might be and how they’re working.  

My tip for you is to start small, like I did. Get a journaling book and date each entry. Write one sentence per day. Just one. It could be how your day went, something awesome that happened to you, something you learned, something you want to improve, or whatever comes to mind. Then write something you’re proud of or have accomplished that day. That’s just two items.

When you get thoughts out of your head and onto paper (or into the computer, if you’re so inclined), it helps to see things more clearly and objectively. Your brain reprocesses the information in a different way.

Reflection and assessing helps you to better fulfill your potential and then move forward in a more positive and powerful way. You’ll be more intentional, mindful, and feel happier.

If you’d to achieve a 90-day goal more easily, download my free comprehensive Strategic Vision Guide at www.SetYourCourseGuide.com. You’ll receive the guide, as well as a training video that walks you through each step with tips and directions to support you in accomplishing your goal.

Thank you for watching. How can you start journaling your way to greater mindfulness and success?

Read the accompanying article, How to Become More Positive When Things Go Wrong.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Trending Articles of the Week

Trending Articles of the Week

rainbow-double-pT5rEGracHow a Brain Dump Can Unlock Your Creativity
Anyone who is creative knows that the more you have weighing on your mind, the less creative you are. Now there’s research backing this up. But researchers have also found some remedies for clearing the clutter out of your mind so you have more space to create. Meditation and mindfulness are a couple of those ways. This article gives a few other tips on how to clear your mind.

When To Say Yes To The Messy Desk
Tidiness and organization has been the fast track to success, if you believe conventional wisdom. But recent research shows that having a clean desk or room influences people to conform more to the norms. And a cluttered desk or room inspires people to be more innovative. This article describes other benefits to both types of environments.

8 Ways to Test Your Stress Mindset
How you view stress can influence how it affects you. Although chronic stress can be unhealthy, if you shift your attitude about it, you can reduce some of the damage. When you’re able to consider pressure as beneficial, then it can help you in your health and life. This article shows 8 ways to test your stress mindset.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Trending Articles of the Week

Trending Articles of the Week

Step Through WoodsCan You Have More Willpower?
Most people think that you don’t have any control over how much willpower you have. You’re either born with it or you’re not. But recent research debunks that myth. Instead, studies find that it’s more like a muscle that gets better with exercise. Willpower helps you be able to fulfill more of your goals and potential. Learn 3 approaches to learn how to do increase your use of this valuable trait.

5 Reasonable Ways To Be Optimistic
Optimists aren’t born that way, they learn this perspective over time. Research shows that optimists are healthier, more successful and more resourceful. You always have a choice of what to think, and this impacts how you feel. Learn some simple ways to practice being more optimistic and reap the benefits that brings.

The Power of Mind Map: Get More Things Done & Make Creativity Easy
The concept behind this idea has been around for decades. It’s one that allows you to access more of your creativity and innovation. You can identify more of what needs to be done and in what order. This article gives some step by step directions on how to utilize this valuable technique.