Develop your roadmap to success

One of the mechanisms the mind uses to sort through the huge amounts of data that flow daily and keep it manageable is called a “set-up set.” It helps your brain focus on the items that are considered important. You can “program” that mechanism by writing down the things you want to accomplish and making them clear. Once programmed, it directs your attention to certain events and occurrences. To illustrate: when you decide you want a certain car, you see them everywhere, you look at each one on the highway, you see all the advertisements or commercials. The preparatory set works that way. Once you schedule it with your goals (visualizing as well as writing is more effective) you will automatically become more aware of certain events, opportunities, and people that can be helpful. You will also be clearer about what you want, and this will creep into your conversation and your general attitude, where it can be picked up by others. It is not really magic, unless you believe as I do, that the mind is a miracle in itself.

For example, to make it easier to include easy exercise in your life, write down your goal (I will walk half an hour more a day) and imagine yourself walking and enjoying it: maybe you imagine parking a few blocks away (where it is cheaper) and walk the rest of the way, or get off the bus or subway one stop earlier, or walk to the nearby restaurant for lunch, or take the stairs instead of the elevator when you can, or take a sandwich to a nearby park, or take the dog to take a slightly longer walk than usual before and after work. If you imagine yourself walking and enjoying it, you will soon find that you are noticing new and different ways that you can walk more without worrying about it.

As soon as you have a goal, you can create a “roadmap” for yourself.

Creating a visual representation of what you want to achieve can do several things: First, the creation process will force you to be more specific and clear about what you want. Second, taking the time and energy to create it is a powerful signal to you that you are determined to achieve it. Set an intention. Third, if you keep it where you can see it, it will be a powerful reminder of your intentions for your own life.

Your visual roadmap consists of two parts: 1) a picture of your destination and 2) your map of how to get there.

Roadmap Exercise 1: Imagining Your Destination

This is a visual representation of your ideal life and you will use it for years to come to remind and motivate yourself, so treat it like the important project that it is. When you look at your finished image, you should be able to see each of your goals clearly represented.

Preparation

1. Gather the supplies you will need to make a collage that you can write on: a large sheet of paper and colored markers, pens, paints, pastels, or other art supplies; several magazines full of photos and advertisements that you can cut out, paste or glue, and several photos of you and other people in your life. If you like to draw, you can do without the magazine drawings and make your own. If you’re a computer whiz, computer art may be the way you do it. You can also add solid objects, pieces of cloth or jewelry, tokens, and keepsakes that are meaningful to you. Keep in mind that graphic and colorful images are powerful subconscious stimulants, and the goal of this exercise is to help you focus your subconscious on your goals and dreams.

2. Divide your work into sections that represent your personal life, your business or career, your family life, your friends, and your free time.

3. Title each section and think about what, if you designed your own life, you would like to create in that section.

4. Start with the personal life section and think about what activities represent the private and personal part of your life, including the images that symbolize it. Start with a photo of you as you are, or how you would like to be (with a prom dress, wedding clothes, slimmer, successful, you can paste a small image of your head or face on a photo from a magazine if you wish) . Are there hobbies or talents that are important to you? What kinds of images make you feel good about yourself? What symbols would you use to represent yourself? What do you want to wear to represent your physical health? Your happiness? Your determination? Pick one or two pictures to represent the various ways you identify yourself: hobbies, spirituality, relaxation, exercise, work, parenting, fun.

5. Now, look for images of specific items or goals that complete the personal section of your roadmap, such as the following: your home, car, clothing, travel, pets, personal growth goals, and any other important factors that represent your life. .

6. Arrange these images in the personal section of your collage in a way that suits you best, or draw representations of the elements that are important to you. Make sure the image you have chosen of yourself is front and center of this personal section. Organize, rearrange and adjust your image collection until the end result pleases you.

7. Now fill in the other sections of your result image similarly. Each section will likely include some repeating elements of the personal section because you will be personally involved in each category. Use an image of your idealized self prominently in each section; create a different version of your idealized self for each section, or use black and white or color photocopies of your original in each section.

When you’ve fixed your image, step back and see if it reflects your ideal life. If not, play with him some more. If so, glue or save things and put the collage in a place where you can see it often. This image only needs to represent your future as you currently believe it should be; You can modify your image, add to it, or create a new one as your goals grow and change.

Roadmap Exercise 2: Building Your Roadmap

Once you put in the time and energy to envision your destination, you will find that by focusing on the details and details, you have clarified your image. Most people who have gone through this process in workshops and classes report that they feel highly motivated, much clearer, and energized by their vision. Take that energy and use it now to create your roadmap; an action plan to reach your destination.

1. Use a separate sheet of paper or artboard and assign the title “Where am I now” to the left side of the waybill. Place enough symbols, words, or numbers to indicate where you are now in all outlined areas on your destination image.

2. Label “My Destination” on the right side of the paper or artboard and place similar symbols, words, or numbers to indicate where you will be when you reach your goals.

3. Divide the intermediate space into columns and, in those columns, develop the steps you will need to take to get from where you are now to your destination. For example: in the workplace, the steps could be 1) graduate from school, 2) do a job search, 3) develop professional skills, experience, and expertise, and 4) advance your career. (Each of these steps can be broken down into smaller steps, as you get closer to that segment of the Roadmap and need to accomplish specific goals.)

Use your roadmap daily

After completing your destination picture and roadmap, use them daily to stay focused on your goals and stay motivated. Keep them where you can review them frequently, and change and update them as needed. You will find that having a clear picture of your goals and aspirations in front of you will make it much easier to achieve them.

All your decisions from now on can be made in relation to your roadmap. If you consider each of your subsequent decisions according to whether or not it will bring you closer to your goal, your choices will be clearer and more direct.

Using your destination picture and roadmap to set your priorities and keep you focused will help keep all the important areas of your life balanced and help shape your future. Knowing where you want to go and how to get there will minimize your tendencies to worry and reduce your indecision and confusion.

© 2020 Tina B. Tessina – Adapted from: The 10 Smartest Decisions A Woman Can Make Before 40 https://tinyurl.com/jsrsv977