Wake Up and Start Dreaming!

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Do you consider yourself to be a visionary person?  If you've ever spent time in the carpool pick-up line, daydreaming about a vacation or just time to walk around Target alone for an hour, you've taken the first step!  Dreaming, visualizing, and planning are all parts of reaching a fitness goal, but there are some distinct things you can do to make that daydreaming time count towards your future happiness.

I spend a lot of time visioning. In fact, I spend so much time looking ahead to the future that I often miss what is going on around me in the present. But, goal-setting and achievement is such a rush to me that often it's the chase that is more intriguing than the capture. And, it works for me. I achieve about 90% of what I set out to do, and convince myself that the other 10% wasn't that important after all. :) So, while I've been pregnant and pining for my extreme workouts of yore, I've been visioning: dreaming and scheming for where I want to be five or six months down the road.  Here's how to take those dreams and turn them into your reality.

A vision is more than just a daydream.  To count as a true vision, it needs to have a few important attributes. It needs to be:

1. Grounded - a vision should be built on a foundation of your strengths. Combine realistic expectations with a healthy dose of "hell yeah I can!" and you are on your way to a compelling vision.

2. Bold - a vision should be challening! While the foundation is based on your current strengths, what you build should be an expansion of that. Ask yourself, what else could I do?  How could I leverage this into something more?

3. Desired - let's be honest, when it comes to a lot of our fitness goals, you gotta want it. You have to really want it.  Especially when you're having a face-to-face showdown with a plate of (insert your trigger food here) at the office party. Put on your queen-for-a-day crown and decide what you want, what you really really want.

4. Palpable - the word "palpable" always equates to taste for me. You have to want it so bad, be able to see it happening so richly, and be so engrossed in that moment that you can taste, smell, hear, and feel your vision coming to life. As your wellness coach, btw, I can help you get there.

5. Participatory - community and accountability are huge factors for goal achievement, and involving multiple parties in your goal can make the difference. Tell everyone! Involve support networks!  And most of all, be proud of your vision.  Not everyone has one.

I'm a visual learner; tell me and I will listen, but show me and I will learn and, if so compelled, master. So, I reinforce my vision with a vision board.  Here are the components for creating and using one. I hope you find it is useful and rewarding as I do.

Like I said, not everyone has a truly functional vision for their lives and their health. Sure, we all daydream and think about someday.  But how many of us actually take the time to create a true vision? A truly life-changing vision?  If you'd like help creating yours, let me know. I am allll over it.

And in the meantime, I'll be acting on part of my personal wellness vision: getting out there and getting healthy!

Till next time....stay dreamy.