[00:00] Welcome back to the Focus B show. This is Katie Sudddhart here aka the focus b. And on this show I interview high performers and leaders around the world to discover their secrets on peak performance, productivity, mindfulness and leadership. So if you want to take your performance and your leadership to the next level, then you're in the right place. Listen up and connect with the magic.
[00:36] You when it comes to having a balanced, fulfilled, happy life and business, it can be super useful to create a vision. Not only useful, but necessary. In the case of business, there are many different ways in which you can craft your vision, your goals. And in this episode, I'd like to cover a few of the main ways to do this. One way is to project yourself in the future, 510 years from now, even 50 years from now, and ask yourself what would you have wanted to achieve by then? Or what would you be disappointed if you hadn't achieved or experienced? Also, this is one of the method. It's sometimes called the rocking chair method because you imagine yourself being in your late 80s or 90s on your rocking chair and wondering what have you experienced that was wonderful? What have you achieved that you really enjoyed and was important for you? To be honest, this isn't my preferred method. Firstly, because I find it very hard to imagine myself being 90 years old. I don't know about you, in spite of having 100 year old grandmother. And second of all, because I feel that our vision shouldn't be only focused on how we'd feel at that moment. I think it should also be centered around how you want to feel each and every day. So I much prefer a combination of having some clear goals, maybe one year, two years from now, and also looking at how you want to spend each and every day. I remember one of the high performance programs that I did focused on how you want to spend each day, what would make you happy, what would make you fulfilled each and every day in your business, in your relationships, in your health, in your life. And while you're crafting your vision for your goals and where you'd like to project yourself, you're also looking at what type of journey are you willing to go on? And this explains why sometimes I have a reluctance with vision setting. Because actually, as a very goal oriented person, I found that it doesn't really make us happy to be so centered on this vision and so clearly driven by these goals. But what makes us a lot happier is to be totally and fully focused on the journey. Now, you've heard this many times before that it's all about the journey, not the destination. But what does this really mean? This means that when you're working, you take breaks, maybe you have a nice lunch, maybe you pause and read a book for ten minutes. This means that the way you start your day, end your day. The things that you do during the day, the quality of presence that you have during the day matter a lot more than ticking things off your to do list. Ever since I've started to embrace this journey mindset, I have radically shifted from an overly productive industrial way of working to dos one after the other to a more flow, intuitive, present mindful way of working. And not only does this make me tremendously happier, it's also way, way more productive at the end of the day. Paradoxically, because it means that you start to focus on things that really have meaning that really end up giving you results. That doesn't necessarily entail that you only do the fun stuff right? There's still things that you do that you maybe enjoy a bit less, but that need to be done. But the overall way in which you approach your day is a lot more agreeable. So coming back to the vision, because that is the topic of the episode and it is important for you to craft your vision, your aspiration. There are several methods that you can embrace. One of them is to use role models. So to think of someone in your field, if it's in business or in your life, even as a friend or family member, who has the type of life that you would like to lead. Maybe they have a certain type of business or business model that you find appealing. You like the fact that they're often on stage. Maybe you want to do more keynote speaking, or you like the fact that they run their business totally remotely. Maybe you want to be fully remote. And then you can set this up as your vision. You can set this up as how you want to be leading your days in order to reach that vision and goal. So important to keep in mind though just a vision, it's just a goal. When you get there, you need to continue to enjoy the journey. So this is one way looking at some role models. Another way is to have this aspirational identity and this is to look at what are the sort of characteristics that you want to become or you want to be or have in the future. You might find someone that's really brave in what they do or that is extremely calm and grounded or who speaks with a lot of charisma and you think I want that too. And those are some of the traits that you want to have in the future. And this is your aspirational identity, the sort of person you want to become. I find this extremely useful, actually more useful than specific goals because these are things you can practice every day. I specifically really like using virtues such as courage and patience and calm because then in each and every moment you can practice these virtues. You can think this is a great moment for me to practice my patience. This is a great moment for me to practice my tolerance. This is a great moment for me to stay calm. So these are things that you can always use, always practice every day. Those are the virtues you can use. And this is part of that broad idea of having an aspirational identity. Extremely useful concept. I love it. And a lot of these comments are coming from the book Mindful Self Discipline as I collaborate with Giovanni Deansman on Mindful Self Discipline and provide workshops on this framework. Because finding your purpose, having a clear idea of your vision is one of the core pillars, the aspirational pillar of mindful Self discipline. Okay, so you've got role models aspirational identity, remembering that even if you craft a vision, it isn't about the goals, but it's about the journey. And also looking at your deeper why and your mission. Because if you're clear on what's meaningful for you, on what's important for you, on what's driving your mission, then it also makes it clearer for you to have this vision. Because if you know that you want to solve hunger, good luck, hope you manage, then you have a vision of hunger no longer being an issue, for instance. So if you're clear on your why, then it helps you to craft your vision. So that can also be a very useful tool to have. It's also important to keep in mind that there is business vision and personal vision. And are they the same? How do they differ? They differ as in especially if your business isn't you, as in you're not an entrepreneur, but you're an employee, then there will be a very different type of vision from the career you want to lead and the person that you're becoming, though they are related. So you might want to craft separate visions with ties in between and not just have one overarching vision. Now note for business owners and entrepreneurs, sometimes identity gets mixed up with your whole idea of business vision, personal vision. So maybe you prefer to do a joint one or separate ones. It's whatever really feels in tune for you. And also if you're struggling to have this clear vision or this clear sense of purpose, it's okay. It's a challenging type of exercise. There are many ways to go about it and just sort of seek inspiration here and there through podcasts you're listening to, or videos you're watching, or courses you're doing and thinking, ah, this is part of the person I want to become, or this is part of the identity I'd like to have. Or this is part of the vision I can see for myself. And don't get too obsessed on this purpose. And aspiration it's super useful, craft it, think about it, and if you get a bit lost and confused at time, that's okay, you'll gain clarity again. And it's something that you continuously work on. But it's also important that you don't get blocked because of it. And so it's finding that right balance. You don't ignore it totally. That's not helpful, but you don't spend all your time obsessing about it either. So you want to sort of have a clear idea about it, reflect about it a little, but not it totally monopolizes the way you think, because we do go through transitions in life where more or less clear at times, and that's also okay. Hope this was useful for you. Would love to hear what is your vision? What is your aspiration purpose, your vision that's guiding you and wishing you a lovely day? Let me know in the comments anything that you wish to share with me. I always love to hear your insights and your comments. Thank you.
[10:48] Thank you so much for tuning in today to the Focus Bee Show. I would absolutely love to hear your feedback. So let me know in an Apple review or YouTube comment what was most valuable for you, and feel free to share this episode with a friend or a family member. Wishing you a wonderful, magical and focused day ahead. We.