Use the Wisdom of Your Future Self to Make Your Dreams Come True

Posted on by helpingsoul

“It is in playing and only in playing that the individual child or adult is able to be creative and to use the whole personality, and it is only in being creative that the individual discovers the self.”   Donald Winnicott, Playing and Reality

We all have dreams and hopes for the future but so many of us have lost of self in the daily grind.

Your future plans have gone astray and your dreams feel like a distant memory.

Your life feels blurred and undefined.

You want to connect with your dreams and are ready to commit to a path to make your dreams a reality. Many lingering questions arise.

Where do you begin?

How do I get there?

Will I ever achieve my dreams?

How can I gain some clarity in my life?

Visualization

Visualization is a profound technique that offers an opportunity to tap into and draw upon the wisdom from our deepest consciousness. By using our imagination and the joy of play, we create scenes, patterns, and dramatic processes.

  • Transpire new beginnings
  • Resolve trauma
  • Comfort a younger you
  • Provide resolution
  • Grieve endings and losses.

Many of our emotional reactivity, fears, and worries stem from unresolved issues from our history. We have the skills, strengths, and knowledge within us that can help to better navigate current challenges or obstacles.

Here is a guided visualization to Meet Your Future Self and Gain Wisdom and Clarity for Now

Settle into Relaxation

Find a comfortable place to sit.

Sit upfront, putting your feet flat on the floor and gently resting your hands on your thighs.

Relax and center yourself.

Sitting comfortably.

Closing your eyes.

Take a few long deep breaths.

Start with the in breath.

And then with the out breathe.

Let the breath release and just let go.

Again.

And again.

Welcome a Loving Light

 Letting the breath settle into its natural rhythm, imagine a bright, loving light surrounding you and protecting you.

With each new breath accepting the loving light more

And more with love and relaxation.

Begin to Transport in Time

Now allow the glowing light to fill your body and lift you up out of your seat and exit the room.

Imagine yourself slowly drifting upward, high above your building, looking down all around you.

Now imagine this glowing protective white light carrying you forward in time.

Choose Your Timeframe

You may go three years into the future or…

Five years,

Ten years…

Depending on how old you are and where you are in your journey.

Meet Your Future Self

Now I invite you to encounter your future self.

Let yourself see what they look like.

And what the feeling of their presence is like.

What’s the quality of that presence?

What’s the feeling of how they look at you?

Communicate Your Struggle

Let your future self know of something in your life that is difficult. Maybe to do with work, your health, relationships, how you relate with your self.

Ask for guidance.

Allow your self to be available and to listen with an open heart.

Gain Wisdom From Your Future Self

Before leaving, find out if there is anything else you need to know.

Is there a message your future self wants you to know, to leave you with, that will serve you well right here.

Today.

Tonight.

Right here, over the next few days, in the moments of your current life.

Use Your Senses to Embrace Your Newfound Wisdom

Take a moment to imagine the feeling,

The vision,

And the wisdom of your future self filling you.

Filling your cells.

The spaces between your cells.

The spaces in your heart and mind.

Connect with and Embrace the Shared Wisdom

Sensing the expanded light and the warmth of your future self within you. And the possibility of remembering and connecting with this awakened heart during daily life. Sense the calming; the knowing, and the wisdom of your future evolved self.

Come Back to the Present Moment

Now take the words of wisdom and courageously bring it back to your self here and now. Allow yourself to journey back to the present, to this room, where you are right now.

And when you’re ready open your eyes.

Let yourself engage with that, going forward in time.

Journal

Write down what your future self looked like.

What messages did your future self want you to know?

What will serve you now?

What will serve you tomorrow, in a month, six months, a year?

What feelings about your self arose?

What was the essence of your future self?

What is the feeling of how your future self looks at you?

What was the main lesson or wisdom learned?

After writing about your experience with your future self, solidify the experience by gathering old magazines, watercolor or acrylic paints, oil pastels, markers, or pens to create a vision board.  Piece together images of your dreams and the wisdom shared on how to make your dreams a reality. The vision board is a powerful tool to remind yourself daily of what you need to know now. Your dreams are possible. Begin today with your vision and the daily steps will follow.

How to Turn Work into Joy

Posted on by helpingsoul

pathTOparadiseThis article written by Bruce Kasanoff of Now Possible, LLC. provides a good explanation how fear can prevent us from going after the life we seek.  He gives clear mental and physical steps to push fear aside and let that encouraging voice come through. First is to be aware of that inner critic and then provide positive reinforcement to encourage change and small actions toward your dreams.  I hope you find the article useful and informative to conquer your fears and start making those changes toward living the life you have always imagined.

We are standing on the edge of a mountain in Utah, and the slope below is frighteningly steep. Under normal conditions, it would too steep for my son and I to ski.

But the night before it snowed 22″, altering our relationship with the laws of physics. We know the powder will slow our speed, so we point straight down and push-off. It’s not scary, it’s magical… we are floating, seemingly flying down the mountain.

You can’t experience this sort of exhilaration at work, or can you?

The thing is, I still remember, long ago, when skiing scared me. I remember countless times when fear caused me to tighten up, to be over-cautious, or to hustle for the safety of the lodge. Skiing reminds me that the path to the high points in life often requires overcoming fear.

Much as I love public speaking, I still get nervous before a big speech. No, nervous isn’t the right word. Scared is. This fear is what motivates me to rewrite the speech five times, and to practice until it’s just right. And, yes, I get the same sense of exhilaration during a speech as when floating down a mountain.

The secret to finding this sort of joy is to create goals so bold they scare you. It’s to dream so big that at first you dare not share your dreams with others, for fear of embarrassing yourself. “You want to be the CEO?” your friend might question, “You’re only three weeks into being a product manager.”

But as you pursue your dreams, and face down your fears, something magical happens. Your dreams start to become realistic. You can say them out loud, and others don’t laugh.

As you develop the habit of dreaming big and chipping away at fear, you expand what’s possible in your life. You start to understand the difference between impossible and difficult.

When I stand on a mountain at 10,000 feet, my brain often sends me two messages. The first is: stop, it’s too steep! The second is: nonsense, you can ski this safely. The first message never completely goes away, I just move it to the back of my mind.

This is what we have to do to turn work into joy… at the right times, we have to stand on a mountain so high it scares us, and then we have to move fear out-of-the-way.

If you’re bored by work, or frustrated in your career, perhaps you need to take on a bigger mountain. Often times, boredom is your brain screaming an important message: you are capable of greater things, aim higher.

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Bruce Kasanoff is the founder of the personal branding agency, Now Possible. He is the co-author of Smart Customers, Stupid Companies, with co-author Michael Hinshaw.