by: Stephanie Gonzalez, CEO & Managing Partner If you are going to achieve your vision – you must be able to see in the dark – that’s where we last left off! But, HOW? How do you quiet your today-mind to make space for your tomorrow-mind to show up? Being a part of North&Co. you all know how much emphasis we place on creating a future vision – for yourself, your family, your business. Recently there have been a few people who have come to me to tell me they do not “have a vision.” From where they stand, they literally feel incapable of seeing their future; which, in my heart I KNOW is not possible. I firmly believe everyone is able to see (visualize, conceptualize, describe) a future state of being, with the right tools and state of mind. If you feel challenged in this arena, here are a few suggestions… Step One: Audit your today-life In order to figure out what you DO want, it is sometimes easiest to start with identifying what you DO NOT want. Pick a time in your day – where you are most aware, alert and least interrupted (typically early morning hours or later in the evening) to take inventory of ALL the results your life is producing that you no longer want. Literally take a piece of paper (journal) and write at the top “I do not want”. Think about a specific time frame, such as all of 2019. Start to make a list of what life produced for you in 2019, that you do not want to perpetuate: not enough clients, lack of motivation or direction, too many clients who are looky-Lous, ungrateful clients, crazy cross-sale agents, too much running all over the valley, not enough quality time with the family, have not had a proper phone-off vacation in over a year, etc. Purge all of it on that piece of paper. Step Two: Take a minute to dream about your tomorrow-life Now that your head and heart are fully excited about purging-out all the ‘I do not want.’ Take another piece of paper and write at the top “I want.” Take a deep breath, and begin to list – with joy in your heart and with full optimism that IT IS possible – what you do want: every week I receive at least 1 new opportunity to help a new client, I deliver keys twice a month to new clients I helped move, I receive a referral to a new client after every closing, my clients appreciate and value me, I am known as the neighborhood specialist, I spent 1-week in Hawaii with my family, my kids tell me how fun I am, I take time to move my body 15-minutes every day, etc. Speak in first-person. Describe it as if it is already accomplished. This is the first seed, that is now planted in dirt – all it needs now is some love, water & light. Step Three: Understand it’s all erasable ink I, more than anyone, understand the apprehension of putting something on a piece of paper that makes it feel permanent. And, permanency makes me feel nervous. Perhaps it’s my non-committal nature? Because, oh by the way, that gives me ‘the shpilkes’ (Yiddish term for anxiety). Putting it on paper can make you feel like you will now be forced to accomplish it (think about that, will you REALLY be forced?). I can relate! Rather, my past self can relate. You must know and trust that none of this is permanent: it’s like erasable ink. It can all change…IF and when you want it to. A vision should be WAY more fun and fluid. For me, it helps to think in buckets. As an example, consider the North&Co. 2022 vision we just published. Each paragraph references a different group of people (it describes who we are known to be: internationally, locally, to our clients/customers, to our agents, to our support team). What’s awesome and has some built-in accountability, for us with our recent vision, is that each sentence is trackable. As we move through the next three years we can use this as a checks-and-balance for whether or not we completed it. Come from the mind-set that anything is possible. And, since anything is possible…have fun dreaming about what outcome you want to achieve. For what outcome you will achieve. For what outcome you already did achieve!