“Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart.” ~ Carl Gustav Jung

Vision. This is one of the most common elements for actualization of our dreams. Seeing it clearly from your heart into your mind’s eye, as if it’s playing like a movie that’s already happening. Vision is what gets us beyond the past and moving towards the future.

Tucked away in each of us is a dream, a purpose, something we were born to do to serve the world.

But, in order to “dream while we are awake”, we must really look within, take the dream out of hiding, and it give it power by visualization. We’ve all heard of the benefits of visualization. Here are 6 ways to make yours even more powerful:

Do You Know What You Want?

OK. So you know what you don’t like about your life. You know clearly what’s not making you happy. But, turn it around- what do you want to happen? What will make you happy? It tends to be easier to focus on the negative things, but that just gives the negative unnecessary attention and power. Release what you don’t want from your mind. Then, get clear about your intentions, what you DO want, and paint the picture vividly in the present tense, as if it’s happening here and now- watch it like a movie. Our thoughts are very powerful, their strength increases when you turn thoughts into motion by visualization, writing them down, and speaking them aloud. Declare it- claim what you want.

Where’s Your Energy Going?

Now you may be very clear on what you want your life to be. But remember, this is only half of it! Besides having a clear vision, you’ve got to put forth the energy and passion to make it a reality. Sometimes our energy is so drained with work, family, and packed schedules that our desires are just an afterthought or a “wouldn’t it be nice”. If all you think about is the next thing on your to-do list, all that will happen is the next thing on your to-do list. Be passionate about what you want for your life and give it the positive attention it deserves! Even if it’s very small actions- do them, do something to water that seed you planted.

Write, Scrapbook, Map

Take your vision even further by writing it down, creating a scrapbook detailing the elements of your vision, or taking a big cork board and creating a “vision map”. As you probably know, I am a pen and paper girl. I’m also very visual, so I add pictures to words, and draw out with circles and arrows, and all kinds of fun symbols to make my personal vision scrapbook. And, beyond a “vision board”, I love the “vision cork board map” because as things happen, you can easily move the push pins around!

Speak Your Dreams Aloud

There is something profound that happens when we share our dreams with others. First, the people we share our dreams with, begin seeing us live out our dream. They believe it will happen just by virtue of us saying it aloud, especially when our dreams are clearly aligned with our unique gifts and serve others in the world around us. Also, when we speak the dream aloud, we give it more power. We hold ourselves accountable to taking inspired actions.

Patience is a Virtue

“Adopt the pace of nature- her secret is patience.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

You may remember the famous line from Willy Wonka, “I want it NOW!” With such advancements in technology, we can print our pictures in an instant, send our mail with the click of a button, cash a check without even leaving our computer. But, patience pays off when it comes to our desires. We shouldn’t wait in anticipation and give up even quicker, as Emerson says, sit back,  relax, and believe in yourself, your intentions, do the work, and detach from outcomes or results. Let it be. Have faith that everything unfolds perfectly as it should on its own watch.

Dream Not Only For Yourself, But For Others Too

Stepping outside of ourselves and dreaming for others has a very powerful effect. And, by speaking your dreams aloud, you allow others to ‘dream’ for you. So, ask others their dreams, notice them even without them saying a word, pay attention. Then, dream for them. There is transformational power when we do so, for both ourselves and the person we are dreaming for. We are all connected, we must harness the strength and beauty of our connection.