I am always amazed at the power of visioning. Even though I’ve been doing this “ritual” every January for many years, I am still so in awe when I view my own finished vision board and compare it to the one from last year. Not only does it clearly shine out as a beacon of light  to where I am focusing my intentions, goals and energies for this year forward, but it is such a huge visual acknowledgment of where I am now, compared to January 2008.

I especially can see the change in my business (lower center) and it is a big awareness to see that all the business development work, marketing and organization I did last year, has paid off.

For my business, I realized that 2009, the inner or yin part is all about re-energizing my office, making space, changing the physical work space and allowing for business expansion and growth.

After completing my board, I stayed up until midnight remodeling my office, moving desks, wires, cleaning and creating a whole new energy of openness. That was all catalyzed by putting “new office” pictures on my board. It wasn’t until I began to build the board that I realized I even needed office pictures.

This is often how the process works.The experience of doing the board helps you to align what needs to happen.

On the yang side of my business, (upper center) it is all about productivity ( my word for the year) and circulation. The world is calling for my books and products to be more available as they are developed to help people to overcome obstacles in their own business. My first e-book will be in print this year.( watch this space).

With my past vision boards, I have always crammed the space full of pictures and words. This time there are open spaces. It might stay that way to allow for expansion or maybe something else needs to be added later. This is another difference and change that intrigues me.

Although my main focus is growing my business and helping other small business owners to grow theirs, using the Ba-gua as a guide for my board has helped me to see that all my life areas work together to bring balance and harmony in my life. My business is here to support my life, not the other way around.

If you have never done a vision board here is an easy step-by-step process.

1. Gather materials: lots of magazines, old calendars, greeting cards, photos,foam board, glue stick, scissors. Do it with a friend or two if you can.

2. Following your own process, get centered and make an intention, say your word for the year or just meditate for a few moments. You can pick a tarot card, sing, listen to music. Whatever works for you.

3. Begin to go through your magazines and cut out any pictures or words that jump out at you. Make a big pile. You won’t necessarily use them all but you won’t know until you get started. I think it works better to not try to control the process but allow the pictures and words to choose themselves.

4. Begin to arrange the pictures and words on your board. When it feels right, glue them down. Look for more pictures or words as needed. There is no right way to do this, only your way.

5. Share your completed board with your friend, mentor or mastermind buddies.

6. Hang it on the wall of your office where you will see it all year.

I used the Ba-gua as a guide for my vision board this year. I loved this process as it feels complete and harmonious, as each area of my life is represented with the appropriate colors and location.

Have you done your board? Take a picture of it and include it hear with your comments. I’d love to see it.

Just the word money tends to bring up heaps of  emotions in people. Just the other day one of my clients said that ” I really don’t need a lot of money, just enough to get by on,”  I asked her what that meant, get by how? She said, ” well just for what I need, and no more.”   I then asked her how much she needed. As you could guess, she hadn’t a clue.

She has a small solo-entrepreneur sewing business. She repairs clothing, makes curtains and creates accessories like scarves. As we talked about her business she realized that it would be nice if she could hire someone to help her. She had no  long term vision but when pressed she very tentatively mentioned the idea of a shop and a wholesale business although her self-esteem was challenged by this idea.  It could be that her idea of not needing much money was a reflection of staying smaller and feeling small.

Can anyone relate to this story. Does your vision include ideas that challenge your own self-esteem and do you know how much money you want? I would love to hear your responses.

Music

I am happily sitting upstairs in Starbucks in Nelson, New Zealand and trying hard not to listen to the Christmas music blaring from the speakers. I am plugged into my i-pod and am connected to WiFi. What could be better? I look out over Trafalgar Street into the bright sunshine and barely remember the cold and damp winter weather I just left behind in Oregon. It is very strange hearing about Rudolph the Shiny Reindeer while it is full summer outside.

Why am I sitting in Starbucks on such a lovely day? It is one of the few places in town that has wireless internet, otherwise known as a “hotspot.” I am happily listening to Joan Baez sing “Diamonds and Rust” in stereo crystal clarity through my ear phones. I am taken back to 1966 when she sat on her stool, guitar in hand, on the stage at Ohio State University hall, and sang this same song about memories, as well as others about freedom and peace.

All of us 19 and 20 year olds looked to her as a leader of the times.
We were invincible with our youth and her music made us feel we could all change the world and make things perfect just by the pure power of our collective will.

Of course the painful reality of life has challenged that belief many times over the years. Being a woman of my time, I have never given up, through the Vietnam War and now the Iraqi War. I still believe in peace as being the only choice.

In the last 40 years we have moved from transistor radios to i-pods and from encyclopedias to wireless internet. What makes it so hard to make that jump from war to peace?
I hear the words of the Youngblood’s, “Everybody get together and try to love one another right now.”

My i-pod is filled with 60′s music. Why? It keeps me feeling the power and will force of my 19 year old, who knows beyond any doubt, that she can still accomplish whatever she wants. It is all about being a leader in my own right, helping others to be successful and enjoying life to its fullest.

Making Your Goals Bigger Than Your Problems

I remember when I was a little girl ( 50 years ago). Now that’s scary in itself. I sat on the top step and listened in when my mom had her ma jong club at our living room. The ladies talked on and on while they played, and I remember the chinking sound of the tiles and all the topics of all their conversations. From someone’s husband’s gall bladder operation to a scorned bride it was all about problems. The gorier the better. The amount that someone could complain seemed to give status in everyone’s eyes.

I am not sure what makes our culture thrive on the negative so much but I inherited the capacity for worry. I tend to fret and worry about what “could” or “might”happen. It is a fictional story of the future in my mind because whatever I am worrying about has not happened, and may in actuality may never happen.

Isn’t it much better to focus on goals and create a picture of the future based on what I want to have happen. If I am going to be visualizing why not make it positive. Not only do I feel more peaceful and happy, it also helps to create the future I want instead of the one I don’t want. Think about it.