It’s time to start writing your Vision of your ideal future life. 

If you have not yet completed the exercises from the previous lessons, make sure you have time blocked on your calendar to do so. Don’t just read them and move on, actually take the time to complete the exercises. For most people, the exercises make a dramatic impact on their ability to craft a meaningful and compelling Vision of their ideal future life and determine their Values.

As discussed earlier, to make your Vision tangible, you must put it in writing, with specific details. But don’t get hung up on trying to make it complete and don’t worry about your choice of words. It doesn’t have to be perfect: there’s no wrong way to do this, and you’ll likely be revising it continuously over time anyway. No one is grading or judging you, so you don’t need perfect language or grammar (or even complete sentences). Just sit down and start writing as ideas come to you. You can handwrite it or create a document on your computer. You’ll probably find it easiest to start with just words and phrases; use bullet points if that’s easier for you.

Here’s a portion of my current personal Vision to give you an example:

I am joyful, excited, and loving life. I am vibrant and radiate positive energy at all times, and never take caffeine. I am completely healthy, feel great, in fantastic shape. I have plenty of leisure time so I’m calm and relaxed and get a great night’s sleep every night without a sleeping pill. I enjoy varied exercise every day: run, lift weights, rowing machine, Peloton bike, swim, surf, paddle, hike, scuba, tennis. I meditate every day.

My marriage is the strongest it’s ever been. We are loving and affectionate. We communicate fully and support each other fully. We are in sync on our vision, goals, and plans. We strive for continuous improvement and living our best life, and frequently do fun activities on Oahu and the other islands. We split our time between our 3 homes, getting the best of all 3 locations. We are traveling frequently, both alone and with friends and family, going wherever and whenever we want, first class. We visit friends and family and take extended trips to stay at fabulous places and have incredible adventures. We stay at top hotels and villas, and go on crewed yacht charters.

I am close friends with, spend time with, and talk with all my kids frequently. I am an expert skier and a solid 4.5 tennis player. I am a competent surfer, able to turn on a wave. I am a competent paddler and solo paraglider. I have lots of leisure time at home which I spend on exercising, keeping in touch with friends and family, socializing, reading books, watching movies, and playing games. I keep in close contact with and enjoy doing fun and memorable things with new and old friends. I don’t drink alcohol and I enjoy socializing while sober. 

In my productive time I focus on learning and personal development, and on inspiring, advising, coaching, and mentoring others, which is challenging and rewarding. I have complete money, time, and location freedom and only work with people I genuinely like and find rewarding. I have $10 million in liquid net assets and over $1 million in passive net income every year from multiple thriving businesses where I am just an owner and board member, with no responsibilities. I am generous to friends, family, and charities.

Today’s Action:

Start writing your Vision! Read over what you created in the previous 4 Exercises and identify and highlight or jot down elements that should be included in your Vision or your Values. (If you haven’t completed those Exercises yet, now is the time – they won’t take long, and they will really help with crafting your Vision.)

As you start writing these words and phrases, consider each of the key parts of your life:  

  • Business/Career

  • Relationships

  • Health/Fitness

  • Financial

  • Environment/Home

  • Recreation/Fun

  • Personal Development

  • Service/Contributions

For each of the above parts of your life, if it’s important to you, start with jotting down words or phrases that would represent the best you could possibly imagine for that part of your life. But if it’s not important to you, don’t have to pretend it is – your Vision doesn’t have to cover all the parts of your life.

You should now have a fairly long list of words or phrases, or maybe some complete sentences. Don’t stop until you have at least the beginning of your Vision in writing. 

Once you’ve got this first outline or very rough draft of your Vision, go back and review the exercises that you completed, and see if they inspire adding any more elements to your Vision.

  • Submit them here.