The “Vision Puzzle” is the written philosophy of my friend Monte Pendleton. Monte has been my trusted mentor since 1990 and he has taught me everything I needed to build my life so that the Universe conforms to who I am instead of me struggling to force everything into existence. You see, who I am and how I live according to my Personal Purpose is how I “Attract” everything into my life as long as I remain true to who I am. Monte showed me how a path to nowhere will get me there! And therefore, how a path planned out will make my dreams come true. If you want to know more about how this works, read “The Attractor Factor” and “The Key” both by my friend Joe Vitale.
And then, sit down and figure out where you want to be with your life in 5 years from now. Trust me, there are no wrong ways to do this and the exercise will stimulate you to think. But beware, do not over-think this. It is not that hard to do if you let your heart and mind guide you as if a magic wand has been waved over you so that your plan cannot fail.
And so now, read what Monte has to say about “Visioning”:
Do you have a written Vision Statement? They are very simple to make because there are no right or wrong answers. They are simply a statement of our answers, what we desire our life to look like at some future period, maybe ten years. Why is a Vision Statement important? Because, if you have one, there is a high likelihood that you will achieve your vision or dream. They are like magic, when you have a clear picture of the magnificence you want to create in your life, every effort you make becomes focused on achieving it.
So why doesn’t everyone have a written Vision? Because we don’t have time, we don’t believe they would work, we would rather be surprised by life rather than have it go according to our plan.
Our lives can be likened to assembling a large jig saw puzzle. Each event in our life, each person we meet, and each thing we learn is like a piece of our puzzle, and when fitted neatly into place, each helps to form a beautiful picture.
The problem is there are extraneous pieces that are not needed. Life is like having several puzzles mixed up together. Not every event, not every person in our life belongs or fits into our Vision. Not every event or person adds to the beautiful picture that should represent our life. Even if we force the pieces together, if they don’t belong, they must ultimately be removed and cast aside.
This brings us to the need for a vision for our lives. Our Vision Statement is like the picture on the front of the puzzle box. Once we have created a mental vision of what we want our life to look like, then that picture makes it easy to identify the pieces that belong in our life and the ones to be discarded. Also, as the events of our life unfold, we know how to fit them together to form the beautiful picture we have envisioned. Each piece must fit perfectly into our vision.
Imagine mixing the pieces of three or four large puzzles together and then, with no picture, trying to put even one puzzle together not knowing what the picture will turn out to be. You may find yourself working on several puzzles at once hoping maybe one will turn out beautiful, but progress will be painfully slow and take lots of effort.
To some extent, we all live our lives this way. We keep our desks cluttered and our files stuffed with things we think we may need some day. We don’t know which puzzle we will decide to put together so we have to keep all the pieces.
Now, imagine using a better puzzle procedure, setting up the box so you can see the desired picture (your vision) and then being able to select just the right pieces that go together to form your beautiful picture, avoiding those pieces that have no meaning in your life’s vision. Your vision quickly comes together beautifully and with no wasted effort.
This example is a very accurate portrayal of real life results. Those who have a written vision, a clear picture of what they want in life, will recognize the pieces they need, and quickly achieve their vision. They will also recognize the people, events and activities that are “rabbit trails” that won’t move them forward. By eliminating the unnecessary, they have more time and resources to focus precisely on their vision, thus guaranteeing rapid and accurate progress to their magnificent result with minimal effort.