Vision Your Writing Business

Going Beyond Goals

I'm a firm believer in setting goals for my writing business. Recently, however, I've been introduced to Visioning. Visioning can be defined moving into "a space of deep listening" to catch the highest possible idea about your writing business.

If you're comfortable with spiritual ideas then you will probably be comfortable with the notion that in this space of deep listening you can catch at least a glimmer of what you're Higher Power has to offer for your writing business. If, on the other hand, you don't have a belief system that allows spiritual thinking, you can still use Visioning as a way to discover the true dream of your inner self.

Visioning, Visualization and Goals

Setting goals is pretty obvious. You decide what you want and work toward it. Some people back up goals with visualization, which is a process of seeing the goals accomplished. Both are excellent practices, but limited to our own idea of what we want.

Visioning is a way of inviting the unlimited into our lives. It opens us up to be and become more than we might imagine on our own.

The Visioning Process

Visioning is simply getting quiet then asking yourself a series of five questions you ask yourself. At the end of each question, you pause for 30 seconds to five minutes and see what surfaces in your mind. Up to a point, the longer you're quiet the richer the vision is likely to be.

The five questions are:

1. What is the highest vision or perfect idea for (my writing business, a particular project, etc.)?
    
2. What must I become to empower this vision?
    
3. What must I release to empower this vision?
    
4. What must I embrace to empower this vision?
    
5. Is there any other information I need in this moment?

What surfaces in your mind may surprise you. You may actually get a picture or series of pictures, or you may hear a sound or be reminded of a song. Phrases and ideas may appear. Sometimes nothing seems to come. Any and all of these things is totally ok. Keep a notebook and pen with you to jot down any ideas that come... but don't feel like you've got to write anything at this point. Stay in the silence as much as you can.

When you're finished, review the questions and get clear on what your answers mean to you. If you got something that doesn't make any sense, write it down, return to the silence and ask "What does this mean?" Chances are, something additional will surface that clarifies the issue.

Visioning is powerful when done alone; it's even more powerful if you have someone who can ask you the questions. Visioning can also be used by groups for group projects.

Try visioning your writing business or your current writing project. My experience tells me than when I vision, the goals become much more obvious and doable.

Write well and often.

You can download a free booklet on Visioning from The United Church of Religious Science site.