Planning your destiny and managing 4 changes in life

(click on the mind map for a bigger view)

For those of us who have been through a lot of planning workshops, crafting your vision & goals is a basic activity that gets followed by how do you intend to accomplish it.

In the book Embracing Change by Tony Buzan and the workshop I attended lately by Matthew Brauning, your vision is more than just words or what you think of. You should be able to visualize it in full color imagery, sound, and all other senses. As our mind processes information in images, being able to see what we want in our mind will heavily influence our thoughts and therefore our actions. The more we embrace it through focus, the more achievable it becomes.

Buzan describes focus as an extraordinary quality of intelligence that when directed is precise, strong, and goal targeted. It drives the desire to achieve the vision & goals that we have set. As you go through it, the people around you will feel the passion. As a result, it will also attract like-minded collaborators and supporters to you.

Our vision and focus need to be flexible as we can only focus on areas that we can influence. Therefore our attitude must be able to glide through these changes:

• Natural change
  This refers to knowing what we are capable of and taking the initiative to explore other options. I'm sure you heard the line before, "the mind is willing, but I don't think she has the physical stamina to get this done".
  
• Advised change
  Some changes happen to us because it was advised. We are doing it willingly or forced to. Our attitude, the need to be flexible, in order to achieve a bigger goal is important for this to work.
  
• Anticipated change
  These are changes that we know right from the start may eventually happen such as settling down, retirement, raising kids, among others. We often approach this positively and take the necessary steps to achieve stability.
  
• Enforced change
  Perhaps the most turbulent of them all and often caused when things happen unexpectedly such as mergers, job cuts, elections, emotional abandonment, chronic illness, betrayal, disasters, among others. Managing such change and help others do the same will be most helpful at this stage.

If you are feeling strongly negative in any of the above changes, best to reflect and find out what is causing this emotion or limiting decision that you have at the moment. Talk to someone who can give you advise and understand as you go through this.

Remember that a good outcome is always possible and it is up to you to desire it, want it, and VISUALIZE it! Make it seductive so you will want to get it done. Focusing on the positive, will yield astounding results. Pondering on your negative thoughts will yield more pain for you.

Vision & Focus is one of Buzan's 7 tools for transformation. Use it as you take charge in planning your destiny.