What is Your Vision?

by Laurel Donnellan, Chief Possibilities Officer, Passion into Practice Inc.

Can you envision your dream work?

Some people believe this process has to do with making a conscious choice about their work, and others believe the work ultimately chooses them. No matter how this happens for you, this is about claiming your true identity by asking the following:

What would my work life look like, if I did my best to pursue my passions and live my purpose?

I encourage you to experiment with various techniques to help in this process, such as movement, meditation, drawing, writing and role-playing. Some people discover their vocation by paying attention to their emotions or intuition. Others believe they receive the answer from a higher wisdom, when they pray for it. You may gain clarity through talking things over with a friend or advisor. Several Visionaries have had an epiphany while interacting with nature, exercising, driving or even while watching television.

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.
Johann Wolfgang Van Goethe

A vision is a mental image of the future. While clarifying your dream work, this vision will come in and out of focus. Some of you may feel that you have too many visions. If this is the case, you will need to try one or more on to see if they fit. If one doesn't fit, you have learned something valuable, and can try something else. If you like multi-tasking, you will not need to choose just one of them. We are living at a time when you may be able to piece together several paths to form a career. These portfolio careers can be developed simultaneously, or one-by-one in an overlapping series.

Once you see a vision and choose a direction, it's critical to take action promptly and boldly. Taking action is a way to continue building momentum toward your best career. Some examples of taking action might be telling your spouse about your dream, or signing up to sing at an "open mike" event. I encourage friends to use my home for brave actions once a month. We get together for a Visionary "talent night," and pot luck dinner. Last month's talent night included a song, paintings, a few business plan pitches, a computerized presentation, a short film and poetry.

Laurel Donnellan is the Chief Possibilities Officer and founder of Passion into Practice. Passion into Practice provides one-on-one guided experiences, group workshops, professional coaching certifications and organizational consulting. Her vision is to help millions of people find passions and do remarkable work. She recently completed a book called Passion into Practice: The Path to Remarkable Work.