As the new year begins this month, I want you to embrace the word, Vision.  Think from the lens of having 2020 vision, after all, it is the year of 2020.

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Happy New Year!  Welcome to the year of 2020!  The year to allow your vision to manifest into reality.  Each time a new year enters, we begin thinking about our new years’ resolutions.  Losing weight, getting out of debt, starting a new business, going back to school to get that degree, saying goodbye to old relationships and welcoming new ones, are usually the most common resolutions made each year.  However, most of the time, by March we discard these ideas because we haven’t really worked diligently on achieving them.  So, this year, instead of making resolutions, let’s create a vision with 2020 vision, after all it is the year of 2020.  2020 Vision means that you think about what you want to do with the rest of your life from 2020 onward, write that vision down, visualize the vision clearly, and work constantly towards achieving your vision.  Your vision is yours alone, not anyone else’s vision of what they think you should be doing with your life.  Your vision is what YOU want for your life.  A vision is usually something that we do not give up on, because we can actually see it happening, prior to its fruition.  Know that you do not have to share your vision with anyone else, if you choose not to share your vision.  After all, you can’t tell giraffe height dreams to people with turtle mindsets, because they cannot see at your level.  So, never let anyone else cloud your vision.  As long as you can see it, you can achieve it.  Write your vision.  Make sure your vision is an attainable goal.  Do not overwhelm yourself by trying to achieve everything at one time, if you have more than one vision that you want to accomplish.   Focus on accomplishing one vision at a time by focusing on one vision at a time.  Often times, you will find that one vision, will pave the way to achieving your next vision.  After you write down your vision, put them in the order of priority, by determining which of them is the most important to you, and the easiest to attain.  It helps if you include which is the most attainable to achieve, because these are usually smaller goals versus larger ones.  Larger goals usually take more time to achieve, so do not get discouraged.  Applaud and treat yourself to something nice when you have achieved milestone goals towards getting you closer to your vision. 

If you are not sure where to start when writing down your vision.  Find a quiet place, grab a pen and a piece of paper (you can even create a vision board, if you’d like), close your eyes (keep your eyes closed for about five seconds), take two deep breaths (inhale, hold it for a few seconds and then exhale), think about what you want to do with the rest of your life, then open your eyes to see the vision clearly, write down your vision, ask God what are His plans for your life, and what steps you need to take to make it/them happen.  Give yourself a tentative time frame for achieving each one, even if the time frame changes, at least you know what you are working towards and when you want to achieve it.  Time frames help make us work harder to meet our goals and adds an accountability factor, which serves as a constant motivator.  If you create a vision board, you can use a poster board and get a few magazines with images in them, cut out the images that are related to your goals and tape or paste them to your vision board to see them daily and take the steps to make them happen.  Vision boards are good because, when you can see it, you are more inclined to believe that you can achieve it.

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To see our vision clearly, some of us have to remove the negative mindset that other people have imposed upon us, with their naysaying and labeling; such as: you’re never gonna’ amount to anything, you come from poverty, so you will stay in poverty, your mom/dad wasn’t anything, so you’re going to be just like them, you’re stupid, you’re lazy, you’re worthless, you’re crazy, you’re too old now, you should have done that years ago, you’re not smart enough, you’re not thin enough, you’re not pretty enough, you don’t have enough money to do that, stop dreaming, you’re delusional, or you can’t do that….I’m sure many of you reading this right now, had some of these things said to you by naysayers that I call “haters,” or you have said these things to yourself as a defense mechanism that derives from your fear of failure.  I know I have heard many of those things, however, I never let someone else’s opinion, and it is just that, an opinion, of what someone else thinks I can or cannot do, stop me from achieving my goals, just because they didn’t achieve theirs.  Don’t let anyone else or your own fear get in the way of achieving your vision.  It is Your vision, Your life, Your goals, Your dreams, not anyone else’s, always remember that. 

 

So, do not just write your vision down and leave it on paper, letting it collect dust, do something to work towards achieving your vision for your life.  If you need help, ask for help.  One of the best ways to get started working towards your vision is by conducting research using the internet to search topics related to your vision, so that you will learn the how-to’s of how to get started.  You can also read books from authors who were successful at achieving a vision similar or the same as your vision to get ideas on what steps you could take to reach your goals successfully.  Remember, however, that what works for one person might not work for you, however, it will at least give you the background knowledge/information on where to start and you will learn by trial and error along the way to determine what works and what didn’t.   As I mentioned in the December issue, just don’t stop working towards achieving your goals, especially when they are attainable for you.  It’s time to live out your purpose, with purpose, on purpose.  No one else will work as hard as you to help you achieve your goals, so do not expect anyone else to put in the work that you are not willing to put in for yourself.  Write the vision, see the vision with 2020 vision (clearly), act on the vision, execute the vision, and work on sustaining and expanding the vision. As you work on achieving your vision in 2020, I wish you all the best.  I know we tend to say, this is your year, every year, but I believe that there is something really, really special about 2020.  It’s the year to see clearly, a year to have perfect vision, 2020 Vision!  Let’s be goal getters!  Let’s get it! It is already ours anyway, just waiting for us to catch up to it.

 

On a different note, Thanks to everyone who submitted an email regarding our last months word, Courage.  We hope that you are inspired by the feedback that you received to move forward with courage and a new vision.

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By Lynnette Clement