scared of the thought of me reaching it. Now THAT would propel me into motion the way a yearly list of goals wouldn’t be able to do. (By the way, my deep down secret feeling is that I strive to reach these in 2 years, not 3 and that’s usually what happens.)

So, each year, around this time, I create a 3 year vision of what I want my practice to look like. I write it in the present tense, as if it were 3 years later, that same day. For example, I wrote mine on Janu

In practice building (and getting clients) it seems to be that most self-employed people just hope for the best. They simply keep doing what they’ve been doing and don’t have a strategy for creating the practice they’d be truly and deeply happy with. This is a big mistake in my opinion.

I used to write down my goals each year, but it never really worked for me. I just didn’t feel really excited about my new goals. They didn’t seem to propel me in motion and so I kind of viewed them as being useless. I never really looked at them, probably because they seemed like “shoulds” rather than “really-meaningful-wants.”

Then I came across the concept of creating 3 year visions instead of just a list of goals for the upcoming year. This visioning wasn’t just about business goals, but also family, financial, spiritual and relationship goals. It became a “holistic” way of looking at what you wanted in your life. All the pieces looked like they would work together, but only because you were forced to make it all work together, which was the first time I’d done that in such depth.

The coolest thing about visioning 3 years out; however, came to me after I started doing this regularly. I noticed that ONE year goals were never too much of a stretch. They seemed like timid goals, goals that didn’t really get me excited. But having to create a vision of what 3 years down the line would look like allowed me to REALLY think BIG. Inhibitions dropped. My creative side started going and I really took the time to see, “Hey, what WOULD I want my life to look like in 3 years, if I could have time to create it?” SHAZAM! I felt like I’d hit the jackpot.

The 3 year vision was a way for me to create something to strive for that REALLY spoke to me. Something that made my heart beat a little faster after I read it, excited to get going, and just a little bit scared of the thought of me reaching it. Now THAT would propel me into motion the way a yearly list of goals wouldn’t be able to do. (By the way, my deep down secret feeling is that I strive to reach these in 2 years, not 3 and that’s usually what happens.)

So, each year, around this time, I create a 3 year vision of what I want my practice to look like. I write it in the present tense, as if it were 3 years later, that same day. For example, I wrote mine on Janu

d so I kind of viewed them as being useless. I never really looked at them, probably because they seemed like “shoulds” rather than “really-meaningful-wants.”

Then I came across the concept of creating 3 year visions instead of just a list of goals for the upcoming year. This visioning wasn’t just about business goals, but also family, financial, spiritual and relationship goals. It became a “holistic” way of looking at what you wanted in your life. All the pieces looked like they would work together, but only because you were forced to make it all work together, which was the first time I’d done that in such depth.

The coolest thing about visioning 3 years out; however, came to me after I started doing this regularly. I noticed that ONE year goals were never too much of a stretch. They seemed like timid goals, goals that didn’t really get me excited. But having to create a vision of what 3 years down the line would look like allowed me to REALLY think BIG. Inhibitions dropped. My creative side started going and I really took the time to see, “Hey, what WOULD I want my life to look like in 3 years, if I could have time to create it?” SHAZAM! I felt like I’d hit the jackpot.

The 3 year vision was a way for me to create something to strive for that REALLY spoke to me. Something that made my heart beat a little faster after I read it, excited to get going, and just a little bit scared of the thought of me reaching it. Now THAT would propel me into motion the way a yearly list of goals wouldn’t be able to do. (By the way, my deep down secret feeling is that I strive to reach these in 2 years, not 3 and that’s usually what happens.)

So, each year, around this time, I create a 3 year vision of what I want my practice to look like. I write it in the present tense, as if it were 3 years later, that same day. For example, I wrote mine on Janu

looked like they would work together, but only because you were forced to make it all work together, which was the first time I’d done that in such depth.

The coolest thing about visioning 3 years out; however, came to me after I started doing this regularly. I noticed that ONE year goals were never too much of a stretch. They seemed like timid goals, goals that didn’t really get me excited. But having to create a vision of what 3 years down the line would look like allowed me to REALLY think BIG. Inhibitions dropped. My creative side started going and I really took the time to see, “Hey, what WOULD I want my life to look like in 3 years, if I could have time to create it?” SHAZAM! I felt like I’d hit the jackpot.

The 3 year vision was a way for me to create something to strive for that REALLY spoke to me. Something that made my heart beat a little faster after I read it, excited to get going, and just a little bit scared of the thought of me reaching it. Now THAT would propel me into motion the way a yearly list of goals wouldn’t be able to do. (By the way, my deep down secret feeling is that I strive to reach these in 2 years, not 3 and that’s usually what happens.)

So, each year, around this time, I create a 3 year vision of what I want my practice to look like. I write it in the present tense, as if it were 3 years later, that same day. For example, I wrote mine on Janu

ike allowed me to REALLY think BIG. Inhibitions dropped. My creative side started going and I really took the time to see, “Hey, what WOULD I want my life to look like in 3 years, if I could have time to create it?” SHAZAM! I felt like I’d hit the jackpot.

The 3 year vision was a way for me to create something to strive for that REALLY spoke to me. Something that made my heart beat a little faster after I read it, excited to get going, and just a little bit scared of the thought of me reaching it. Now THAT would propel me into motion the way a yearly list of goals wouldn’t be able to do. (By the way, my deep down secret feeling is that I strive to reach these in 2 years, not 3 and that’s usually what happens.)

So, each year, around this time, I create a 3 year vision of what I want my practice to look like. I write it in the present tense, as if it were 3 years later, that same day. For example, I wrote mine on Janu

scared of the thought of me reaching it. Now THAT would propel me into motion the way a yearly list of goals wouldn’t be able to do. (By the way, my deep down secret feeling is that I strive to reach these in 2 years, not 3 and that’s usually what happens.)

So, each year, around this time, I create a 3 year vision of what I want my practice to look like. I write it in the present tense, as if it were 3 years later, that same day. For example, I wrote mine on January 3, 2006 as if it was January 3, 2009, and I talked about all the things that had happened since 2006. All the things I’d accomplished in my business, with my finances, my investments, my family, my house, over the “last 3 years,” which obviously haven’t actually happened yet.

Such a cool exercise and it really gets the blood flowing when you read it back to yourself.

“When you can clearly see yourself being there, you can see much more clearly how to get there. You can imagine the path to your dreams, then start to actually walk it. Play an active role in your own future. Imagine with passion and detail how you'd most like it to be.” —Ralph Marston

Your Assignment:

Your turn. Create a 3 year vision dated January 6, 2009. Do it today. Your 3 year vision must be one that will literally PULL you into your future, will scare you just a little bit, and make your heart beat a little faster than normal whenever you read this.

Make your 3 year vision very specific, realistic and a big STRETCH (that’s what’s going to move you forward quicker than you would if you didn’t have it.) If you’re right brained, use bullet points for categories such as these:

• Business/Clients
• Marketing
• Financial/Revenues
• Personal
• Family
• Spiritual
• Fun
• Health

If you’re left-brained, then write freely, and remember to keep it all grounded in the specific, with lots of MEASURABLES and TANGIBLES thrown in there so you can keep track of your progress over the next 3 years (that’s what I do).

One last thing. Make sure to write in the present tense as if it were today’s date 3 years from now… If it doesn’t scare you or get your mind racing, then it’s probably not enough of a stretch.

By the way, I just looked back t