By Kim Ades
RISMEDIA, Dec. 4, 2008-Preschoolers are known for their creativity. That’s why a teacher wasn’t too surprised when she held a blank paper before a group of four-year-olds and received quite an imaginative response.
“What do you see here, children?” she began brightly.
“It’s a snowman in a snowstorm,” shouted one child eagerly.
“No, it’s my dolly under the blanket,” said another little girl.
“I think it’s a Dalmatian puppy before it gets its spots,” said a third.
The teacher smiled, knowing that her peers would have answered quite differently. That’s what she loved about teaching children this age.
“What great ideas!” she exclaimed. “Why don’t you take the crayons and draw what you see? Then you can see them come to life and we’ll all be able to enjoy them.”
The preschool example is a good one to remember if only to show that our vision takes on a new dimension when it’s put down on paper-one that everybody can see, and understand. But there’s a more important lesson here. A vision that we put down on paper allows us to see it, it starts to take shape and brings it closer to reality than a vision that remains in our head.
Think of what you are trying to accomplish in your business. Are you seeking to sell more homes, meet more prospective buyers, market to a new niche audience? Write it down and it will happen. That’s the power of journaling.
Journaling provides us with a blank canvas on which we can create, design and focus on the things that are important in our lives, or we might even discover what it is that is significant to us. Journaling provides us with increased awareness of our thoughts and beliefs. It provides a forum for us to determine and discover what thoughts drive us towards achieving our goals and what thoughts actually stand in our way. You may not even realize that you are having these negative thoughts until you start to journal.
Recording one’s thoughts has always been cathartic, a way to release “baggage,” analyze actions, or merely plan for the next step. It’s this planning that is the critical tool in terms of business. With this increased understanding we are able to proceed in a whole other way, one which sees us making conscious decisions about the kinds of thoughts that will lead us to fulfill our goals.
Journaling is the blank canvas on which we can design our ideal world, where we can explore our vision. Just like the children filled their canvas with images from their imaginations, we too can fill the journaling canvas with our joys, struggles, hopes, dreams, desires and then we can sit back and look at what we’ve created. We might laugh, we might cry and we might discover pieces of ourselves that we have forgotten or shoved aside and re-visit them like old friends. We might experience an epiphany – something that has been staring in the face, but until we saw it on paper it didn’t feel ‘real.’ We could brainstorm a brilliant concept that we can implement immediately to increase our earning potential. The blank canvas provides a limitless opportunity for us to grow and develop in all sorts of ways.
Writing in a journal every day allows you to make significant changes in your thinking, creating the foundation towards achieving unlimited results. That’s when the magic begins. This is a very intense process that creates dramatic personal awareness. When you start to understand the role that YOU play in the outcomes in your life, things start getting better and keep getting better.
Are you ready to make some positive changes in your life? Start with a blank canvas and create your masterpiece.
Kim Ades is the president of Frame of Mind Coaching. E-mail her at kim@fom52.com
For more information on guided journaling, visit www.FOM52.com
