I’m not a big fan of visioning exercises because they can lead to navel-gazing and planning instead of doing, but they are useful in creating a clear idea of what you want to achieve with your dreams.
This is especially true for Carrie. She has one goal – live in Paris (or at least somewhere in France) – but two ways to get there: a job opportunity to teach English in South Korea, or a job in Morocco.
To clarify for herself, I asked Carrie to write out her Paris dreams. Although Carrie chose a series of points, if you do this for yourself you could write a story, make it like a news report, or whatever. The important part is looking at the outcome of all the work that’s coming up.
You could write it as if you are already there (visualizing crossing the finish line) or as something you want to reach (seeing the finish line from the starting gate). But however you do it, do not make it perfect. I don’t like perfect – perfection leads to planning paralysis.
So, I asked Carrie for the quick and dirty version - but with enough details to make it ring true for her.
What big difference do you see between the first and second dream? In the first one, Carrie’s not in Paris, and only part-time in France. By writing out her envisioned future based on her choices today, she can see the likely paths and in the first case, it’s highly likely that she’ll settle in Asia, basically killing her Paris dream.
That would be all right if the dream wasn’t a big one, but for Carrie, Paris is like my wanting to write – it’s bone deep and life just doesn’t seem right not pursuing it.
It’s not surprising therefore that she’s chosen the Morocco job over the South Korea one.
But why even consider the South Korea offer? Because Carrie knew she had to push herself out of comfortable Atlanta if she was ever going to make it to Paris. Fortunately, however, the Morocco job offer came up and South Korea moved to plan B (where it stays semi-active until the Morocco job contract is signed, sealed and delivered).
What do you see when you look at the two dreams?
10 Responses to “Playing What If: Picturing the Future to Make Choices Today”
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I’m a fan of temporal skills.
Stepping into your future is like a quick dry-run of a potential reality. It helps us sanity check our paths and test our values of what we really want. The grass isn’t always greener.
J.D. Meier´s last blog post..My Favorite Personal Development Books
She seems happier in Morocco. It seems to be more concrete.
I’m a fan of visioning. I like how it mentally puts you in a place and let’s you watch what feelings arrive.
Karl Staib - Work Happy Now´s last blog post..Day 23 of 30 – Change Spurs Complaining
@Karl
What I like about this exercise is that South Korea is definitely finacially motivated (Student debts paid off is the first line) while going to Morocco lands her in Paris (an apt in the 11th arrondissement).
Hi Alex, thanks for sharing the exercise
Our mind is an amazing thing, really. I’m going to try it later on a question later on. I’ve been considering where I should start working next year and I have not made up my mind yet.
Celes | EmbraceLiving.Net´s last blog post..Become the Master of Your Time
Interesting. I’ve never mapped out things like that… nothing like making the future a reality on paper first.
@JD
I like the phrase “sanity check our paths” - that’s a great way of thinking about it!
@Celes
So, how did it turn out? Did you have fun creating the future (but not in too much detail, remember! you don’t want to get stuck in planning paralysis).
@Andy
Taking a quick look at the future on paper is a great way of making sure we don’t go flying off in a direction completely not suitable for us.
This is fantastic! It’s like a combination of the Looking Forward exercise and a Pros and Cons list. I will need to try this next time I am facing a major decision.
Janet Barclay´s last blog post..Happy New Year 2009
I love this mapping technique, Alex. It’s almost like one of those choose-your-own adventure books!
Jamie Grove - How Not To Write´s last blog post..Riding the Rooster
. . . what is the intrepid lady going to do about working in the EU? Or in Morocco — an American naif in a moslem country? Does she even speak French?
Teaching English, while possible, results in being paid very little — better read the sites on teaching abroad. Lots of anecdotal information about Korea, Japan, and China doesn’t flatter the schools or landlords. Remember too that Brits whose native language is also English are members of the EU — they can take or leave employment with any need for visas.
Dream Whip — in both scenarios I see little beyond wishful thinking.
And, yes, I’ve lived abroad. In the UK for two years.
@Janet
Thanks - I redo it the exercise every few months just to make sure I’m on the right track still.
@Jamie
I loved those books, although I had even more fun reading them straight through - it made for very surreal reading.
@bipolar2
Carrie has been taking care of the practical details as she’s been moving along. The focus of these exercises is to look beyond the practical details into the emotional changes that are going on underneath the surface.
As for wishful thinking - yes that’s what it is at this point. The exercise does more to reveal how we feel about the possible futures than predict anything as it’s impossible to know for certain what the future will bring. In this case the Morocco option fits more with Carrie’s dreams than the South Korea option does, which showed Carrie that she really would rather pursue Morocco.