Your summer of possibility

The long-awaited days of summer are here (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere), and the last thing on your mind is transformation. Or reinvention. Or creating a brand new experience of your life or your work. Right?

I beg to differ. Summer is the perfect opportunity to take first steps towards living and working in a way that aligns with who you really are and what you truly want, and I’ve never seen more people in search of that than I see right now.

The last year has shaken many of us from the status quo, changed perspectives and pushed us to think differently about what’s possible and what matters most.

One of the foundations of the work that I do as a coach is inviting my clients into a space of opening up new possibilities. (That’s the “dream” part of the “Dream it. Design it. Live it.” mantra and a key part of reinvention.)

This is all about expanding your vision, seeing what could be and finding a new level of clarity about what matters most to you. It's an enormously fun and inspiring part of the process. While it can sometimes take practice to step into that dreaming space, once you allow that, visioning can feel like play and it can be incredibly motivating.

In fact, research at Case Western’s Coaching Research Lab shows that identifying a longer-term vision or “ideal self” can be far more effective than more immediate goal setting in creating positive change.

Of course once we have a clearer vision of what we want next, there’s the work of activating that vision and choosing how we want to honor what we now know by making changes— in our mindset, perspective, actions, daily life and work. But that comes later.

First, we need to stretch and allow ourselves to entertain the possibility.

In the relaxed, vacation-minded state that summer often brings, we’re perfectly primed for dreaming.

Here are a few ways to do it:

Tell a new story.

If you were to write or tell the story of your ideal lifestyle or work day, how would it unfold? Who is the hero? What's the plot? Another way to think about this is to imagine that a documentary filmmaker is following you throughout your ideal day. What’s on the tape? Get out your journal or record yourself talking through it.

Draw a visual map.

You don't have to be an artist to use this technique. Let your perfectionist tendencies go and draw out where you are now and where you would ideally like to be. Stick figures or collage work just fine, and the visual differences can quickly reveal the key changes you want to make.

Visualize yourself in the future.

With your coach, on your own, with a friend— walk yourself step-by-step through a meeting with yourself in the future. This might be sitting down to chat with Future You to see what you learn, or you might shadow her for a day and see what you learn. Do this when you are fully relaxed and get creative about the questions you may want to ask or the specific details you want to notice.

Play "I really, really want..."

I did this with my own coach many years ago, and I'm happy to report that I'm now living out what I discovered I wanted back then (while laying in my hammock wondering how it could ever happen). I still do it all the time. Your desires don’t need to be limited towards yourself— consider what you want for all areas of your life, but also your family, your community, the world. This can be a powerful exercise for uncovering your passions and your underlying “why” as well.

As a coach, I take a stand for the possibilities my clients unearth when they get creative, explore and activate their vision. Together, we honor what matters to them and literally re-create their viewpoints, their goals, their work and their lifestyles. I invite you to do it, too.

Get clear on what your version of success looks and feels like. Build in your balance. Open to possibility.

Draw the present and the future and identify the gaps. You can explore the rest later. For now, let the fun and free-flowing energy of summer bring you to your first step. Kick back and create a big summer daydream for what’s next in your life. In the most deliciously fun way you can dream up.

If you’d like help with this, we can identify and activate your vision together in an initial coaching session or get started with this free visioning playbook.