Vision is a power that can help us all grow and experience new things in life. It can act as our roadmap and our north star to guide us to where we want to go and what we want to achieve. It can pull us through challenges and act as our ray of hope that gives us purpose and meaning.

When you do not take the time to create an intentional vision of what you want, you won’t get to where you really want to go. Life just happens and it unfolds more or less as the life you have always known. You will find that life comfortable and as a result you end up doing things that keep you in that comfort zone.

If you want to make progress and grow, you can use vision as your power to grow. Once you have a vision, you can align your goals, your energy and your actions so you are always working in harmony with what you truly want.

Here are 7 steps to powering up your vision:

Step 1 – Learn to imagine and dream again

When we are young, imagining was so easy. Look at little kids and how they can easily dream and imagine. We are all given the gift of imagination – and in fact, imagination, according to Einstein, is more powerful than knowledge. However with time, we block our imagination for different reasons and allow our logic, doubt, or disappointments get in our way. But we can always reignite our vision by looking around and seeing how many people have in fact made some of their dreams come true.

Get back in touch with what you really want and start visualizing it and clarifying it.

Step 2 – Clarify your vision by writing it down

Write down your vision and identify what you would really like next in your life. Determine why you really want it and why it’s important to you. Use a journal to write freely what you would really love, why you would love having it. Connect to how it would make you feel and how your vision, and what you want, can help others. The more you can connect to that purpose of why you want your vision, the clearer it becomes to you.

Once you write down your vision keep going back to it, and clarifying it. This is an ongoing process you can do until you feel really clear and convinced that this is the vision you want and understand deep down inside why you want it. It is the why that inspires us to keep pursuing the vision, more so than the vision itself. You can then use a vision board to turn your vision into something visual you can see every day to keep reminding you and imprinting into your mind and reinforcing what you want.

For a vision to be powerful to you, you have to really want it and it has to be compelling to you on why you want to achieve it. To do so, you need to dig deeper and identify the benefits of what it means to you and to others for you to achieve it. You need to be fully committed to it. If your vision is not compelling, or you are not fully committed to it, you will abandon it. This is one of the reasons why most people do not achieve their vision.

Step 3 – Develop a simple 3-point plan

The next thing is to start laying out a high level plan on where you would like to see yourself in 1-3 years. What would you like to have achieved by the end of Year 1 and then by the end of 3. If you would like to go out even further and you can see that far, then determine where you would like to be in 5 or 10 years.

Take the first year and break it down into quarters. Identify 3 points you would like to have accomplished by quarter for Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 that will get you to what you want to achieve the first year. Then put a little more detail for what you would like to achieve in the first three months, by month for Month 1, Month 2 and Month 3.

Keep your plan simple and just identify 3 priorities you want to do weekly in the first month and use that as your action plan to stay focused! You want to make sure you plan enough but that you do not stay in perpetual planning. This approach provides the right balance.

Step 4 – Take action

In order to achieve anything we have to take action. Once you have your weekly action plan it’s time execute and move forward one step at a time. It’s more important to see progress than to create perfection. So make sure you are more focused on completing your milestones. If you do not see progress, your spirit will wither away and you will lose energy. So stay focused on taking action on what you identified on your action plan and adjust as you go.

One of the other reasons people do not achieve their vision is because they are not focused and end up doing too many things but not quite accomplishing anything they wanted.

Step 5 – Match your energy daily to the energy you would feel when your vision is achieved

Your energy is critical to your success. Energy is something that we are never taught about but it is the invisible power behind our success. Learn to be in touch with your energy and keep a vibrational match between your daily feelings and the feelings you want from achieving your vision.

Envision your vision as if you already have it. Believe in it. Believe in yourself . This stage is an ongoing stage that continues to strengthen your belief of the future and the possibility to achieve your success. You can work through this stage using many different types of practices and techniques. The more you understand your energy and your emotions the more you can manage this stage.

Step 6 – Measure your progress

You’ve probably heard the saying that we can only improve what what we can measure. Use a simple approach to revisit your plan so you can assess how you are doing against your plan and identify what adjustments you need to make. A plan is never set in stone. It is there to guide us to keep moving forward. Progress creates energy, so make sure you are always focused on progress and don’t get stuck trying to produce perfection. Making a little progress will give you the energy to keep going. The more you do, the more progress you’ll make. That’s how things start to open up. Before you know it, as you keep taking action, you then cause a chain reaction of forward movement and progress.

Step 7 – Surround yourself with the right people and get the support to help you achieve it

It’s very easy to have a vision and then end up getting distracted with life’s demands. If you are really committed to achieving your vision, find support groups, join a community of people wanting to achieve their vision or sign up for coaching.

We can all do things by ourselves, but we do not need to do it alone! Being in the presence of like-minded people and hearing inspiring stories of how people overcome obstacles or tips they use to reset their mindset is critical! Having someone to support you and be invested in your success is one of the secrets that many people have used. Don’t miss this step, it is critical!

Your road to your vision will take many twist and turns. There are times you will not feel comfortable during that ride, but that’s when you grow. Your vision will help take you to new heights and will allow you to eperience discomforts that will take you out of your comfort zone. However, that is how people grow. Be ready for that journey, enjoy the challenges and the beautiful ride!