Ever wondered how the world’s most successful people absolutely kick ass without breaking a sweat? It’s all down to a pen and paper.
Indeed, the globe’s most high-flying CEOs and businesspeople have been turning to vision writing to set our their goals and actually achieve them.
Fancy trying your hand at your very own vision letter? We’ve enlisted Natalie Costa, a teacher, life coach and mindfulness expert and author of Power Thought, to share the ultimate guide to penning yours.
What is a vision letter?
A vision letter is a letter you write to yourself dated one year into the future, detailing what you want for yourself – in your life, career, relationships etc.
How can a vision letter change your life?
Vision letters can help because they allow us to pay attention to what we would like to achieve and the goals and intentions we want to set. It’s an opportunity to get really clear on these elements – what ‘success’ looks like for us and how you want to feel.
Asking yourself key questions also helps: What do I want to be telling myself in a year from now? How do I want to feel? What did I accomplish? What am I proud of? What are others saying to me?
How to write your very own vision letter in 5 simple steps
1. Address the letter to yourself, dated one year into the future. Think of how you want to feel? Where do you want to be? Look at areas in your life that you particularly want to focus on (love, career, relationships, money, education etc)
2. What have you achieved in these areas? How do you feel? What are you proud of?
3. Go deeper – get clear on the details. Including numbers, figures (e.g income goals) and actionable task helps you get really clear on what you want.
4. Use your senses: Try and include as much of your senses as you can. What do you hear? What are people saying to you? What do you see around you? What are you wearing?
5. Once you’ve written it, seal it in an envelope and place it in a safe place. Set a reminder to read the letter in a year from now.
Why writing your vision letter will work
By writing our goals and desires we are telling our brain what ‘success’ looks like for us. The Reticular Activating System (RAS) in the brain is the attention centre in the brain. By writing a vision letter you are directing your brain to focus on what you want and the RAS will start to pay attention to things that will help you achieve your goal.
Ready to grab your pen and paper?
Read all about vision letter writing in GLAMOUR’s SS19 issue, out now.