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Today, we reach virtually the halfway point in the 7 Day Challenge. We have covered Day 1: Your Current Scenario and Day 2: What Is Holding You Back? Anyone who is following the challenge might have found Day 2 a little challenging. It is not easy to look at yourself and your own inaction as a reason for not moving forward and all that might mean. However, it is an essential process because we are all more able to move forward than we sometimes think. 

Today gives anyone who is taking the challenge a chance to put the information gathered so far into some perspective. So far, we have checked, challenged and today we are visualising what a functional solution could possibly look like. It is not a time for concrete ideas which will come later but a time for putting everything on the table, however improbable it may seem at this point. We are in effect, looking for all possibilities for direction. Lewis Carroll wrote in Alice in Wonderland about direction that perfectly sums this up:

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.

“I don’t much care where–” said Alice.

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.

“–so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation.

“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”

This small excerpt tells us clearly that if you don’t know where you are going, how do you expect to know how to get there? How do you get “there” when you don’t know or care where “there” is? Without direction, there is no path, just many paths, many of which will lead nowhere.

Now consider the following. Those of you who meditate might find it helpful to visualise during meditation.

What would you like to achieve? What are the alternatives to your current scenario in Day 1? How would you feel if you could get to this point?

Write down as many possibilities as you can.

Focus on quantity: The first ground rule is to focus on quantity. You want to capture as many ideas as you can — even if they seem unrealistic at this point.

Withhold criticism: Make sure not to criticise your own ideas as they emerge during the visualisation process.

Encourage wild ideas: We know from experience that (with a bit of reworking and refinement) wild ideas usually lead to the most innovative.

Record all ideas: During a visualisation session, it is helpful to  write down each idea as it is thrown out. Sentence structure, spelling and grammar do not matter for this list, so wait until later to review or edit anything you write down. Just make sure to capture all the ideas.

Combine and improve ideas:  Think of your visualisation session as a snowball rolling down a “mountain of ideas.” Initially, the snowball is small, but it quickly grows and gains momentum as it travels down the hill.

Stay focused on topic: Although visualisation is meant to be creative and free flowing, make sure you focus your ideas on the topic at hand.

What are the important elements of a solution for you? What is important for you personally?