4 Steps to Support Your Vision for Your Life

After watering the plants on my terrace one evening, I turned around to re-enter my apartment. I had done this many times, but this moment was different. Before turning the door handle, something made me stop and peek through the window.

My perception, as well as my apartment, was illuminated. The space appeared more alive, interesting, and warmer than I had thought. There were eclectic items collected from my global travels: books on various health, wellness, philosophical, and esoteric subjects; papers all over the table and floor (making it obvious that a writer lived here); a meditation altar; a yoga mat; a djembe drum; and small studio space where I video conference with my clients.

What began as a peek, essentially a moment of presence, led me to a revelation: Every detail in our home is a reflection of ourselves—our personality, dreams, and the choices we’ve made—and should be a positive reminder of who we are. Our surroundings matter. They affect how we feel about our homes, ourselves, and, ultimately, how we approach our vision for our lives.

I saw that my simple but abundant home inspires me and expresses who I am and my aspirations. It became clear to me that my space had been functioning as a three-dimensional vision board, portraying my vision for my life. Vision boards act as a visual representation of our values and goals and leave an image in our mind of the experience we want to have in this world. Our brain flags the images it views as important and imprints them into our subconscious. (We’re basically influenced by the images we see each day). The more we look at these images, the more our brains prioritize and help us to align with them.

How We Evolve to Support Our Vision for Life

When I was first developing my vision for life, a few items needed to go. Evolving requires eliminating people, places, jobs, goals, habits, styles, and things that were once important to us. This isn't easy to do. Distancing myself from my space made it much easier to recognize items that were no longer a fit for me—a beloved but greatly frayed decorative pillow, some trinkets from the corporate life I had let go of, and a handbag I had once loved that no longer wowed me.

Your home is where you go to reboot, and it can influence your well-being. What does the décor of your home communicate about your vision for life? Does it nourish, inspire, and remind you of who you are and who you want to become? You want your space to support you in this way so when you get out of balance, lose focus, or feel stuck, it can help to bring you back to you.

This unexpected moment on my terrace guided me to create a new modality for both myself and my clients. Try the following exercise to get a fresh perspective, tap into the creative power of your subconscious mind, and support your vision for life.

Practice: Peer into Your Life

1. Look into your home, preferably from an outdoor window. For apartment dwellers, a peephole or door can also work. Pretend you have never been there and are looking at it for the first time.

2. Ask yourself a few questions:

• Who lives in this space? What does this space communicate about this person?

• Is this person you? If so, reconnect with yourself.

• Is this person no longer you? If so, acknowledge how you have evolved.

3. Do some editing:

• Are there things that could be purged, added, or shifted in order to better adjust this space to your current vision for life and sense of yourself? This doesn’t need to be costly. Would you declutter, add some accessories, change the color palette, rearrange the furniture?

• Does this space reflect your interests? If you like reading, do you have a reading nook and books? If you want to practice meditation or exercise, have you set aside the space? If you want to be creative, do you have the necessary tools visible?

• Does this space reflect your goals and desires? For example, if your vision for life is to travel, perform on a stage, excel at a sport, or become a CEO, do you have images to inspire you? If not, allow yourself to visualize what you want to manifest and add some symbolic images supporting that.

4. Take action:

• Adjust your space. Don’t risk having your home be out of alignment with you and your vision for your life!