Finding your life’s vision: The Environment Arc
Introduction
This article is the first of the upcoming 12 in the Vision series. This is my attempt to create my life’s vision for each domain in life. I have tried to follow a design thinking approach while defining my vision. You can follow the same steps to create yours
There are 2 types of goals:
- Means Goals: Goals that are means to an end and usually about meeting or conforming to societies norms
- End Goals: These are the ones that follow our heart, excite and inspire us and put our ultimate target in our sights
And in order to have an end goal, one must follow their hearts, choose things based on their preferences and perspective, which changes with time, and that makes you wonder if the concept of using goals as a unit to measure the level of happiness in your future is correct or not?
The fact is, goals are meant to change, the one thing that we should focus upon is Vision, as they are determined by the basic nature of a person, which doesn’t change so quickly.
And like I mentioned in my previous articles, in order to have your own version of an ideal vision, you must focus on the 12 domains of life, by specifying the things that you want the most in each one of these domains
The first task will be of assigning each domain to a particular month, giving you sufficient time to explore every domain, here’s how I did it:
- January: Environment/Surrounding
- February: Love
- March: Adventure
- April: Creativity
- May: Intellect
- June: Health & Fitness
- July: Skill
- August: Friendship
- September: Career
- October: Family
- November: Community
- December: Spirituality
You can either follow this order or create your own.
Here’s the step by step guide to the design thinking approach of creating your vision
Step 1: Identifying The Problem Statement
Based on your month’s theme, try to figure out a problem statement, what are the current problem’s that you want to solve in that area of your life, for example, this month’s theme was Environment/ Surrounding , so the ideal problem statement for this theme will be:
If time and money were not a constraint and I did not have to seek anyone’s permission, what kind of environment would I want to live in? How would the things I want in my surrounding( cars, my house, etc) look like?
Once you have figured out your problem statement, try to further simplify it, think of the essential skills or habits that you would need in order to achieve your vision.
Since our behavior is deeply influenced by our surroundings, the things that I would want to focus on are
- How do I incorporate a minimalist mindset?
- How do I gain the ability to adjust in any environment?
- How do I develop an environment/surrounding that can adjust to my mood?
Step 2: Inspiration
After further simplifying your problem statements, the next step is to look for inspiration, things that can provide solutions to your problems.
The biggest sources of Influence are books, movies, and TV shows. And it’s completely fine to set goals based on them as long as you resonate with that concept, and have proper reason for liking it. Thus the most fun way is to assign a life from any book, TV show, or movie to all the given domains. Just like an Inspiration list.
The idea is to keep things minimal and follow the Magical number,7 plus minus 2 rule. That means in order to reduce the cognitive loads, keep your inspiration source limited to the range of [5,9].
I decided to make things even simpler by taking inspiration only from :
- A famous personality ever lived
- A movie that resonates with me the most
- An anime that resonates with me the most
you can either choose these sources for inspiration or go for something else, like a book, music, or a poem.
And for each inspirational source, only focus on [5,9] things you would like to incorporate in your life
Based on my problem statement I finally came across these 3 inspirations:
1. A minimal mindset
I really want to be a minimalist, be in a minimal environment, and when it comes to having a minimal lifestyle, STEVE JOBS is the only name that comes to my mind.
The ability to discard all the non-essential and focus on what’s important 🌻
Some of the major learnings from Steve’s life I’d like to incorporate:
You can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backward. Believe that the dots will somehow connect in the future because that will make all the difference. So have faith in something, be it destiny, karma, or just yourself.
If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today? If the answer is ‘no’ for too many days in a row, then I know, I need to change something
Don’t be afraid to ask for help! Build connections, help others and ask others for their help. There is a world full of people kind enough to help you
2. The ability to adjust in any environment
The one movie that resonated with me the most about the concept of adjusting to your surrounding, is definitely “ Into The Wild”
It’s one of those masterpieces that challenges the norms of society and pushes you to focus on what’s really important for you. It celebrates the concept of “simple pleasures” in life.
Some of the quotes that inspired me from the movie were as follows
If we admit that human life can be ruled by reason, then all possibility of life is destroyed
Deliberate living: Conscious attention to the basics of life, and a constant attention to your immediate environment and its concerns — A job, a task, a book; anything requiring efficient concentration (Circumstance has no value. It is how one relates to a situation that has value. All true meaning resides in the personal relationship to a phenomenon, what it means to you
3. The ability to develop an environment that can adjust to my mood
Another masterpiece from Ghibli studios, apart from the obvious visual treat that the movie was, I got really hooked on the idea of Howl’s Castle, Apparently which will have a room for any person who walks in! To be able to change itself as per the resident’s need and apart from that, it’s mobile!
That’s definitely the kind of a place I wanna live in
To be in an environment whose outward appearance may be simple, but what lies within is the real treasure.
Step 3. Ideation And Implementation
After taking inspiration and coming up with a rough vision idea, the real challenge is to implement it. But, hey, that’s fine I guess, since it’s a continuous process, and as long as you have a clear idea about your destination, the journey becomes easier. Try to find the skills and ways you need to move forward. And keep on reiterating your vision.
If your vision doesn’t change with the passage of time, it will further strengthen your way of living. And if it does change, well, you can always find a new inspiration to look from. And it will indicate that you are evolving further.
If you like the concept don’t forget to hit the clap button :)
Image source: Neofigurati