Be A Visionary, Not a Problem Solver

We’re upon a time of the year where nearly everyone is looking at their life and deciding what good choices they have made and what needs to change. In a whirlwind of resolutions, regrets, hopefully thinking, and half-hearted willingness to step outside our comfort zones it’s not surprising to me to find that a new year doesn’t inherently mean a new (habitually better) you. I find myself asking why that is. How can we have a firm belief about what needs to change in our life so we feel better; yet, when March or May rolls around not a lot has changed.

My two cents is this: we spend too much time problem solving and not enough time being the visionaries of our life.

What if we spent less time picking apart our bad habits, subscribing to new routines we won’t keep, and ridiculing for not “being the best version of ourselves”? Have you even thought about what the best version of yourself looks like? Feels like? Acts like? Certainly the best version of your isn’t grumbling on a Wednesday afternoon about how your promised yourself you wouldn’t eat pizza for lunch…. again.

If we spend all of our time, effort, and energy on what the problems are in our life we will soon become consumed with what we focus on…. OUR PROBLEMS! If instead we get a clear vision of what we want our life to look like throughout the next year, it becomes easier to make decisions that will guide us through to fulfill our vision!

This concept became more clear to me through my work in Urban Planning and Design. We cannot always focus of the problems of traffic, pollution, and inequality. We have to envision the world in which we want to live (vibrant, thriving, prosperous, GREEN!!!!) and make choices that align with manifesting this vision.

If you think I’ve lost my marbles yet you’re begrudgingly intrigued by this concept, I highly recommend reading Jen Sincero’s You are A Badass.