“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”
Goethe
Welcome to Part Four of The Vision Quest Program.
This is the final stage of the program so the aim is to see where you are in the Journey and then to establish boundaries and principles for maintaining forward momentum.
In your daily practice you should now be:-
- Setting intention in the morning
- Reviewing your day and asking – What did I do right? at night
- Capturing your internal stories and re-writing the ones that aren’t supportive
- Asking – What am I grateful for?
- Walking Between the Worlds
- Releasing and Surrendering trusting all is perfect right now
Complete ‘The Journey’ Exercise and write your responses to the exercise in your Journal.
Create your ‘Circle of Honour’ and write your responses in your Journal.
Complete the Walking Between the Worlds Exercise and put your responses into your Personal Development Plan.
Congratulations you have finished Week 4 of your Vision Quest. You can now review your Personal Development Plan.
May your Journey forwards be a good one.
“Be brave, try hard, have fun”
Poh Ling Yeow
In order to know where we are going we need to know where we have been and where we are know. Focussing too much on the Past or the Future may cause you to forget where you are right now. Acknowledging your place on the journey is important because in every moment we have the opportunity to create ourselves as the person we wish to be.
The ideal place to do this exercise is on the beach where you can draw 3 huge circles but if that is not possible use three big sheets of paper and draw a circle in each one that is big enough to stand in. Label the first one ‘Past’ the next ‘Present’ and the third ‘Future’.
Now stand or sit in the Past circle. Consciously take yourself back in time.
• How does it feel to be here?
• What stories do I tell myself here?
• Who am I?
• What do I believe I deserve from life?
Next move to the Present circle.
• How does it feel to be here?
• What ‘is’ now? What do I have that I am grateful for?
• Standing here – what do you want to say to PastMe?
Next move to the Future circle.
• Who am I here?
• How does it feel to be here?
• Standing here – what do you want to say to PresentMe?
Acknowledging where you are on the Journey – what is the most important thing you need to DO now to honour your place on the Journey of life?
How often do you let things slide because you don’t want to upset people or it’s easier not to make a fuss?
Do you lie in bed later on wishing you had stood up for yourself?
You will fail to honour others if you don’t honour yourself first because the most precious gift you can give another is truth.
To create a circle of honour go to the beach, the park or the bush – or if you can’t do that simply get a large bit of paper.
Take a few moments to centre yourself by doing some breathing exercises and bringing yourself into the present moment. Set your intention to create your Circle of Honour – your sacred space in the world.
Now slowly and deliberately draw a circle big enough to easily sit in.
When you have finished step into the circle and sit in the middle. Say out loud ‘This is my circle of honour’ and become aware of the size of the circle and the area enclosed by the circle. Take a few moments to centre yourself with your breath.
When you are ready – ask yourself – ‘What type of behaviour is outside my circle?’
This may include: - other people yelling at you, criticising you, complaining to you, abusing you in any way, making sexist or racist remarks, trying to coerce you into doing things you don’t want to do etc.
Take a smaller piece of paper and draw a circle on it. Write all of these things down outside the circle.
Now ask yourself ‘What type of behaviour is inside my circle?’
This may include:- other people listen to my point of view, give me compliments and praise for the work I do, are considerate of my feelings etc.
Write all of these down inside the circle around its edge.
Now look over both of the lists and consider if this is the way you want others to behave towards you:–
‘Who do you need to be for this to happen?’
This may include:- I stand up for myself and speak my truth gently and compassionately at all times. I take the time to praise other people for the good things they do. I resist the urge to criticise others etc
Now draw a smaller circle inside the large circle and write these things down inside the new small circle.
Look at your final result. Feel what it is like to sit within your Circle of Honour.
Set your intention to take this into the World.
“Excellence then, is not an act but a habit”
Aristotle
Now you are at the end of the Vision Quest Program the question is how to maintain your momentum?
By now you should have a good daily practice established so consider the following:-
- What activities do I need to do every day to maintain momentum?
This could include:- meditation, journaling, gratitude, intention setting, breathing exercises, yoga, running etc.
In considering your Vision you will also see that the 5 elements – Physical, Mental, Emotional, Material and Spiritual are linked together like the parts of an apple. Each part must be maintained and worked on to allow the whole to thrive.
So, what activities do you need to DO on a weekly basis to keep you on track?
This could include: - going to the gym three times a week, eating healthily, taking time to be in nature, reading, seeing friends to socialise etc.
Finally, remember that we all lose our selves from time to time - we all get 'off the track' - so what's the enduring message you would like to write for yourself to read at those times?
Take your answers to these two questions and put them in your personal development plan.