Too many of us go day to day and simply let life “happen to us.”  The reality is we all have the ability to create our lives.  If you want a better relationship, career, physical health/body, etc, you must take the time to visualize exactly what you want and “Create a vision” for it.  Creating a vision is the first step before taking action towards your endeavors.  Think of it as designing the “blue print” for your life.

Everything starts with imagination…with vision.  The following is an excerpt from “100 Ways to Motivate Yourself” by Steve Chandler.  This story is phenomenal and illustrates how powerful and effective this process truly is:

Arnold Schwarzenegger was not well-known at all in 1976 when he and I had lunch together at the Doubletree Inn in Tucson, Arizona.  Not one person in the restaurant recognized him.

He was in town publicizing the movie “Stay Hungry” a box office disappointment he had just made with Jeff Bridges and Sally Fields.  I was a sports columnist for the Tuscon Citizen at the time, and my assignment was to spend a full day, one-on-one, with Arnold and write a feature story about him for our newspaper’s Sunday magazine.

I, too, had no idea who he was, or who he was going to become.  I agreed to spend the day with him because I had to…it was an assignment.  It was one I’d never forget.

Perhaps the most memorable part of my day with Arnold occurred when we took an hour for lunch.  I had my reporter’s notebook out and was asking questions for the story while we ate.  At one point I casually asked him, “Now that you have retired from bodybuilding, what are you going to do next?”

And with a voice as calm as if he were telling me about some mundane travel plans, he said, “I’m going to be the number-one box-office star in all of Hollywood.”

I tried not to show my shock and amusement at his plan.  After all, his first attempt at movies didn’t promise much.  And his Austrian accent and awkward monstrous build didn’t suggest instant acceptance by movie audiences.  I finally managed to match his calm demeanor, and asked him just how he planned to become Hollywood’s top star.

Mind you, this was not the slim, aerobic Arnold we know today.  He was pumped and huge.  And for my own physical sense of safety, I tried to appear to find his goal reasonable.

“It’s the same process I used in bodybuilding,” he explained.  “What you do is create a vision of who you want to be, and then live into that picture, as if it were already true.”

It sounded ridiculously simple.  But I wrote it down.  And I never forgot it.

And of course we all know that Arnold was in fact one of the biggest stars in Hollywood throughout the 80’s and well into the 90’s.

The point is this.  Life is short and the time to take action is now!  You have the gift of imagination and creativity.  So I ask you… Who do you want to be?  What do you want your life to look like?  What is your perfect day?  What is your definition of fitness…your ideal body?  Where do you want to live?  Who do you want as friends?  What is your purpose?  What gets you up in the morning ready to embrace the day…embrace life?  What have you always wanted to do?  Only YOU can change the course, answer the questions, and control your own destiny.

I encourage you to start asking more and expecting more out of yourself.  Start making you dreams a reality and go for it!  Not someday…”Someday is the road that leads to nowhere…”

This is your one and only shot.  Day to day we are moving in one or two direction…a life of fulfillment or a life a regret.  The choice I leave to you…