PERSONAL LEADERSHIP EXECISE: THE IDEAL DAY
“A Guided Journey into the Future You Truly Want”
David Thomson, Coast Consulting Group 2003
Application
The power of imagination has been catalogued and studied for millennia. A powerful mental
picture of the future you are trying to create – in all areas of your life – drives one’s ability to
lead. It is based on our belief that you can’t lead anyone or anything until you first lead
yourself. Take for example Dee Hock’s (of VISA fame) oft-quoted thoughts on this question:
“If you look to lead, invest at least 40% of your time managing
yourself - your ethics, character, principles, purpose, motivation and
conduct. Invest at least 30% managing those with authority over you
and 15% managing your peers. Use the remainder to induce those you
"work for" to understand and practice this theory. I use the term
"work for" advisedly, for if you don't understand that you should be
working for your mislabeled "subordinates", you haven't understood
anything. Lead yourself, lead your supervisors, lead your peers and
free your people to do the same. All else is trivia."
We often use this exercise in our leadership programs as a way of helping participants get
grounded in what is important to them – a critical understanding of a potent leader.
Set-up Instructions
What is this for? A personal visioning exercise. It takes about 30 – 90 minutes depending how
much writing, etc. you do afterwards. You can add as much debrief as you want, in pairs, small
group or large group.
Do some personal visioning set up – what it is, what value it has, how people use it, examples,
etc. Suggest people spend more time imagining and planning their vacations than they do their
lives. Mention that with the tremendous pace of most people’s lives that there is precious little
time for meaningful reflection and perspective.
To the group: “Have a pen and paper ready. Get relaxed, you may want to lie on the floor or get
comfortable in your chair or wherever, push back from the table. I would like you to close your
eyes. Just let your self get into the exercise – try not to be too self conscious. And it will help
you if you really watch the tendency you may feel to start editing your thoughts by telling
yourself something isn’t realistic or you can’t have it or it isn’t possible. When you’re done you
won’t have a complete picture of what you could be in your future but you’ll have a start.”
At the end of the imagery, when people have opened their eyes again: “Without talking to
anyone else, I would like you to take a few minutes while the pictures are clear and capture as
much as you can on paper – not every details, but as many of the big pieces as you can.” (If you
have a form for people to use refer them to it now. You can provide a worksheet that has a
place for people to capture their thoughts under categories like: home, relationships, work,
environment, finances, health, leisure, accomplishments)
The Guided Imagery
“Close your eyes ….. take a deep breath and relax ……Take another deep breath and as you
exhale let yourself relax even more...
Just let your breath go in and go out slowly …… and with each breath let yourself
relax a little more let yourself become more deeply relaxed …. Let go of any thoughts you are
having about what is going on in your life right now ….. you feel very calm, very
relaxed.. (pause )
As you begin to relax I'd like you to imagine you are sitting in a meadow on a warm sunny
afternoon in summer... The meadow is very safe and you feet very comfortable there... it is
warm... and quiet and peaceful... and you feel very, very relaxed
As you are relaxing in the meadow you can see a field of green grass, dotted with wildflowers
in front of you…. Further down, there is a lake or large pond or slow moving river, perhaps
even the ocean… Whatever it is, the water is very calm, very deep.
You can feel the calmness of the water, you can feel its deepness anchoring you, settling you.,
relaxing you even more... The stillness of the water is very peaceful.
Overhead, the sun is shining warmly... You can feel its warming rays on your head warming
you... You can feel the sun's rays on your body warming you relaxing you... You feel very
calm, very relaxed.
And as you relax, you can feet the sun's rays energizing you opening you and you feel both
relaxed and open to whatever might happen to whatever you might imagine...
And as you relax in the meadow, I'd like you to begin to imagine an ideal day 5 or 10
years from now... an ideal day in your life, 5 or 10 years in the future.
Remember, this is your ideal day, so you can imagine anything you want …. Don't worry about
whether it is possible or not ……. Imagine whatever you want even if it doesn't seem possible
or probable ……
I'd like you to start by imagining where you are living on this ideal day. See yourself living
wherever you would most like to live, in whatever area of the state/province or country... or
even the world you'd really most like to live in... (8 sec.)
Imagine what it looks like where you live; the environment in which you live.. the air … the
mountains … the rivers ,… and streams …. the forests... the cities or towns (8 sec.)
And imagine living in the kind and quality of environment you would most like to live in and
bring up your kids and their kids in
imagine it the way you really want it to be (8 sec.)
And now imagine where your house or dwelling is located in the area ….. imagine what kind of
neighborhood or area it is located in …… imagine what it looks like... (8 sec.)... What shape is
it?... What color? ... What is it made of?
Now, imagine what it looks like inside... what the layout is …. what kind of rooms are there?...
how many?….. how are they furnished? (8 sec.)
Notice where you eat where you sleep … where you relax …. where you work, perhaps (8 sec.)
Do you have a yard? …or a deck? …or a balcony?... Do you have a view? ….What can you
see?...(8 sec.)
And now notice who you are living with …. are you married? …Living with someone? ..alone?
….with friends?.. do you have children?
And now imagine your relationships imagine whoever you live with along with your family
and friends... and imagine having ideal relationships with all the people you are close to ……
imagine ideal communication and understanding …..ideal cooperation ….. ideal interactions
between you and those you are close to …. and now imagine that people really love you... and
you really love other people (8 sec.)
And now imagine what you do for work imagine being able to do whatever
you most would like to do in whatever setting you would like to do it don't
worry about credentials or degrees or anything else
imagine you have all the
skills and experience to do whatever work you truly want to do ... (8 sec.)
And imagine the ideal setting to do this work where you would like to do it ….. and imagine
being very good at this work... excellent at it ….. imagine that you enjoy it deeply... and that
other people respect you for your ability and results (8 sec.)
And now shift your focus to the state of your finances …… imagine having an ideal financial
situation …….. for some that might mean having a lot of money …..for others that might mean
not having much money and not needing much ……imagine whatever is ideal for you...(8
sec.)
And now imagine any accomplishments or achievements you are proud of... imagine any things
you have always wanted to do and imagine you have done them …..built a house, had children,
started a business, deepened a relationship, written a book, climbed a mountain, driven a race
car... whatever is appropriate for you (8 sec.)
And now ……. imagine the state of your own health and fitness... imagine being
ideally healthy... physically …… mentally ……. emotionally ….. and imagine being
healthy in spirit, whatever that means to you...(8 sec.)
And now... imagine what you do during your leisure time... first imagine what you do for fun,
play and relaxation …….(8 sec.) and now imagine what you do to make yourself a better
person …… what you do for learning and growth ... (8 sec.)
And now imagine the role you play in your community, however you define that ……. What
impact you have, what you are making a difference in ……… perhaps it is where you are
volunteering your time, talents or money……
And now imagine anything else you would like to have in your life on this day... anything at all
just imagine you have it imagine it is part of your ideal day ... (8 sec.)
And now... take a moment to recall your ideal day and note whether the way
you want to live will add to or subtract from the kind of environment you
most want... (8 sec.)
Take a look at your house …..the things you own ….. the kind of relationships you
have …. the kind of work you do …… the kind of leisure and recreation activities you do... Do
you want to make any adjustments to your ideal day? (8 sec.)
And now... take another deep breath... and let yourself relax l…et yourself notice you are back
in the meadow looking across the field of grass at the deep, still water remembering your vision
of an ideal day... find that it is easy to remember it and know that you will be able to remember
it in great detail whenever you want to……. indeed, be aware that in a few minutes you will be
able to remember it clearly and write it down easily...
And now... notice that you are beginning to wake up beginning to come alert, as though you
were waking up from a daydream begin to actually wiggle your toes flex your fingers and
shrug your shoulders as you become more awake .. notice that you are becoming aware of the
sound of my voice... and now.. let yourself fully wake up and when you are ready open your
eyes and come back to full, alert consciousness and into the room... Hi.”
Follow-up
Have individuals, using a handout worksheet, spend 30 minutes by themselves capturing the
key elements of their ‘vision’; then have them discuss their vision in pairs or small groups.
Depending on the specific goals and structure of the workshop you can customize the
application to your specific goals.