Your vision is the DNA for your business!
August 30th, 2009 | 
Author: 
Anna Carroll and her Vision Board Summer 2009
Lots of people we all know have the wish or dream to start a business or professional practice of their own–as they blast away from corporate roles through choice or forced layoff. On that path, it’s easy to focus on the logistics of going into business—LLC or corporation? Advertising? How do I convert that garage into an office, etc. All important, but not an exciting VISION that can catapult you to success.
Your vision is the DNA for your business, and can brand it as unique and draw attention to the way you do what you do! What do people out there need that you can provide? How will service be provided? How do you and your customers and employees interact? A vision helps you identify and describe TO YOURSELF your business’s unique areas of strength and helps you develop and deliver the right mix of products and services, a mix that plays to your strength.
The best way to envision the future is to actually do it visually, through a drawing or collage that shows you the key elements of your inner vision. Some call it “vision boarding”–a process in which people create a poster size collection of words and images to describe what they are attracted to.
Taking some time to tune into your vision is what you really need to do BEFORE getting lost and frightened with the logistics.
– Anna Carroll
GHTime Code(s): 5be9f
Posted in 
Sherry Interviewed about Bridging Futures
Here’s Sherry at Product Camp interviewed by Will Rodenbusch about the history behind the foundation of Bridging Futures. To find out more visit BridgingFutures.com
Preview of Learning Social
The Bridging Futures team is gearing up for a very fun learning social party. Did I say fun? We’ll have learning stations, drawings for prizes, and introduce our amazing collaborators and friends. We planned the layout of the learning/playing stations on this sketch.
Learning stations for the social
We’ll introduce guests to the elements of a successful mastermind group and find out what goals a mastermind group could help you with. We’ll have sample products with the authors. We’ll have a visioning station that introduces our 2-part visioning and vision-mapping techniques.
There will tasty treats and guess who is in charge of the music?
Thursday, August 27, 7 – 9 pm OR
Saturday, August 29, 10 – noon
Welcome to this free social event. A reservation is needed because our lovely, indoor space looking over downtown Austin/the river is limited.
Cole Apartments 300 S.Lamar right next to Zilker Park
A reservation to hold your spot IS necessary.
Email to reserve sherry@sherrylowry.com
512 -527 -0097
Vision adventures get mapped
This session produces road maps to a selected vision.
Your Vision on Hot Wheels was a great success. Participants were able to use the Hot Wheels techniques to evaluate possibilities and priorities, consider steps and directions, and create a map leading toward the realization of their vision. Each map was unique and each vision-bound adventure is on the way. GHTime Code(s): 73781
Hot Wheels and Your Map
Sketch of Bridging Future's Vision Mapping Principle
In the unique Hot Wheels session participants use the open ended possibilities offered by creating a vision board as a starting point.
In contrast to the open-ended vision board collage, Hot Wheels focuses on a specific vision and provides structured group work on how to get there.
Like in the Vision Board workshop, participants walk away with a physical object, in this case a map to the vision. The Hot Wheels workshop has creative, yet practical, activities to help you translate specific aspects of your vision into actionable steps. Zoom Zoom.
Sign up to create your map.
Your Vision on Hot Wheels
Vision boards can shift your vision, reveal new yous, and redirect your future! The period after a Vision Board experience is a time for reflection. It takes time for the revelations of an intense vision board creation to become integrated into your reality. Once you accept specific visions as clearly viable alternatives for your life or your business, the next step is to realize your visions. Recognizing a need for next steps support, Sherry Anna and I developed a next steps workshop for people who have already completed a visioning session, creating a vision board or a vision statement. We wondered what to call the new offering. We wanted a catchy title that captures the idea of potential to really move with the vision once you understand and plan the steps. Finally we settled on the theme of hot wheels to hint that your visions can really take off and take you places more quickly that you’d imagine.
Do you have another suggestion for the name of the Vision Board Workshop follow up?
If you are ready to focus on removing blocks and achieving your visions you are welcome to register for the first Your Vision on Hot Wheels session on Saturday, July 18th 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Austin, TX. For more information call Sherry at (512) 527-0097.
GHTime Code(s): 91f8fCrystal Ball Gazing
In a spirit of fun, Bridging Futures founders recently peered into the crystal ball of business futures and make a couple of predictions.
WORK N SEARCH in the World of Speedy Employment-Layoff Cycles by Anna Carroll
In the first future vision there is a Coming Soon announcement.
Combo Temp Agency, co-working space, training center and employment agency. Beautiful open space work environment for people between jobs. Lounge environment with work-friendly ambient music. In one corner is the Work Shop, where you see a desk or counter and “work leader.” There you pick up a paid work assignment that matches your skills, for an hourly amount that’s not as good as a full-time job but better than sitting home being unemployed. Data entry, customer interviewing, web design, proofreading, financial tracking and many other assignments are available. You can do your paid work around a table with others who may be talking, sit alone with your computer in the coffee area, or take it home. Company contract managers may actually come in part time or co-locate there to get work done flexibly and at a bargain rate. You leave Work N Search with a pay check.
In another corner is the Employment Shop where you can search job postings, get help with resume or prepare for interviews. In the Learning Shop, there are regular classes on commonly used software, technical or management skills in greatest demand.
Most appealing is great coffee, lighting, design, colors, furniture, music and design elements that keep you comfy, happy, and feeling connected. Internet connectivity is of course easy and fast and printing, copying, and faxing readily available. You even have co-workers to tease and gossip with. You may decide to stay here several years!
Tags: ROI for Enjoyment
How much does it cost to live, eat, work, and play in the spaces that bring you the most joy? In evaluating your options, it may be best to compare your personal joy return. Instead of living in a large vintage home you re-modeled, it may be better to love closer-in—nearer to art, architecture, and artistic people. Smaller space, yes, but you can have fun fixing it up within space limits that residents of Paris, NYC, or Tokyo have had to face forever.
Who are the friends you’d most prefer being with? Should you invest more time with them? What about food, fitness, spiritual, hobby or other interests you’d like your life to be more filled with? Health care, nutrition, or alternative medicine? What about traffic, gossip, dogma, ugly landscapes, politics, isolation, and other things you want to get away from? All of these things can be weighted compared, sliced and diced to analyze the best ways of getting more enjoyment.
Richard Florida’s Who’s Your City: How the Creative Economy is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life gets into the geography of where you soak up the most creative energy. And in that decision process, you can add on weightings and ratings for how you most like to spend time, whether for work, play, learning, or creating.
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