Page 91 - Hard Goals

82 HARD Goals

lots of buzz in their industry. Brent’s perfect mental picture is
about to be a reality for his clients (which, for obvious reasons,
now include my wife and me).
Molecular biologist John Medina tells us that right now
our color vision and sense of smell are fi ghting for “evolution-
ary control” (to be the fi rst sense involved when something in
8
the outside world happens). Furthermore, our vision is win-
ning; “about 60% of our smell-related genes have been perma-
nently damaged in this neural arbitrage, and they are marching
towards obsolescence at a rate fourfold faster than any other
species sampled.” Why? Because the visual and olfactory cor-
texes take up a lot of space, and something has to give.
If even drawing a stick causes you to break into a cold sweat,
you might want to consider constructing what’s often known as
a vision wall (in corporate settings) or vision board (for indi-
viduals). A vision wall or board is basically a way of creating a
picture for people who are terrifi ed of drawing (or who have a
hyper-specifi c goal like getting on “Oprah”). Instead of whip-
ping out the markers, you take a wall or piece of paper and start
pasting pictures, visuals, sticky notes, or anything else that will
help you visualize your goal. If you’ve ever fl ipped through a
magazine and felt yourself drawn to a color, a texture, or a pic-
ture of something you’ve never before seen, you’ve experienced
the pull of the subconscious. Your vision board doesn’t have to
make clear sense to anyone but you. In other words, there’s no
real wrong or right. It’s your goal, and you’re allowed to see it
however you like.
So if you’ve got an artistic bent, go ahead and start to sketch
or paint; otherwise, break out the old magazines and get scis-
sor and glue crazy. Don’t think too much about what you are
trying to create, go more with your gut than your head. You