The Anti-Vision

The trusty Venn diagram. 

We all remember this one from school. Two circles that overlap in the middle. Simple.

I really only remember using it for menial (and not entirely helpful) things such as the similarities and differences between plants and animals.

But recently, as I was examining the concepts of an anti-vision and an ideal vision, this long-forgotten staple of my childhood popped into my head. 

It was exactly what I was looking for. 

I won’t beat around the bush, let's break it down.

The goal of a Venn diagram is to take information from one circle and compare it with the information from the other circle to see where you find similarities and differences. Ultimately, to determine what is important within the overlap.

I realize that what I will describe is an alternative use of the diagram, but it is really just to demonstrate how two opposing forces can help to provide clarity and success through action.

While the crossing point of the diagram is what we will eventually focus on, we must develop the two broader circles first to determine what will create the overlap.

On the left: the anti-vision (as I prefaced last week) is the opposite of the life you desire. 

This vision contains everything you have or have not experienced that you do not want your future to contain. The goal here is to formulate your living hell.

If this sounds strange, hear me out.

By creating this emotionally repulsive vision, you are developing a powerful force. 

This force is a positive use of the dark side (not to get too “Star Wars” on you). 

As you imagine life moving forward, and develop and elaborate on the most miserable things that you can picture, a deep-seated fear will begin to creep in. 

No one wants to live a life of misery, but by defining it, you more clearly determine what that actually means for you and are better prepared to avoid it. 

You can’t solve a problem without defining what it is.

The dark side is strong. And those who are able to tap into it and utilize it for their benefit will find great success in doing so. 

This force is a push-away. A “repelling” force. 

On the right side of the diagram is the complete opposite: The light, the positive, the ideal.

The ideal vision is exactly what it sounds like. It is the perfect imagined future that you create in your mind. It contains everything that you strive for and paints a picture of true success and happiness. 

This idealized future is, again, emotionally charged, creating an alternative, but equally as powerful, force.

By formulating this type of vision, you are setting your sights and subconscious on something to strive for. Something to move towards. A life of true success and fulfillment.

The force here is a pull toward. An “attracting” force. 

Sometimes things are easier to see clearly when you define what they aren't. That is the beauty of the anti-vision. 

If you do not know exactly what you want in life, decide exactly what you don’t!

The anti-vision doesn’t always need to be disastrous, but simply things that you do not want in your life. For me, this started as; working in a cubicle, being overweight, and being broke.

I defined what I didn’t want and then found ways to avoid them, almost accidentally creating my ideal vision in the process.

The two “visions” go hand-in-hand and, if treated as such, become a powerful tool for creating the life you want. 

They work together to form guidelines or lenses to view every action you take. 

Usually when people talk about creating goals or visions, they only focus on the positive outcomes, but this leaves room for a lot of negotiation. However, when you develop the negative vision, you close that conversation and add a new dynamic to the forces at play.

Everything that you do; every action, decision, and choice, then goes one of two ways:

Towards the ideal vision (and away from the anti-vision) 

OR

Towards the anti-vision (and away from the ideal vision)

When it is put that simply, if you make a choice to do something that goes against the ideal vision, you are effectively making a choice to move closer to your worst nightmare. 

This makes decisions a whole lot easier. 

In short, the dynamic of the two forces pushes you the right way. 

You are repelled away from the anti and attracted towards the ideal.

A push and a pull in the same direction. 

This brings us to the center. 

In the middle of the two opposing forces, you sit.

You, in the present moment, with the potential to create anything you desire based on your choices and actions.

In every moment, you have a choice of which way you want to move, which vision you want to pursue. 

Choose wisely.

May the force be with you.

Follow Miller Hollstein