Your life a year from now

Imagine if you had a vision of what your life could be in twelve short months. How might that inspire you daily? How might it shape your decisions?

If you take even five or ten minutes for this exercise, I can almost guarantee you'll have an incredible return on your investment – maybe even life-changing.

Open your phone, create a list called "My life a year from now," and add the current date. What would you like to be different, better or the same? Is there something fun you've been putting off? Something annoying you'd like to be rid of?

Simple, silly or profound, it's all fair game. In fact, the more candid you are, the better.

I made a list like this four years ago, while propped up in my bed on Day 9 in ICU. Not that I was a ball of energy. But just for those few moments, I had enough clarity (and privacy) to reach for my phone and type out my list.

Like rungs on a ladder, the nine items I came up with helped me climb out of the dark hole of despair. Suddenly there was more energy available to do the brutal work of recovery.

Recovery still got worse before it got better, because that's the nature of cancer, chemo and all the rest. But it did get better. Having a vision made the difference. My guess is it can do even more for you.

On a personal note: Only one of my nine items did not come to pass. I'm still living in my apartment, rather than a house. And I am thrilled about that.