TERRI: I had gotten so used to only seeing what was right in
front of me, I lost all sight of anything in the distance. The
reason I'm telling you that is maybe that's your diagnosis
today. You can't see beyond what's directly
in front of you. You're nearsighted.
TERRI: Hey, I'm Terri Savelle Foy, your
cheerleader of dreams. Hey, I have something I want to share
with you that's absolutely free. It's a vision board checklist
for you to download. I'll share you the details at the very end,
but first I want to talk about how to visualize your dream
life. You know, people have teased me through the years.
People who don't know me and they watch the podcast or
something, they'll say, "You sound like your four years old."
Well, one time I was being picked up for a meeting in
Austin, Texas, and this lady said to me, "I know why you
sound like a kid." I said, "Please, tell me." She said,
"Because most of us stopped dreaming when we were kids." She
said, "You speak to the child in us to get your dreams back." I
said, "I like that. I'll take it." My point is most of us have
dreams as kids, but as we grow up, we're told stop dreaming, be
realistic, stop living in a fantasy, get a real job. Well, I
want you to realize that your ability to visualize is a gift
that God has given you to set the course for where he wants
you to go. You know, Arnold Schwarzenegger said you need a
very clear vision of where you want to go in life. He said,
"You can have the best ship in the world, but if the captain
doesn't know where to go, that ship will just drift around the
world and not end up anywhere." He says that's exactly the way
it is in real life. If you don't have a goal or a vision, you
just drift around and you're not going to be happy because you
don't know what you're doing. Jack Canfield said the one
sentence that fills the thoughts of people as they prepare to
pass on, like on their deathbed, the sentence that just fills the
lives of so many people is, "If only." If only I'd done the
things I really wanted to do, my life would be so different.
Think about that. If only I had invested the money, 10% of my
income every month. If only I had taken better care of my
health. If only I had written that book that was in my heart
or if only I'd taken a chance and started my own business.
See, the someday syndrome is a fatal trap. Someday, I'll do all
the things I wanted to do. I usually someday is not a day of
the week. It doesn't go Someday, Monday, Tuesday. Well, I want
you to give yourself permission to succeed. You know, you could
be the greatest enemy to your success by not using your
imagination and visualizing your true dreams. Make a decision to
do what God has put in your heart to do. Stop comparing
yourself to what anyone in your family has or hasn't done. This
is your life. What is God expecting of you? What do you
need to accomplish? See, in order to do this, you need to do
what every successful person does. They visualize their dream
life. See, you'll never leave where you are until you see
where you'd rather be. Where do you see it? In your imagination.
See, you have to see where you're headed in the future
before you start taking steps towards your present. Bo Bennett
said visualization is daydreaming with a purpose.
Well, just to give you a quick story real quick, years ago, my
husband and I both had LASIK eye surgery in June of 2000. It was
the best money we've ever spent, but the day we had surgery, we
were literally like the blind leading the blind. Without
contacts, both of us were legally blind. Well, it was in
high school that I discovered just how bad my eyesight had
become. I couldn't read the chalkboard in class unless I sat
right up front. I could barely see the scoreboard at the
football games, and I was a cheerleader, so I'm like doing
back flips for the wrong team. I was hiding this from everybody.
I didn't want my parents to know how bad my eyes were because I
just did not want to wear glasses. Now, keep in mind,
glasses were not cool in 1985. I will never forget one
embarrassing day when I had to take the eye exam during my
drivers ed class. Hundreds of new drivers were being tested in
the school cafeteria. I'm standing in the line just
panic-stricken, because I knew I was going to fail. Well, all of
a sudden, I had this brilliant idea to help me pass. I'm
standing there, and I memorized every single letter that the
girl in front of me said as she sighted what she saw in this
little machine. She was like, "L, M, Z, P, T, W." Now, let's
just pretend because it's been like 30 years. I'm just
pretending that those are the letters. All of a sudden, the
teacher said, "Next." I looked in the little machine, couldn't
see a thing, but I confidently said, "L, M, Z, P, T, W." I
stood up straight with this big smile of assurance. The
teacher's eyebrows kind of went together. She turned her head to
the side in complete confusion like, "Honey, are you okay?" I
said, "Yes, ma'am." She said, "Could you do that again?"
I looked in the little machine. I just went, "L, M, Z, P, T, W."
I said it again with great enthusiasm. She said,
"Sweetheart, I think you need your eyes professionally
checked." She said, "You did not get one of them right. What are
you looking at?" Well, what I didn't realize is she switched
the screen between each person, giving us a completely different
list of letters to read. She must have thought that I was
nuts, like I needed more than just my eyes professionally
checked, like, "You're crazy." Of course I failed the test. I
had to go with my mom to see an optometrist. I will never forget
sitting in the chair squinting even just to see the first
gigantic letter. I was like, "E?" with this big question
mark. The doctor instantly gave me the diagnosis. He said, "I
know what your problem is." He said, "You're nearsighted." I
said, "No, I can't see far stuff. I can't even see you." He
said, "I know. You're nearsighted." Well, then he
began to explain that being nearsighted means you can only
see what's near you. He gave me some temporary contacts to wear
home. I will never forget my mom's driving me home and I was
mesmerized just looking out the window. It was like this whole
new world opened up to me. Don't laugh, but I had no idea that
you were supposed to actually see the leaves on the trees. I
had gotten so used to just seeing this big green blur. I
thought that was normal. I couldn't believe that you could
actually read S-T-O-P on the stop sign. I just saw this big
red octagon on the side of the road. I had gotten so used to
only seeing what was right in front of me, I lost all sight of
anything in the distance. The reason I'm telling you that is
maybe that's your diagnosis today. You can't beyond what's
directly in front of you. You're nearsighted, and you can't even
see a glimpse of what's in your future. In fact, do you know you
can tell if someone's nearsighted by what they talk
about? See, if all you talk about is how bad things are and
they'll never change, you're nearsighted. If all you talk
about is the good old days and you have nothing to look forward
to, you're nearsighted. If all you talk about is other people
and what they're doing with their lives while yours is just
passing by, you're nearsighted. See, if you want to go the next
level, you have to see the next level. You have to become
farsighted. You have to take your eyes off of what's directly
in front of you and start getting a vision of where you
want to go in the future. I love what actress Suzanne Somers
said. She said, "I have used visualization as a toll for
success," for her career, "for years." She said, "I see myself
doing what it is I want to do, and I do not let go of this
picture until it manifests." Well, let's pretend that you can
have anything you want. It's five years from today. Go ahead
and add up your age, visualize what you want, and start writing
it down. Are you married? Do you have a baby? Are your kids in
college? Are you working? If so, where? What do you look like? Do
you have an image of what you want to look like physically?
See yourself from head to toe. Are you fit, in shape, and
feeling alive? What are you driving? What color is it? What
is your financial condition like? Are you saving money? How
much have you saved five years from now? What is the exact
number? Are you satisfied with that? Where do you live? Is it
the same house you're in right now? Have you moved? Are you
living in a different city or state or even country? Where is
it? Is it on the lake? Is it a large piece of property? Is it a
condo in the city? You know, where have you been? Have you
traveled? Think about things like: What have you
accomplished? Did you finish that article and submit it for a
local newspaper or magazine? Did you finish the accounting class
at the local college? Did you start your cooking or catering
business? Did you go to the fashion institute or learn how
to create your own website? Can you speak a foreign language
like French or Spanish? You know, did you start a side job
that's bringing in an extra 10,000 a year? Are you
ministering? Are you teaching a class? Did you write your first
book? Did you go on your first mission trip? Is your debt paid
off? The reason I'm asking you so many questions, those are
questions you need to ask yourself. What does your ideal
life look like five years from right now? I'm telling you, five
years from now, you could be living a completely different
lifestyle, the life of your dreams, and it all begins by
visualizing what you truly want. No matter how big or how small
the dream may seem, it's a dream. It's a goal. It's a
vision. It's needed to keep you alive and living your life to
the fullest. Close your eyes and visualize your dream life. I
love Proverbs 23:7. It says, "As a man thinks in his heart, so
shall he become." I hope you've enjoyed this and, remember, I'm
cheering you on to live your dreams.
TERRI: Now, our YouTube subscriber of the
week is, let's see if I can pronounce it, it's
an easy one, Erica Martinez. This is what Erica said, "Since
I started watching you, Terri, I have become more tidy and
organized and accomplished several goals like getting my
associate's degree." She said, "The vision board keeps me on
track. Thank you for the videos." I love that. I'm such a
believer in vision boards. Erica, I'm so proud of you, and
I'm cheering you on. You know, that's the thing. I want to
share with you how to make your own vision board because I'm
telling you from experience and from the testimonies of
thousands, you are going to discover a way to stay motivated
to go after your dreams in a fun, compelling way. That's with
vision boards. I have proof that they work. You know, more than
anything, I want you to get a compelling vision and stay
motivated throughout the year to go after it. All you got to do
to get this free download is click the link in the
description, go to Terri.com/checklist to get my
vision board checklist that will help you create your own vision
board in a fun, easy way. For more consistent motivation,
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this your best year yet. Don't forget, I'm
cheering you on to live your dreams.