Visioning - Planning for a Future

I am involved in many, MANY organizations and committees and boards that are concerned with planning for the future. We've been slinging around the term "Visioning" lately. I know what "Visioning" means, but it was worth a bit of time sitting down and doing a bit of exploration to see what others vision and how they do it.

 Start with a question. Something along the lines of "Where do you see yourself/music therapy/this organization in __ years?" I've found that, lately, I need to start with "Why do you want/need to be in this organization?" And, "What do you want to be doing?"

 After you decide what you want to do, it's time to start thinking about the future. "What will I be doing in this role __ years from now?" "What do I want to be doing with myself __ years from now?"

 I am going to get some visioning started today. I have to think about things in several places, but I have to also vision for myself. What do I want to do in my future? There are some things I know I want for myself in the future. I want to continue to blog, work within AMTA, be involved with OCMT, and run webinars. I want to continue to be an internship director. I want to spend time contributing to the profession of music therapy in ways that fit my personality, talents, and interests. I also want to spend time working with clients that challenge me within an environment that is supportive of both music therapy as a profession and of me, as the music therapist. 

 It is important to get what you need out of your profession. If you are unhappy, it is your right and responsibility to find your bliss. Cliche comment, I know, but it is true. Life is too short to be completely unhappy, so find ways to be happy.

 I am going to spend some time in an active visioning process today. I am sure that the process will seep into all of my music therapy and life roles - my roles often overlap, so it will be somewhat natural to have each part of my life on the same vision board. I hope that the process will help me focus on what I want out of my life.

So, here I go. I'll post my board when I get it finished...





Some resources to help you get started on your own vision path:
http://www.zingtrain.com/content/why-and-how-visioning-works
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/visions.html
http://www.msucommunitydevelopment.org/pubs/paul/Lachapelle,%20Anderson%20and%20Wedum%202011%20Strategic%20Visioning
%20for%20CD%20MT201107HR.pdf
http://www.naccho.org/topics/infrastructure/mapp/framework/phase2.cfm


UPDATE: Here is the vision board that I have started for myself. I already know which areas I am ready to start developing and which ones I can coast in at the moment...

 
Vision Board - 2015

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