A life vision is a road map or a set of guiding principles that, if followed, will help you transform your passions and dreams into reality. The process of creating a life vision not only allows you to become clear on what you truly want, but also helps those things take shape and find their way into existence. It’s the key to putting all of your learning into action, and it nudges you to move from a place of understanding to one of practice.

The first step in creating my life vision was to understand what I truly wanted. By working with my dad, who is a life coach, I realized that my desires lay beneath the surface. I’ve found that many people tend to focus solely on their superficial aspirations (for example, the new car, the important job title, the perfect marriage) and confuse these with their true desires (happiness, fulfillment, love, and so on). So when they do get the things they thought they wanted, they don’t experience the results or feelings they were looking for.

Personally, I thought that all I desired was a business that would help empower youth, but I realized that what I really wanted was to feel free, fulfilled, helpful, authentic, empowered, and understood. That didn’t mean I wasn’t supposed to start this organization, it just meant that whatever I was going to do next had to be perfectly aligned with these core feelings. I was aware at the time that my true passion and purpose was sharing with youth the practices, principles, and strategies that had helped me create a happier and healthier life. But how I was actually going to accomplish this remained a mystery. I decided to put my focus on allowing my emotions to guide me into action, and then pledged that if I didn’t feel the way I ultimately wanted to, I’d change what I was doing or how I was doing it.

As I moved forward with the process of creating my life vision, I noticed that I had a tendency of trying to figure everything out before it actually happened. This was rooted in my fear of the unknown. Because of this apprehension, I tried to control as much as I possibly could and refused to trust anyone else to do what needed to be done. One of the reasons why my previous venture had fallen apart was because I was unable to let go of this need to dominate the project. I’d fallen into the habit of focusing on all the goals I wanted to accomplish based on a very rigid time line rather than allowing my journey to unfold organically. I realized that the key facet of the life-vision process I wasn’t yet practicing was trust. I didn’t yet believe that the Universe would guide me to exactly where I needed to be when I needed to be there. As soon as I learned this lesson and began to make it a part of my life, things changed almost instantaneously.

Life isn’t about the final destination or the accomplishments and accolades; it’s about the journey and the opportunities for learning—and how we grow as a result. I’m not saying that effort isn’t required, but that effort must be put toward actions rather than outcomes. It’s not about how we’re going to get somewhere, but what we do each step of the way.

So in May 2010, I set out to put these new insights into practice. As I moved forward in building the Youth Wellness Network, I used each experience as a chance to reprogram an old way of operating. Once I was clear on my vision, I decided to share it with whoever was willing to listen. One of my old beliefs had been: When you have a good idea, don’t share it because someone will take it. I decided that this no longer made me feel good or served me in any way. So I swapped it for: The more I share my vision with others, the more these ideas will grow and become a reality. Another new belief I decided to live by was: The size of the active network base with whom I maintain positive relationships directly correlates with my overall well-being. I realized that the more I connected with new, interesting, and inspiring people; shared my ideas with anyone willing to listen; and trusted the Universe to show me the way, the faster everything would unfold. It was remarkable. What started out as a simple idea was growing into a full-blown organization.