[INTRODUCTION]

Hal Elrod: Hello, friends, welcome to the Achieve Your Goals podcast. This is your host, Hal Elrod, and someone wise once said, “Where there is no vision, people perish.” And my question for you is, do you have a vision for your life, a clear vision for your life as a whole and/or the most important areas of your life? And I’m talking about a vision that pulls you toward a compelling future. I find that many of us, myself included, don’t have a clear vision for our lives, and what can often prevent us, what can be the obstacle to that is fear, fear of failure, fear of the unknown, thinking, well, I can’t create a vision for my future because I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t know what’s going to happen with the economy. I’m not really sure what I’m going to want in the future. And so, we have these limitations.

And my guest today is Jennifer Hudye. She’s the visionary behind Vision Driven, a company dedicated to helping leaders and individuals clarify, communicate, and connect to their big vision, their next big vision for their life. She has spoken at events such as Mindvalley, TEDx, Tiger 21, Evercoach, Entrepreneurs’ Organization aka EO around the United States. And her past clients have included influential figures like Tony Robbins, Joe Polish, Dan Sullivan at Strategic Coach, Bulletproof coffee, Brendon Burchard, and many others, myself included.

Jennifer is phenomenal. I’m so excited to bring this to you because. She doesn’t just talk about vision today and sell you on why you need one. She walks you through five very distinct steps to create what she calls your spiritual vision. Not because it’s a vision for just the spiritual aspect of your life, but because it’s rooted in your highest self, rooted in God’s plan for you, if you will. This isn’t necessarily a religious vision, but it’s a spiritual vision where you’re operating from the divine in your life to create your highest potential in every aspect of your life. That’s what she means by a spiritual vision. I probably didn’t say it nearly as succinctly as she will, because this is her area of expertise.

Before we dive into the episode today, which I think you’re going to love, by the way, make sure you grab something to write with. Because as she goes through these five steps, she leads you through five questions and you’re going to want to actually not just listen to the episode and go, “Yeah, that’s a good idea.” You actually want to take the time to write the questions down and then schedule 20 or 30 minutes, which is what I did directly after the episode to journal the answers to her questions, to create your spiritual vision for your life.

Before we dive in, I got to tell you about an addiction that I have, y’all. So, I recently discovered this product called Cured– it’s Cured Nutrition, that’s the company. They’ve been a sponsor of ours in the past for a long time. Even after they stopped sponsoring the podcast, I continued taking their products and they came out with a new product called Flow Gummies to improve your energy and focus. So, it includes four functional ingredients, lion’s mane to improve mental clarity, focus, and memory, ginkgo biloba which enhances cognitive speed and memory and boost blood flow to the brain, green coffee increases alertness, reaction time, and enhances mood. There’s about 50 grams of caffeine, so pretty minimal in these, just enough though to give you a really nice edge. And then I’ll probably mispronounce this, but Huperzia serrata supports neurotransmitter function, memory, and learning. I take this every morning and I say I’m addicted to them. Like, I ran out the other day. I hadn’t set up my autoship yet because it was the first month. I usually don’t do autoship my first month. I just tried them out for a month and I was like, “Oh, my gosh, I’m out.” And then I had to order them.

So, anyway, you can get 20% off at CuredNutrition.com/Hal, my name, H-A-L, and then use the discount code Hal, H-A-L, for 20% off. And if you don’t make the mistake I did, if you just subscribe right up front, you get not only the 20% discount from being a listener to the podcast with the code Hal, you get an additional 20% off by subscribing. So, 20% off plus 20% off, add that up, and I’m telling you, and you can cancel any time. You can adjust your ship day, you can change it for later, you can pause it. So, there’s really no risk in doing it. I would encourage you based on me being addicted to these and being bummed that I forgot to set up my subscription and now I am subscribed. I get them every month and I have for, I think it’s going on four months and I reach out to Cured Nutrition. I go, “Hey, you guys want to sponsor the show again? I’m a huge fan of not only your Flow Gummies, but other stuff I’ll talk about next week.” But their sleep products are my favorite as well.

All right, I’m excited. Enjoy the rest of the episode. Head over to CuredNutrition.com/Hal and grab a pen and paper or your computer. Let’s create your spiritual vision for your life. Here we go.

[INTERVIEW]

Hal Elrod: All right, Jennifer, so I want to start here. You just shared an intention with me before we got started, and I thought, well, wait a minute. I don’t want to keep this intention from our listeners. So, would you mind sharing with me whatever intention you just shared or whatever comes up for you now?

Jennifer Hudye: Yeah. I said I hold the vision and the intention that this podcast episode serves and touches the people’s hearts that really need to hear this message today, and that we just show up in full service and devotion to your listeners and to your audience, and that there’s a flow to the conversation that’s even better than either one of us could have dreamed up. So, all of that is something even better still.

Hal Elrod: I love that. When you shared that, as you were sharing it before we started recording, I went, “Oh, I do this for every speech that I give, but I don’t do it before I record a podcast, I don’t think.” And so, thank you for reminding me of how important that is whenever I’m speaking to people, whether it’s on a podcast or on a stage. But that’s how I prepare for my message before I speak, oh, God, I don’t know what’s going to come out of my mouth during this message, so please fill me with the words and the energy and the love and the empathy and the humor and the solutions that these people or any individual in the audience need in this moment to serve their highest good. And so, it was so similar to what you shared. And so, yeah, thank you for setting that intention for me and you and everybody listening.

Jennifer Hudye: Yeah, my pleasure. I’m so grateful to be here.

Hal Elrod: Yeah, I’m excited. So, you and I have known each other for 10-ish years. I mean, I remember when I had cancer in 2016, 2017, you and I were together with Alice Cooper and Joe Polish at a fundraiser that Alice Cooper was putting on. And we had met before that, but I remember that very distinctly because you and I actually spent a good amount of time, like we were talking and connecting the whole time. And we’re not close friends, like where we stay in touch, but it’s one of those where you’re like, “Oh, I know your soul and you know my soul.” And so, when we see each other, we reconnect quickly and easily.

And most recently, I saw you, we were both speaking at Giovanni Marsico’s event, Destiny Fest. And afterwards, we got to then sit next to each other at dinner, very intimately, like right side by side in a booth, in a bench, right, at The Well, at our favorite restaurant. And I asked you to be on the podcast after we just talked, and I was reminded of who you are and how you show up and all the wisdom that you live with, that you embody.

And here’s what I want. I want to actually read our text message exchange. I texted you and I asked what you wanted to talk about. I said, “Hey, we’d be on the podcast.” You said, “I would love to.” I said, “What would you talk about? What are you most excited and passionate to talk about?” And I’m going to read your response word for word. You said, “I would love to share with your audience the power of having a spiritual vision that pulls you forward and how to begin to gain clarity on what it is. It’s the message that I’m here to share in this world to remind people that they have self-agency to design a life they love.” And so, my first question is, why is that the message that you feel like you’re here to share in the world right now?

Jennifer Hudye: Yeah. Yeah, it’s a good question. In 2019, I had a transcendent moment, where I heard my higher power, and whether you call it God, source, the infinite, whatever resonates for me, I used God and that’s what resonates. But I heard the message that told me that part of my assignment in this lifetime is to help people remember the importance of their spiritual vision. And the message specifically said the world is going to go through a dark period of time, they’re going to forget. And at that period in my life, I was actually already doing that work in the world. I was helping leaders to clarify and communicate their vivid vision.

I partner with Cameron Herold on Vivid Vision, was working with and still am working with some of the top organizations in the world, the EO, YPO, some of the top companies. And I’d been living that to the certain degree, but when I heard that message, how there was like a knowing and a responsibility that I felt that was like, get moving. And then 2020 happened and the world shook up. And over the last several years, I think every person globally has been feeling this, the fact that we’re in one of the most profound transitions in human history. And I mean if we just look at it from a few different levels technologically with the AI revolution, it’s predicted right now that there will be over 300 jobs globally, either disrupted or transitioned over the next few years.

Hal Elrod: 300 million, right? You said 300, I think, 300 million, yeah, I’ve seen that Goldman Sachs’, I think, study. Yeah.

Jennifer Hudye: Yeah. Economically, we’re in a winter period. Our world operates in cycles and we are in a winter cycle. There’s the fourth turning theory that talks about how we are in the fourth turning, which is the moment of crisis. We entered these periods of time about 80 to 90 years. The last time was the Great Depression. And it’s known as a total system upgrade and rebirth, astrologically, right? We entered the stage of Aquarius and it’s said that we’ve entered this 20-year cycle that’s all focused around technology, decentralization, new structures being built. The last time that we were in this was the American and French Revolution.

Many futurists predicted this moment in time that we’re in right now. And so, I think, globally, we’re feeling it, but also people personally are feeling it where this is a time that now more than ever, people are going through major transitions in their life and they’re asking what’s next and what’s now, like, whether Microsoft put out a stat that 75% of workers globally are rethinking their work and life right now. After 2020, 70% of people say that they feel stuck in their life and career. One in three Americans have gone through some sort of major life transition in the past two years. Like the point is people are in this reckoning and rumbling right now. And so, then there’s this natural kind of V point or threshold where a majority of people can’t help but look at the future and feel fear and feel uncertainty and feel a sense of anxiety around like, what does this mean for me? What does this mean for my life?

And so, I’m really here to help people remember that the future can look like a big, beautiful canvas and we can design it to a certain degree and we can design it in a way that we love, but it requires awareness, waking up, and taking personal responsibility and self-agency. So, I feel like this period of time, it’s ripe with potential and helping people see that. I mean, like if you look at either the Great Depression or the recession, that was where the most millionaires were created in any time in history. So, helping people remember that this is actually a time of opportunity.

Hal Elrod: Everything that you just said, I actually noticed myself, I looked over at myself on the screen. I’m like, I’m nodding. It’s funny. When you’re on video, you’re like, am I nodding too much? Am I like– but it was unconscious where I’m like, yes, yes, yes. So many things that you shared. One is, I got those same messages or similar messages from God, and I have them in my journal. Like, Hal, the world is going through a crisis. You’re called to lead as all of us are, I believe, right? So, I definitely resonate with that. You also shared so many things around, like we’re going through this transitionary period. You could call it a crisis period, technologically, economically, spiritually, in every category, in terms of mental health. I also relate on a personal level, I think it’s a collective anxiety and fear that, like, the bomb was dropped in 2020, right? And everyone’s like, ever since then, it just felt different. Like it feels different.

And what I’m reminded of, in 2020, through prayer, I’m like, God, what message do I need to give to my audience right now? My listeners, my followers, Miracle Morning community, what message do I need to give them? And what came through for me is that right now, everyone is focused on things that are out of their control, right, the pandemic, the unknown, fallout, economics, you name it. And when we focus on that, which is out of our control, we feel out of control. And when a human feels out of control, that’s the opposite of our primary need to feel safe, right? I don’t feel safe. I feel like I am out of control and I don’t know what’s going to happen.

And so, I realized that my mission kind of was like, hey, get people to focus on the only things or thing they can control, which is themselves. It’s how they show up each day, how they nurture themselves through self-care, what they focus on, what they invest their time in, right, and just really focusing. And I think it’s just this big picture, simple but big picture. You’re like when you focus on things that are out of your control, it doesn’t serve you. You can’t affect the things that are out of your control. So, what can you control? And what I love that you’re talking about, and I’d love to hear you, I want to elaborate on vision, the importance of it, but like vision is something you get to control. Like, you decide what your vision is and that kind of creates your own reality. You’re like, this is, yes, there’s a gazillion things I could put my attention on that make me feel afraid and uncertain and scared, but I can create my own vision and start living into it. And two questions around this, one is the importance of vision. Why is it important? Like, what does that do for people? And then number two is not having a vision. Like, what are the consequences of that? So, both sides of that vision coin.

Jennifer Hudye: Yeah. So, first, let’s define vision because I think, in some cases for people, it could feel like this ethereal thing that a lot of people talk about, but it doesn’t feel tangible and real. And so, one of my favorite, actually, definitions I recently heard from a dear friend of mine, Dr. Benjamin Hardy, which he said, “Your vision is simply just a psychological tool to help you make better decisions in the present moment, so that your present moment is set up to be more successful and better, and however you define it, more enriching, more healthy, et cetera.” And the vision…

Hal Elrod: I love that. I just wrote that down.

Jennifer Hudye: Yeah. Another in the Vivid Vision work we do, it’s painting a clear, vivid picture of exactly what you want a period of time in the future to look and feel like as if it’s already happened. It is your future story. So, for the listeners right now, if I asked you about your life and you would probably tell me your story, but you’d be telling me the story of your past or maybe your current reality. And so, the future is actually, what is your story in the future that you want to be living? And when it comes to the benefits of having a vision, well, there’s modern research that has shown that, as human beings, we operate, again, like in these systems and cycles and the research has actually been able to show and prove that for the most part, it can measure people’s life in past, and then be able to predict what their future is going to look like as a result of their behaviors, actions, patterns from the past, which is pretty scary, like with a strong level of accuracy.

And that is because if we are creating our lives from default, meaning we don’t have something in the future, a life in the future that is pulling us forward, then we’re just going to create more of the same. We’re going to drag our past into our future, and it’s going to look the same. And so, a vision, it’s like, okay, I have this blueprint of what I want my future to look like. Well, now, I can start making decisions in my present tense based on that vision, and then completely change my reality, whether that’s your health, whether that’s your relationships, whether that’s your career and your income. But it starts with knowing where you’re going. There’s the saying, if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will do.

And also, creating alignment and focus around what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. I think you brought up the mental health crisis and I think there’s like this crisis of meaning right now in our society, and I think it’s only going to increase with AI where people are craving meaning and purpose in their life and I think that stems from building something that’s bigger than ourselves. And then, I mean, another benefit is a vision is something that pulls you forward no matter the situation, circumstance, or challenge that’s in front of you right now. And if we don’t have that, then it’s so easy for us to just loop into thinking that things are going to go from bad to worse. And I’ve been there before many times.

Hal Elrod: Sure. Yeah. What you talked about Ben Hardy, that your vision is a psychological tool, right? It’s almost like a strategy to enhance your mental health in the moment, your emotional wellbeing, your productivity, right? But what comes up for me, and I want to hear your opinion on this is, I’m like, well, I think what prevents people from creating a vision for their future, and you could say this is true for also setting goals, which is similar to a vision, is fear of failure. It’s like, well, I’m not going to create a vision for the future because the future feels really– or fear of the unknown. It feels very uncertain.

And so, what’s the point of creating a vision if I don’t know if I can actually achieve that vision? But from Ben’s perspective on what you’re talking about as an expert in this world is like, well, yeah, but no, it helps you feel better and do better in the moment. And none of us can control the future. None of us can control the economy or World War III, or, well, we don’t know what’s going to happen, but we can only control, again, back to ourselves, what we do in the moment, how we think, how we feel. So, I would love to hear your thoughts on, do you think fear of failure or fear of the unknown or both and something else prevents people from creating that vision for the future?

Jennifer Hudye: Yes, 100%. I think that there’s several blocks that I’ve seen and just kind of patterns that I’ve seen emerge both in myself and all of the people that I’ve worked with. And one of those is the fear of failure of, like, I don’t even want to set a goal because I don’t want to have to feel the uncomfortable feelings that may come along with not hitting it. And I think that in an instant like that, and maybe later on, we can talk about, like, how do you even define what’s a worthy vision for you? Because whether you fulfill or reach the vision or not or you hit the goal or not, if you are in love with the idea of the person that you get to become regardless, it’s like, why wouldn’t you do it?

You’re going to utilize your time some sort of way anyways. And we are human nature, the nature piece, we are set up to be– we are alive just like the trees, the grass, et cetera. And all nature is always seeking to express greater versions of itself by means of itself. It’s wanting to grow. And if we’re not growing into something bigger than ourselves, then we’re starting to not– die is like a heavy word, but would almost like that stalling, that stuckness, it can turn into disease, dis-ease. It can turn into other challenges where that energy is going somewhere in our lives. And then, eventually, we get the wake up call anyways of trying to get our attention to say, “Hey, there’s unlived life here. Wake up and channel your energy somewhere else.”

So, the answer is like, yes to that, and I think, a few others when it comes to fear around setting a vision to begin with. One is fear of what other people are going to think. Dreaming too big, that kind of goes with the fear of failure, what if I dream too big and I get let down, or dreaming too small? What if I set a vision? Am I capping myself of what’s actually possible for me? Another one is fear that it’s going to look like the past. Maybe you were committed to creating that relationship that you would really love, and then you got your heart broken and you’re like, I don’t know if I want to go at it again. There’s the fear of just how, getting stuck in the how. I don’t know how to do that.

Hal Elrod: That’s a big one.

Jennifer Hudye: And then one of the probably most powerful ones that I see, especially in leaders, is fear of the responsibility. And a friend, mentor of mine, David Mehler, says, “Sometimes we pretend not to know when really, we’re afraid of the knowing.” And so, we just pretend I don’t know what my vision is because we don’t want to be put on the line for having to bring it to life.

Hal Elrod: Yeah. Yeah, what comes up for me is, I think, one of our greatest fears is to be someone we’ve never been before, right? And said another way, to do something we’ve never done before, like, we struggle to see ourselves different. Like, we check our– I call it rear view mirror syndrome in my books before. And it’s like we check the rear view. It’s like, well, have I done that before? Nope. Okay, well, then I don’t know what that looks like, so I’m not going to do it, right?

Or to your point, like fear of the past. Oh, actually, I have tried that before, but I’ve been undisciplined and I don’t follow through, so I’m scared to create a vision that would require me to be disciplined and to follow through. With that, what would you say to somebody, right? So, if someone’s telling you that, they’re like, I’m scared because I’ve never done the thing that a bigger vision would require me to do, I’ve never been the person that a– like, you’re my coach, Jennifer. Like, coach me on this. Okay, I get what you’re saying. You’re right. I should have a vision so that it informs what I do now and what I focus on that’s in my control that would serve me as a tool and a strategy. But ah, I’m scared and I don’t know what to do. I kind of feel stuck. How do I overcome that?

Jennifer Hudye: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I’ll tell just a quick story about my own personal experience, and what I…

Hal Elrod: I love learning through stories. Yes.

Jennifer Hudye: So, in, well, the very beginning of 2019, I had started off the year strong and I set a new vision for every area of my life. Like, I sat down, spent three days, and I built out the vision for my health, my relationships, my business, how I wanted my life to look. And I was in love with this vision. And so, I go back to my regular life and I’m making the decisions. I’m managing a team. There’s a lot of stuff going on. And over the course of one week, I have two of my top team members resign. I have my biggest six-figure client say that they no longer want to work together and they’re going to take all of their work in house. I am feeling super burnt out and exhausted and already feeling like my breaking throat points spread super thin.

And I remember feeling like, okay, everything is starting to crumble around me. I just set this vision, but it seems like chaos has invoked. And I remember, I called a mentor of mine and I think you know her, her name’s Mary Morrissey. Brilliant…

Hal Elrod: I was actually going to ask you about her because I had heard you say in an interview, she’s a mentor of yours. She was on our podcast, and she’s amazing. So, yeah, keep going.

Jennifer Hudye: So, she’s been teaching transformation for 40-plus years and she’s just a Jedi. She’s just a brilliant woman. And I call her and I am freaking out and I’m like, “Mary, I don’t know what’s happening, but I set this big vision and it feels like everything, crap’s hitting the fan and I don’t know what to do and I’m terrified.” And just in this super calm, loving voice, she’s like, “Oh, Jennifer, this is just the law of physics at play.” She said, “Every time you set a bigger vision for yourself, anything that isn’t a vibrational match to that vision is by spiritual law and physics going to come up to be released and transformed.” So, she’s like, “This is actually good news,” because she said, “Everything that is coming up is what you need to overcome within yourself in order to become the version of yourself that is a match to that vision.”

And so, she said, you have one of two choices in this moment, either you can get lost in the circumstance and allow this circumstance to have you and allow this to continue to validate your story of why you aren’t capable of this vision and why you don’t have what it takes, and all of the stories that you’ve probably been holding onto most of your life. Or you can see that all of the circumstances, simply just the raw materials required in order to build your vision. Like, this is actually the raw materials that you need. And all of the things that you’re bumping up against within yourself and your own identity is the actual materials that you or the– what you need to be able to overcome yourself. And she was like, this is all just really good news.

And like, at the time, I’m going to be honest, Hal, I’m like, good news. Like, I’m not there yet. Like, okay, what? But it was the most important piece of advice that I’ve never received, I would say, because it was in that moment where I got to see, oh, in any moment, I have either a choice of when a circumstance happens, to allow the circumstance and just allow it to have me or to be able to hold the vision. And I still, the circumstances there, I’m not ignoring it, but it’s like, can I hold a vision in a future that I can channel my energy into so that I can show up as the person I want to show up as. And I think that’s the main point. It’s like, what is going to be the most empowering thought?

So, for someone who’s like, well, I don’t know, it’s like there is– in order to have the life that you want to have, you need to overcome parts of yourself. And the only way you’re going to know what those parts are is by setting a bigger vision and then seeing what comes up.

Hal Elrod: Yeah. And what comes up for me is doing it in writing, right? Like, for me, affirmations are a big part of what I teach, but the way that people have learned them when they hear that word, they’re like, oh, like pumping yourself up? No, it’s simply putting in writing, reminders of what you’re focused on, basically your vision, what you want to accomplish, who you need to become, the truth about who you are, right? Meaning like, when I’m writing, I can write like, Hal, there are no limits to what you can overcome or accomplish. Like, intellectually, I understand that, right? So, I can write that down.

But then when I’m in my own head in the moment, it’s even unconscious. I’m not aware of it, but like an opportunity shows up a challenge and the fear base, the child within me, right, is like, oh no. It’s like, I’m just stunted, but I’m unconsciously incompetent in that moment, but when I read my affirmation every day, I’m like, oh, yeah, that’s the vision I’m working towards. Oh, yeah, I can do anything that I put my mind to it, risk of sounding cliché, and I’m committed every day to taking the next step and here’s the next step, right? So, for me, it’s having my vision in writing. So, I just want to ask you, like, what are the steps to creating a powerful vision? And I know you mentioned in our text message a spiritual vision. I’m actually maybe curious if you want to define what a spiritual vision is, and then whether it’s a family vision, a spiritual vision, a business vision, financial, whatever it is. Like, what are the steps to creating a powerful vision?

Jennifer Hudye: Yeah. When I say spiritual vision, I think like the main piece, I mean, it’s like, what is the vision that our higher power wants for us? One of my favorite stories that I heard years ago that shifted so much for me was I remember hearing Oprah do an interview and she told the story of how, when she was a young girl, she would drive through rich neighborhoods and she saw how some of the richest people had trees in their yards. And so, there was just a mental footnote that she, as a young girl, said one day, maybe I will have a home that has trees in my yard. And she was thinking one, two, three trees. And then that became her focus and it became a reality.

But then there was a shift in focus where she started asking herself, God, what vision do you have for me? And then being able to hear the response to that, and then her being at one of her many homes where she looked outside of the kitchen window and she saw an entire forest. And she said, how often we have the vision for ourselves, but the vision that God has for us is like a 100x of what’s possible. But I know there’s a lot of people who can get caught up, being like, okay, well how do I discover that? And then they just sit idle, waiting for the message to come in. And the truth is that God, source, life force is always speaking to us through signs and signals, and so when it comes to steps, the first step to look at is what’s working and not working in your life, and getting really honest with yourself.

Polarity creates clarity. Knowing what you don’t want is actually just as valuable as what you do want to begin, to then ask, okay, well, what would I want instead? And I believe in this process, how self-honesty is a prerequisite to clarity. The more honest with yourself that you can be, the more clarity that you will be able to receive. So, just starting with, okay, in the domains of my life, health, relationships, business, lifestyle, career, whatever it may be, what do I feel like is working, what’s not working? And that will…

Hal Elrod: Let me pause real quick, Jennifer. I want to invite, anyone listening, I do this a lot when I do, whether it’s solo episodes, right? Like, I don’t want someone to listen to the podcast and then forget it and go, that was awesome, right? So, if you’re listening to this, like, grab your journal or your phone notes app and write down that first question, what’s working and not working in my life? And like Jennifer said, self-honesty is a prerequisite to clarity. If you get clarity for the vision for that to happen, you’ve got to start being honest in what’s working, what feels good, right? And what’s going well in the domains of my life, my health, my relationships, my money, parenting, et cetera? And what’s not going well, like, be honest. And that could also be done, right, in rating yourself, like on a scale of 1 to 10, how do each of these areas look?

Jennifer Hudye: Totally. Yeah, like, scale of 1 to 10, I like even, like a table where you put a line at the top and then down the middle. So, there’s two tables working, not working. And then even in the, what’s not working, you list the different things, but then you ask yourself, okay, what’s the opposite of this? Because with the opposite of that is more around what you want.

Hal Elrod: Yeah.

Jennifer Hudye: And so, yeah, doing that process will be really insightful to first get clear of like, where am I really at? And then the second step is asking yourself, and this is something that I learned from Mary is one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves is what would I love, not what should I do. What makes sense? What do others want of me? But if we believe that we came from love, right, and then we’re eventually going to go back to love, then that would mean that we are made of the essence of love. And so, if we ask the question, what would I love? Whatever our answer and our genuine answer from our heart comes up, that is spirit seeking to express greater versions of itself by means of itself through that answer. So, that’s where I feel like we can get to a lot of the juice of like, what do I really want? What would I really love?

And I believe that it’s so powerful to get clear of that personally. So, I think so often, highly ambitious people will default to career and business first. But really asking like, what is the life that I would love to live? Like, what does that adventure look like? Do you want to be in a really passionate, loving relationship? Health is, I think, a relative one that most of us want the same things. We want to wake up strong, healthy, energized, go throughout our days with energy, vital, that life force running through us, sleeping well, but painting the picture of what it is that you really want. So, that’s step two, and I can continue if you want.

Hal Elrod: Yeah, please. I mean, I’m literally doing the exercise list while I’m listening to you. So, I’m categorizing. I got business, finances, health, marriage, parenting, right? Like, I’ve started my categories. So, as soon as we’re done, I’m going to actually go through and do this exercise myself.

Jennifer Hudye: Yes, I love it. So then step three is you want to paint the picture and make it visually concrete. And this is where I say, in the vision work that I do, a lot of people will get caught up because they’ll use very subjective general language, like I want to feel awesome, I want to feel great, and so, we have our conscious mind and then our subconscious mind, 95% of our decisions are coming from our subconscious mind. And our subconscious mind operates in pictures plus emotions. Pictures plus emotions equals stories.

And so, this is the part of our brain that is actually working 24/7 to find the opportunities and situations that are our match to our vision. It’s kind of like the science behind law of attraction. There’s the spiritual essence of it, but then also just how our brains work is we’re looking for patterns. And so, if we tell our brain, look for this pattern, look for this opportunity, it will start to look for it. So, the more that you can paint the picture of what that vision looks like, make it objective, the more you’re going to be priming this part of your brain to be seeking things that are a match to that. So, for example, instead of saying, I feel awesome, it may look like, I– let me think of a particular painting the picture. When I’m supporting businesses with this, they’ll sometimes seem like our team is great. I’m like, what would be, like moments in time, if I was a fly on the wall seeing how your team was interacting, how would I know? And it’s like, when our team is collaborating together, there’s a lot of questions. Each person is curious. They’re asking each other things. They’re respectful. And when they’re coming up with a solution, they’re taking a step back and looking for what is the highest, best solution here versus trying to be right. And so, that’s almost like if you were to go into that moment in the story, you can see it unfolding and be like, oh, yeah, there it is. It’s happening. So, how can you make it really concrete, where you or someone else would be seeing your vision in action and you’re like, it’s happening?

Hal Elrod: Yeah. Let me share an example, and I’m listening to Ben Hardy’s new audiobook, Scaling, right? Are you listening to that yet?

Jennifer Hudye: I’ve read a few chapters in it so far, which…

Hal Elrod: Okay, yeah. I don’t think it’s officially out yet. It’s got like the advance, whatever. Anyway, but he talks about setting your impossible goal, right, which is just your, I mean, many names for that. I called it the measurable miracle in Miracle Equation. So, it’s like, you call it what you want, it’s the goal that’s so big that it stretches you. And I think about everything that you’re saying, what came up for me personally is when I realized that the Miracle Morning was a concept that would impact people, and I decided to write the book. That was the first impossible goal because writing a book took three years, finally got it done. I’m like, okay, the book’s done. Now, I feel like it’s my responsibility to get this in the hands of as many people as I can.

So, I just picked the arbitrary big number, which is like, okay, one million. I’m going to change one million lives one morning at a time. And I set my vision. My vivid vision was to get the book in the hands of a million people. And in year one, I committed to do everything in my power to get the book, sell a million copies of that book. I was on 150 podcasts. I was on a dozen-plus television interviews. I mean, I did everything. I was on social media every day, everything I could. And I sold 13,000 copies out of the million that year. So, it was 987,000 copies short of the vision.

But what it did is it informed my daily behavior and my decisions and my excitement and right all of that. And so, why I want to share this story is, it’s such a real example of overcoming that fear. Like, how would I get to a million? I had no idea. I just needed a target to shoot for. And then after year one, was I discouraged? Like, sure, I’m like, I was 98.7% short of my goal. That’s like about as fail, you can’t fail much worse than that. I’m like, all right, like dust myself off. Obviously, one year was not a realistic timeframe, so I’m going to try again year two.

And year two, I sold 23,000 copies, right? It’s like, okay, that’s better, but I’m still 97% away or whatever, right? And I just kept trying and trying and trying. And the vision did not change. It continued to, as you talk about, pull me toward that predetermined vision that was, as Ben Hardy would say, an impossible goal. But it was like in year two, I met an agent at this one dinner and then she got Miracle Morning trans. Like, it all happened, they say, in God’s perfect timing.

But if I had not overcome my fear, I don’t want to say I overcame it, it was just I did the thing I was afraid of, which is create a vision that I didn’t know how to accomplish. If I hadn’t have done that, and they’re like, this is for everyone listening, right? Like, if I hadn’t have done that, it wouldn’t have kept pulling me toward it. And then in year two and year three and year four, as I failed to reach the vision again and again and again and again, but I inched closer and closer and it took six years to sell a million copies of the Miracle Morning. And when I got to that point, it was like, oh. I couldn’t have done it in a year. Like, I had to meet that person in year two, that led to the opportunity in year three, that led to the result in year four, right?

But it all started with everything, Jennifer, that you are talking about right now, which is sitting down, applying the steps that you are talking about. And I’ll say step one, in writing, everyone listening, what’s working and not working in your life. As Jennifer said, self-honesty is a prerequisite to clarity. Step two, what would I love as her mentor, Mary Morrissey, taught her, what would I love, not what should I do, not what am I supposed to do, not what does everybody else want me to do. What have I done before? What would I love in the areas of your life that matter? And then painting that picture and creating that vivid vision. For me, it was change one million lives one morning at a time.

And the last thing I’ll say, and I’ll turn it back over to you to continue with the steps is the wording matters. If I would’ve said sell a million copies of the Miracle Morning, I do not think that would’ve inspired me. I think I would’ve actually had all sorts of unconscious judgment of myself, that I’m selfishly trying to sell a million books, that it feels icky, right? But it was change one million lives one morning at a time. And that was genuinely what I was trying to do. And it tapped into my selflessness, which for me, like I’m more motivated if I don’t feel like I’m doing this selfishly. Yeah, so the wording also, wording it in a way that inspires you. Are there more steps beyond those three?

Jennifer Hudye: Yes. Yeah, and just on the third one, an example that I love to provide to your point of the words is when John F. Kennedy stood at the podium and said, we’re going to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. That was the vivid vision. That was literally the moonshot. But he did not say, we are trying to advance the space race or we want to become number one in the world. He chose to paint the picture and make a visually concrete moment in time to where everybody would know the vision has become a reality. And that vision galvanized janitors to astronauts to millions of people around the world to rally around that one vision. So, to your point, the language very much matters.

And so, then that goes to number four, which you touched on, Hal, which is suspending the how for right now, the how. And it’s going to be so normal and so natural to be like, how am I going to make this happen, right? And so, a short story on this was back in, I think, 2015, I had crafted a vision for one of my companies at the time, and it was called Conscious Copy. And at that point in time, I was bootstrapping my little business. I was the team of one. I was completely unknown in this space.

And I had this dream to work with some of the top personal development leaders in the world. I wanted to support them with their marketing and their messaging because the personal development space had transformed my life. And I’m like, how cool would it be to be able to serve some of my heroes and be able to help their messages get out in a bigger way? And I had no idea how that was going to happen. I didn’t know or have contacts in this space or anything yet, but I had crafted my vision and I was looking at it every single day and I felt really connected to it.

And then out of the blue, a couple weeks later, I had a friend of mine reach out to me and invite me to, or actually asked to be on a little podcast I had at the time that really didn’t have any followers or anything like that. It was very small. But she said, “I’d love to be on your podcast.” She said, “I’m going to be at my friend’s place in Phoenix, Arizona.” That’s where I was living at the time. She said, “Let’s do it there.” And I said, “Great.” So, she sends me the GPS address. I pull up, oh, this is an important detail. In that vision, I had also done the vision for other areas of my life.

And one of the things I put on my personal vision was this beautiful home, and it was this home in Paradise Valley on Camelback Mountain. And I was like, that would be so cool to have a home like that one day because then I could hike Camelback Mountain every day and it was beautiful. So, I just put it on, didn’t think much of it. So, I pull up to this house for this podcast episode. I’m scratching my head and I’m like, this looks so familiar. I don’t know what, but I was like, have I been to this home? No.

And I go up to the front door, she lets me in. I walk into the living room and my jaw just drops. And there’s a guy sitting on the couch and my face turned white as a ghost. And he’s like, “Are you okay?” And I’m like, “This is my house.” And he was like, “Excuse me.” And I was like, “This is my house.” And he was like, “No, this is actually my house.”

Jennifer Hudye: And we have this weird exchange where then I show him the photo of my Vivid Vision, and I point to the house. I’m like, “This is my home,” and it was the exact photo of the living room, even to the exact same furniture was in there, the decorations, everything. Like, there was a particular art piece that was in that home that was in my photo, and he was like, “Where did you get that photo?” I’m like, “Zillow.” And he’s like, “No way.” And he was like, “This is your home.” It turns out the guy was Joe Polish.

Hal Elrod: Okay. I was wondering. Yeah. I’ve been in that house before. Sure.

Jennifer Hudye: Yeah. And I walked into that home, and it turned out to be his home. I had never met him before, and we had connected. He became a mentor of mine, a dear friend. Ultimately, it introduced me to many people in the personal development space. Fast forward, it was less than 18 months, and most of that Vivid Vision that I had created had come true, and I had no idea how I was going to meet those people. And so, just the reminder of really suspending the how, at first, like you don’t need to know every single step for the vision to come to life.

Hal Elrod: And that’s so important to give people permission for that because that’s part of what creates the fear. “I do not know how to become a millionaire. I do not know how to become a _____ or accomplish a _____,” right? So important. Yeah. I love that story.

Jennifer Hudye: And then step five is just, who do you need to become to bring the vision forth? Again, it goes back to that idea of it’s a psychological tool. And so, as soon as you map out the vision, yeah, I love the quote Wallace Wattles: “By thought, the thing that you want comes to you, but by action you receive it.” And so, who do I need to become? How do I need to show up in order to be a match to that vision? That is the ultimate accelerator to bringing the vision to life that I think a lot of people miss. They just think, “What do I need to do?” But it’s like even in my own behavior. For example, one of my visions, and I had a belief for a long time I wasn’t a good leader. And I’m like, “Okay. Well, if I was a good leader, how would I show up? How would I engage with my team? What are the actions I would take? But what are the types of beliefs?”

And I modeled and saw people who I thought were extraordinary leaders, and I was like, “Okay, how can I just act, start showing up as that, making decisions as that, actions as that?” And I think, yeah, that’s one of the most important pieces to really tie it all together. Because we don’t go to our vision, we come from it. It isn’t something out there one day, someday we arrive to. It’s like every moment, every decision. We’re either coming from vision or we’re coming from condition.

Hal Elrod: I love that paradigm right there. How did you say it?

Jennifer Hudye: So, the quote is, and credit Mary Morrissey, “We don’t go to our vision. We come from our vision.”

Hal Elrod: I’m going to write that. We don’t go to our vision. We come from our vision. So, for those that don’t know, Cameron Herold is who you’re partnered with in Vivid Vision. And Cameron is the co-author of The Miracle Morning for Entrepreneurs. So, that’s another connection that we have, right? And I met you through Joe Polish, actually. I think that’s how we connected initially. So very cool. Alright, I want to just recap the steps again. Step one, everyone listening, do the exercise, create the vision, right? And this is a rough draft. You’re not creating a perfect vision that you’re going to present to anyone like in public. This is just in your journal on your computer, what’s working and what’s not working. Start there because, as Jennifer said, self-honesty is a prerequisite to clarity.

Step two, what would I love? From Mary Morrissey. Not, what should I do? What would I love? What would feel really good? Number three, paint the picture and create the Vivid Vision. What specifically is that going to look like? Number four, suspend ‘how’ for now. I love that. Yeah. When I set the goal to change a million lives, I had zero idea of how I’d reach a million people. And the way that it worked out is that’s the interesting thing too, right? Like, how it worked out, I’m like, I couldn’t have planned that. I didn’t know I’d meet that person that would get me with a foreign publisher. I had no idea, right?

You didn’t know you would freaking get invited to and see Joe Polish sitting on a couch who’s arguably one of the most connected human beings on the planet. And then he would take a liking to you, and then he would introduce you to all sorts of folks who would become your dream clients, right? Just amazing. But it started with the vision. And step five in writing, y’all, put this in writing. Who do you need to become? And how do you need to show up to bring that vision to life? So, so important. Jennifer, anything else to share before we wrap? Anything else?

Jennifer Hudye: I think the final piece, in tying it back to the beginning, is, number one, if you’re listening and you’re in a transition, this can be one of the most fruitful, defining moment in your life where you’re going to claim a future that is bigger than your past. And so, it starts with a decision. And then the second piece, when it comes to a spiritual vision, is recognizing you don’t have to do this all yourself. Part of this too is partnering with your higher power, whatever word phrase you use, your divinity, in being able to bring this forth, because if you know exactly how it’s all going to happen, it’s actually a plan, not a vision. The mere fact that you don’t know how and it’s bigger than you, and it’s going to cause you to grow, defines it to be a vision, and just recognizing you don’t have to do it all by yourself. So, those are the final pieces.

Hal Elrod: Yeah. You won’t do it by yourself. You can’t do it by yourself. And you might not yet know the people. You didn’t know Joe Polish. I didn’t know my agent, Celeste Fine, right, and so many others. You might not even know the people right now that are going to help you get to the vision, but you’ve got to create the vision. And it almost is, you know, you are too, I know being a business person, right? Writing the line between like practical and spiritual, right? Like, the woo-woo and the concrete. And it’s like for me, and I think sometimes the practical and the concrete, it prevents us from accessing the spiritual aspect that it’s hard to explain, it’s hard to define, it’s hard to see. It’s just that you know it because you’ve had it happen, right?

Like, when you go, “Oh, wow. There’s such a spiritual component of how this person came into my life at the right time and creating that vision.” I love the way you defined like I asked what’s a spiritual vision? Because when you first text that, actually, in my mind, I’m like, “Oh, she’s going to show how to create a vision for our spirituality. That’s cool.” That’ll be cool, right? But it’s like, no, no, no. A spiritual vision, it could be for your business, for your marriage, for your kids, for yourself, whatever. It’s all spiritual when it’s coming from a divine place, a place of connecting with God, source, spirit, higher intelligence. And then through that spiritual lens and energy, and space and way of being, yeah, that’s where the miracles are created, if you will.

Jennifer Hudye: Yeah. And that partnership, because like even for example, recently, there was something that just, a little project, that has brought me so much. There’s a lot of juice and energy there. I’m like, “Huh, okay. Is this something I’m supposed to kind of pursue, and look into?” And so, in those moments, sometimes I’m just like, “Okay, God, give me a clear, definite sign that I cannot miss if I’m intended to just keep exploring this path.” And it’s both that, and then noticing my energy, does it bring me to life? And then I do think it’s important to discern, though, I say when opportunities are aligned to the vision or when they’re seductive distractions. So important. And so, is it aligned to the vision? Keep going.

Hal Elrod: Exactly. Yeah. Seductive distractions is such a good point like would they reach out and ask, “Hey, check out this great project I have for you,” and I’m like, “Oh, does that help me change 1 million lives one morning at a time?” And that started to make things, “Oh, actually right now it’s a no because I would be, if I said yes to you, I’d be saying no to a part of the vision that I’m committed to, and I’ve got to stay on track.” And they get it. They’re like, “Wow, I respect that. That’s cool.”

Jennifer Hudye: That’s exactly it.

Hal Elrod: Jennifer, where’s the best place for people to work with you, learn from you, follow you, continue to get your wisdom?

Jennifer Hudye: Yeah. You can connect on Instagram. It’s just @jennhudye. And then you can check out our site, which is VisionDrivenGlobal.com.

Hal Elrod: Amazing. VisionDrivenGlobal.com. Well, Jenn, I have so much love for you and even more after we get to spend this time together.

Jennifer Hudye: Likewise.

Hal Elrod: So, thank you so much for today.

Jennifer Hudye: Thanks for having me. It was awesome.

Hal Elrod: Alright. And, goal achievers and members of the Miracle Morning community, I love you so much. Thank you for tuning in, and make sure you take the time. If you need to re-listen to the episode, follow those steps that Jenn gave, and create your vivid vision from which to live from and allow it to pull you forward to the best version of yourself and create the best life that you deserve. I will talk to you next week.

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