Unlocking Clarity: 80th Birthday Visualisation
The art of goal-setting or development planning can feel difficult at times, often, that’s because there is no big picture to anchor to or no overarching vision for what’s most important. Without a vision for what you want to create in life, it’s hard to know what bets to place and where to direct your energy and focus. Instead, you get caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, swept away by immediate priorities, forgetting to reflect on the bigger picture.
The biggest risk in blind navigation is getting caught up in who you think you should be and what you think you should be doing based on the priorities and expectations of others rather than what matters most to you - the thing that makes your heart sing.
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What is the 80th Birthday Visualisation Exercise?
In an age that often values speed and productivity over introspection and contemplation, the 80th birthday visualisation exercise offers a powerful opportunity to pause, reflect, and realign with your deepest values and aspirations.
This coaching exercise asks you to imagine yourself on your 80th birthday. The visualisation asks you to picture the scene vividly: friends and family gathered around, laughter filling the air, and a sense of warmth and celebration surrounding you. Within the visualisation, you are prompted with powerful scenes and coaching questions that ask you to take a moment to reflect on your life from this vantage point. What accomplishments are you proud of? What relationships have brought you joy? What moments stand out as most important?
Why Use the 80th Birthday Exercise?
The 80th Birthday Exercise is a powerful coaching tool for use early on in the coaching journey. It encourages coachees to step outside the confines of the present moment and gain perspective from a future milestone. As a result, coaching conversations become anchored in what’s most important for the coachee and the life they are committed to creating and honouring. Other benefits of this coaching tool include the ability to:
Gain Clarity and Perspective: In the bustle of everyday life, it's easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. The 80th birthday visualisation offers a chance to zoom out and gain clarity about what truly matters. By envisioning your life from a distant point in the future, you can discern which pursuits are worth your time and energy and which may be distractions.
Align Priorities with Values: Your values shape the trajectory of your life. Yet, amidst the noise of societal expectations, it's easy to lose sight of these guiding principles. By reflecting on your 80th birthday, you can assess whether your current actions align with your core values. This coaching exercise serves as a compass in helping you define your true north, guiding you towards an authentic and fulfilling life.
Cultivate Gratitude: Gratitude is a powerful antidote to stress and dissatisfaction. By imagining yourself at the age of 80, surrounded by loved ones and reflecting on a life well-lived, you can cultivate a deep sense of gratitude for the blessings in your life. This exercise can remind us to appreciate the present moment and cherish the relationships and experiences that enrich our lives – the things that truly matter.
Motivate Action: The 80th birthday visualisation can serve as a catalyst for action. By imagining your future self, you become inspired to take steps today that will lead you towards the life you desire. Whether it's pursuing a passion, strengthening relationships, or prioritising self-care, this coaching exercise acts as a motivator to help you make intentional choices that align with a long-term vision.
How to Coach with the 80th Birthday Exercise?
Find a quiet space: Ensure you and your coachee are both in a safe, quiet space, free from interruptions. Turn the impact of the exercise up by choosing an inspirational space for reflection – in nature, with an inspiring outlook, or in the comfort of your favourite reflection space.
Relax and breathe: Start the visualisation with a few deep breaths to centre and relax the mind and body. Download our FREE box breathing exercise.
Visualise your 80th birthday: Use the script to guide your coachee, client, or loved one through the visualisation. Read the script directly, or add language that suits your style. Talk slowly, softly, and in a rhythmic, even, relaxing tone.
Create intentional reflection space: Immediately after the script is read, use the coaching questions to help explore what came up in the visualisation. This can either be a spoken conversation, or your coachee can journal their responses in an extended quiet space.
Be Ready for High Emotions
Often this coaching exercise can provoke high emotions. For some, the realisation that what they want to create is far from the life they are living can be a hard reality to process. Be ready to meet your coachee where they are at, and sometimes, the reflection on the process can be just as powerful as the insights that arise in the visualisation.
Create space and be intentional about the time before the conversation and the time afterwards.
Download Our 80th Birthday Visualisation Script
Our Coaching Tools Shop 80th Birthday Visualisation Script is one of our top-selling resources and is a powerful coaching, facilitation, and leadership tool designed for 1:1 coaching conversations or use as part of a wider workshop session. It can help to:
Unlock an individual’s purpose, going to the heart of what’s most important
Define the legacy they want to leave in this lifetime
Celebrate life connections and the moments that matter
For those also looking for templated exercises, reflections and a purpose statement template, check out our Defining Your Life Vision and Purpose toolkit.
Get your slow, soft, rhythmic and relaxing tone ready… this one’s a treat!
