Halfway Through the Year, I Realised I Needed a New Vision

The Ideal Day exercise from my 2026 By Design planning guide.

We’ve reached the halfway point of the year, and if your year has gone anything like mine, you may be looking back at the goals you set in January and thinking:

The version of me who made those plans had no idea what this year would ask of me.

That’s certainly how I feel.

This year has felt like a reckoning of sorts, a point where decisions made months and even years ago are finally bearing fruit, for better or worse. I’m navigating financial uncertainty as I shift the focus of my business, separating from my husband, and returning to full-time work while continuing to homeschool and parent four children. The last few months have been incredibly stressful.

Yet beneath all of that, something unexpected has happened. For the first time in a long while, things are beginning to feel aligned.

Not because I’ve figured everything out. Far from it. But many of the questions that felt confusing a year ago no longer seem quite so complicated. Difficult seasons have a way of stripping away what isn’t essential, and I’ve found myself returning again and again to one simple question:

What am I actually trying to create?

I think that’s the question that sits beneath all meaningful goal-setting. Before we choose goals, habits, projects, or plans, we need some sense of what we’re moving towards. Otherwise it’s very easy to spend our lives climbing ladders only to discover they’re leaning against the wrong wall.

The exercise I’m sharing below is one I’ve returned to repeatedly over the past decade. A lovely client first introduced it to me years ago, during the height of the visualisation and manifestation movement. At the time I dismissed it as a little fluffy. Over the years, however, I’ve come to appreciate its value.

The reason is simple:

most of us are surprisingly unclear about what we actually want.

We think we want more money, a different career, a relationship, a move to the countryside, or a home overlooking the sea. But if we look beneath those desires, we often discover we’re longing for something deeper: freedom, peace, creativity, belonging, security, adventure, or connection.

The external dream is only one possible expression of that feeling.

This exercise helps uncover the feeling beneath the goal. Once you know what you’re really seeking, you can begin creating more of it in your life today, rather than postponing it until some future milestone is reached.

So before we talk about goals, let’s start with vision.

As Mary Oliver asked:

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

The Ideal Day exercise is one way of beginning that conversation with yourself.

The Ideal Day Exercise

Step 1 • Free Dream

Begin by writing a list of everything that lights you up, big and small, possible and impossible. Let it tumble out without editing.

Write as if it already exists:

• I attract an abundance of money.
• I have a loving partner.
• I play the piano.
• My home has five bedrooms, a pool, and overlooks the sea.

Keep going until the page feels full. Aim for at least 50 items. One hundred if you dare.

Then look back over your list and circle the ten that matter most. Number them from 1 to 10.

Step 2 • Feel the Essence

Now look beneath each dream and ask yourself:

What am I really seeking here?

Sunshine → Warmth

Quiet → Peace

Making my own choices → Freedom

Achievement → Pride

Playing the piano → Creativity

These feelings are your compass.

The dream is simply one possible path. The feeling is the destination.

Step 3 • Script Your Day

Using those key feelings as anchors, describe your ideal day in rich detail.

How and where do you wake up?

Where do you live, and who lives with you?

What does your morning look like?

What do you eat?

What do you do first?

How do you spend your time?

What are you excited about?

Write in the present tense, as though it is already happening.

Make it vivid. Sensory. Specific.

Write a love letter to your future self.

The morning light spills through linen curtains. I wake rested, knowing the day will unfold gently. There’s laughter from the kitchen, fresh coffee, and a breeze drifting through open windows. Work feels like devotion. It fits beautifully around homeschooling, rest, and time outdoors…

Make it as outrageous or as sweet as you like.

Let yourself feel what it would be like to live this day.

You can write one version or many.

Each one helps you see more clearly what you’re building your life around.

If you enjoyed this exercise, it’s taken from A Year That Feels Like Home: 2026 By Design, my 200+ page goal-setting workbook for conscious mothers. It includes visioning exercises, annual planning prompts, family rhythm pages, life audits, goal-setting frameworks, and space to design a year that feels aligned with what matters most.

You can learn more and purchase your copy here.

With love,