Imagining the end result is the most important step in achieving your goals. You have to pick your picnic. Once the vision is clear, your instincts kick in, and the path forward begins to reveal itself.

John Sims once shared a story that has stayed with me for over a decade. He was traveling with a colleague when the man asked, “John, aren’t you going to put on your seatbelt?”

John, in his raspy, tenor voice replied, “Why? Are we going to get into a crash?”

His friend responded, “No, but seatbelts save lives…”

Without missing a beat, John said, “Seatbelts don’t save lives.”

His friend pushed back. “Of course they do! One time I was driving with my family and had this strong impression to make sure everyone was buckled. Right after, we turned a corner and got hit head-on. Because we were all belted in, we survived!”

John stood firm: “No. The seatbelts didn’t save your life—whatever told you to put them on saved your life.”

That hit me. Yes, the seatbelts were necessary—they kept the bodies in place—but they were just tools. The real miracle happened when that man listened to the quiet prompting and acted on it.

This concept reminds me of a high school game I once played. My friend and I planned a surprise picnic for our group. Beforehand, we recorded a step-by-step tape guiding our friends from a starting point to the hidden picnic location. Then we told them, “Wait at the payphone. We’ll call with instructions on where to find the recorder. When you do, turn it on and follow the directions exactly!”

We hid and followed behind them, laughing as they tried to mimic our recorded movements—only they weren’t always in the same place we were when we recorded it. So when the tape said, “Turn left at the fence,” they’d look around confused—no fence in sight! Their efforts to follow the directions without knowing the destination led to hilarious missteps. If they had only known where they were trying to go, they could’ve improvised and found their own way.

That’s what we often do in life. We follow someone else’s steps, read their books, attend their workshops, and try to copy what worked for them. And sometimes that helps. But we forget that we’re not starting in the same place they did. We have different experiences, different terrain. Without our own vision, we can get lost trying to copy someone else’s path.

That’s why you have to pick your picnic.

So how do you do that? It’s simpler than you think—which is probably why most people never do it.

You DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT.

If you knew you couldn’t fail, what would your goal be? This is, surprisingly, the hardest step for most people. It’s the one step that at least 97% of people never actually take. But it’s the key to everything. Get clear. Write it down. Describe the success you desire in vivid detail, and write it as a gratitude statement—as if it’s already happened.

Because once you do that, you're entitled to trust the impressions that follow. You've "spotted" your picnic table. The vision is now in sight. As long as you hold onto it, your instincts will guide you. You’ll feel what to do next. Without that written vision, the impressions come... but they feel scattered. Random. Uncertain. Maybe you’ve already experienced that.

So take charge. Step forward with intention. There’s a unique kind of power and peace that comes from moving deliberately toward your own worthy ideal.

Your success begins with the dream. But it unfolds when you invite and trust the voice of inspiration to guide your journey.

See it in your mind. Commit it to paper. Be grateful for it in advance.
That’s how you tune in to the guidance that’s always been available. That’s when you start to know what to do—and when to do it.

This article, originally written November 14, 2003, was later adapted and expanded to become the award-winning international bestseller. Read it free: The Jackrabbit Factor

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