David Clayton is an artist, writer, and teacher who grew up in England and is a graduate of Oxford university. He is the Provost of Pontifex University, a Visiting Fellow at the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in new Hampshire, and has an international reputation as a painter, with major commissions in both the UK and the US. Mr. Clayton is the founder of Claritas: The Journal for Catholic Culture & Arts and is a regular contributor to the New Liturgical Movement website. In addition to his writings, he has published two books about the connection between sacred art, culture, and their connection to the liturgy.
Discover if our program is the right fit for you with a free consultation to learn more and make an informed decision.
We will equip you with a transformative daily routine, empowering you with practical steps to implement immediately and make significant positive changes in your life
Through a thorough examination of conscience, we will guide you in uncovering and resolving deep-rooted problems, traumas, and pains from the past, empowering you to liberate yourself from the obstacles that hinder your progress.
"We are dedicated to helping you discover your true personal vocation, guiding you towards uncovering your unique purpose and unleashing your full potential.
We will impart the wisdom of time-tested spiritual practices, teaching you invaluable tools to navigate and find solace in both favorable and adversarial circumstances, fostering resilience and inner growth
We are also here to support you in finding a nurturing and purposeful community that fulfills your deep longing for connection, helping you discover a sense of belonging and purpose in your life
Answers to the burning questions in your mind.
The process is a program of spiritual exercises rooted in the Western tradition. This is the ancient wisdom of the early Church. They are intended to help you discern what your calling in life is - what we call your ‘personal vocation’.
This will help anyone who wants life to be better and is prepared to take certain actions to that end. I was deeply miserable and depressed and was at the point of despair. I also had deeply ingrained habits and behaviors that were destructive and I despaired of ever being able to stop. I felt powerless to change myself. Some of you may be in this position too and The Vision for You has helped many in this situation.However, such extreme desperation and misery are not prerequisites. If you simply feel that life is flat and could be better, to the extent that you are prepared to put in some work to change things, this is for you too.Those of us who have taken so much from the gift of this process have discovered a Great Fact - that we have a choice in life. We can choose to be happy or to be miserable.Through this process, I discovered a new direction by discovering my personal vocation - what I am made to do. This is vocation impacts my career and personal life and my relationships with others, all for the better. Nothing is perfect, but the general picture is that life is good and so much better than it used to be. Since completing the process under David’s guidance 30 years ago, I have taken dozens of people through this process and seen their lives transform too. It certainly isn’t for everyone, some don’t want to do the necessary work for example, but if you can throw yourself into the work as enthusiastically as I did, a new life is open to you.If you think that your life could be better, then consider making this process part of your life too.
This process assumes that if we discover what we enjoy doing then that is a sign of what we are meant to do (provided that it is not intrinsically abusive, disrespectful to the others or otherwise immoral). So for example. everyone can physically play the keys learn to play the piano to a reasonable level with enough practice. Some of us are meant to be devote time to piano playing so that we can become virtuosos. It is well know that regardless of the level of natural talent that a student has at the outset, those who eventually become virtuosos are those who practice the most. However, the same research also shows us that those who practice the most are those who enjoy playing the piano the most. That is, virtuoso piano players are those who first discovered that they love to play the piano, and then enjoyed practising. Consistent with this, the VfY process aims to help us to discover what we love to do.
We don’t say that, but we do say that this gave us a life in which we can be happy each day, regardless of the circumstances and we believe that there is every chance that if you do what we did, you will be happy too. We can’t guarantee it because this is a spiritual process. We believe that if you accept the premises upon which the process is built, and are sincere in trying to follow the actions as best you can, then you will get results. Beyond having a happier life, the exact form that those results take are in God’s gift. Even then, we can’t be absolutely sure that this process is the route that he intends for you. This is why we suggest that you try it and see. You will know pretty quickly if it is going to work for you because you will feel a change as you start to adopt the daily suggestions. As David Birtwistle, who is the father of this process use to say, as described in the book The Vision for You, ‘Try this for 30 days and if you don’t like it we’ll return your misery with interest.’
There is no charge for mentorship. You will likely buy the book to act as a manual that aids in the mentorship process. Some buy the book and try to go through it themselves. We might organise additional workshops, retreats and courses and charge you for those, but these are not absolutely necessary for those who don’t want them or can’t afford them. Some will want to pay for these to help them to continue the process of deepening their spiritual journey once they have been through the process. Some will be interested in them because they will see them as aids to being a mentor.
We believe that every person is made to do follow a unique path in life. If we discover what that path is, and how to stay on it as we make choices in our every day activities, we will be happy and feel fulfilled. his calling can relate
No. Potentially, every aspect of what we choose to do in life - major or minor life choices - can be consistent with this calling. So it does include decisions about careers, but also about where we live, who we live with, what pursuits are just meant to be hobbies, and which are meant to be activities by which we earn a living.
No. While everything you do is consistent with the ancient spirituality of the Christian Faith, you don’t have to be a Christian or even to believe in God in order to benefit from it. You do need, as a minimum, to have sufficient open-mindedness to take actions that are consistent with the existence of a loving God, such as prayer. We might say you need to act as if God exists, but beyond that, you can be as skeptical and doubtful as you like. If you are so hostile to the idea that God exists that you simply can’t do this, then we would say that this not for you. Some people who start off as skeptics do go on to develop a strong faith in God and some even become Christians (like me!). But the nature of the faith journey itself is a personal one freely chosen, there is nothing mandatory about this. I was told to try for this for 30 days and if I didn’t like it, my misery would be returned with interest! What convinced me of the truth of this is that it worked. I started to feel better well before the 30 days were up. This gave me faith in the process at least. Later started to believe that God was the source of the change.
The exercises that we suggest include some practices that a psychologist would suggest, such as techniques for developing good habits and controlling bad habits. These are effectively techniques for self-help. Self help is good, but can only go so far, we believe. The Vision for You process recognizes our need in addition for outside help from a loving, all powerful God. Also, most psychological processes do not recognize the need for an external moral authority that defines good and bad action. Neither do they recognise sin - which is very simply separation from God caused by our self-centredness - as a cause of unhappiness. This process aims at a deep reconciliation with God regardless of the level of faith that we start with. The exercises allow God into our lives and God changes us for the better, despite ourselves. This is a healing and constructive process. It does require humility, but does not humiliate. It does not induce guilt or remorse, but if we have any it helps us to be free of them.
A mentor is someone who leads you through the spiritual exercises. The sole qualification for mentorship is that they have been through the process themselves. They simply describe to you what they did, so that you know what to do yourself. They are simply friends showing you the way. We are happy to put you in touch with people who tell us that they have been through the process, but you must you must decide for yourself after the introduction has been made if this person is right for you. It is a voluntary arrangement on both sides which either can end at any moment without feeling guilty for doing so. We see ourselves as friends helping each other. We are not therapists, or professional counsellors. If the process works it is because it leads you to God, and God changes your life. We suggest that you approach getting to know your mentor with the both the openness and the appropriate caution you would with getting to anyone who is introduced to you socially. Having said that, firm friendships do build up through this process and those who feel great benefit will often wish to stay in touch with their mentor indefinitely - typically they will call monthly or quarterly, some more often, some less. These relationships can last for years.
We are all aware that we can be attracted to things that are not good for us. We are imperfect and fallen people. In a perfect world, ‘I like it,’ would be identical to ‘It is good!’. However, we all know that they don’t always match. For example, at one time, I honestly believed that if Chitos cheese puffs were nuritionally sound I could eat nothing else all day. I liked them so much. But I didn’’t because I know they are not good for me in the quantities that I wanted to eat them. Instead have done my best over the years to eat a well balanced diet because I want to live long and have energy to do other things. What I have found is that in time my tastes have changed so that I now like, far more than used to be the case at least, what is good for me. The Vision for You process is spiritual because it helps to purify our desires for what is good and what will genuinely make us happy. This is, we have found,
This varies from person to person. For those who work with a mentor, it typically takes about two or three months of weekly meetings. These meThereafter, in order to maintain the positive effects, it will need the daily discipline of some prayers and meditation, taking perhaps 10 minutes; and a weekly commitment to some voluntary service. There is nothing mandatory about this last part, but those who are feeling the benefits typically wish to continue with the habits of prayer, mediation and good works that this process has instilled in them. The activity of your personal vocation is a lifelong pursuit. Again, this will not be onerous. If you have found what you love to do, you will want to keep doing it.
Most people find that to keep the benefits, they have to give them away - paradoxically. Exactly how, and how much depends upon the time you have to give, which in turn will depend upon your family situation. Typically those who receive the benefits of this process want to help others because they want to share the gifts that they have received for themselves. Some are nervous about starting out as a mentor and feel they don’t have experience. To those people, their own mentors tell them that they are available to coach them through helping others. Most of us who have mentored others say that they were surprised at how much it deepened their own spiritual lives. Also, we don’t have to be expert counsellors or psychiatrists, we simply describe to others what we did so that they can do it to. It is not down to you to solve every problem in a mentees life. As time goes on, many people feel that part of their personal calling is to help others through this process too.
We do get people asking about mentorship and we can put those people in touch with you. You simply tell us that you have been through the process and you are volunteering yourself as a mentor. Also we encourage people to look for opportunities to offer to help people around them as they go about your daily business. For example, if someone tells you they are lacking direction in life, or tells you they are feeling down, you can tell them your experience of the Vision for You process. They let that person know you are available to help should they want to go through the process themselves. Some people, who have a strong urge to help others, even start local networks and groups and use their skills in connecting with people to find new prospects to help. There is not set way to do this, you can use your ingenuity! You may find that like us you want to be available because you start to care more about the well beingo of others plus you notice that you feel more fulfilled in life if you helping others in this way.
No we can’t guarantee it. That would be magic and the Vision for You isn’t magic. Having said that those dreams have come true for quite a few of us. In the end all that we get is in God’s hands, and we can never be sure what God has in store for us. What we can say is that in our experience by taking little steps on a regular basis towards making those dreams happen, we are on a better path and we our moving in the right direction. What we would say is that those dreams are more likely to come true if you are trying to make them happen. The maxim here is ‘pray for rain
The Vision for You process is also very different from the positive thinking programs such as Think and Grow Rich, or the Secret. In these the individual asserts his or her will over a Higher Power in order to control things and generate what we want in life. The idea of Think and Grow Rich is that by sheer force of will we control that Power to do what we want. This inverts the hierarchy of being falsely because it says if we are positive enough we can control God (or the Universe or the Great Spirit). We believe that the way to happines is to humble ourselves before God and then accept what He gives us, knowing that it is always for our good. God can give us wonderful things and great riches if He wishes, but because He loves us He will only do so if it will make us happy. This is why we say this is much better than any of these positive-thinking programs. We trust in a loving God who is the author of all good, and only permits evil if a greater good can come from it. When we suffer injustice we can reach for God’s grace.
You are not signing any contracts or bound to do this forever. The moment you decide you want to stop you can. Any commitment you make is voluntary. Those who make such a commitment do so because they enjoy the benefits of doing the process. It is a bit like cleaning your teeth. We might say that you have to make a lifelong commitment to cleaning your teeth daily, but most people don’t find this onerous. They clean their teeth daily because they enjoy having clean teeth!
