Vision

Clarifying your vision is one of the most powerful ways to bring immediate change to your life. But many people struggle to discover their vision. Follow this simple roadmap and you will be on your way to creating and living a vision focused on the most important things to you on the planet. 

When you live by your vision, everything changes. But without a vision, you’ll be stuck in the mire of boredom and mediocrity. Hope will dwindle, work will be monotonous, and relationships will be shallow. Don’t let that happen to you.

Creating Vision – Where to Start

The reason so few people live out of their vision is because they don’t know where to start. Vision begins with dreaming. Not ‘pie in the sky’ dreaming like, “I want 100 Ferrari’s and 10 vacation houses.” Things do nothing to motivate people to live their lives.

A real dream is about living for something that’s bigger than yourself. It’s your life’s purpose, your mission, the reason you were created. How are you going to change the world? What kind of legacy will you leave? What impact do you want to make in the lives of others?

I’m also a firm believer that discovering, and living your vision is a Spiritual Experience. What do I mean? There is something very special hidden inside your vision and when you discover this treasure, it changes you forever. That treasure is the reason you were created and put on this earth.

“Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” – Jonathan Swift

All Your Life You’ve Been Fighting Yourself

Here’s a scary reality: when you are not clear on your vision you are living against yourself. You’re living in opposition to who you really are and what you’re supposed to be doing with your one and only amazing life!

The truth is that you are here for a reason. You are created with intention and unique gifts to share with the people around you. Discovering who you are and what you’re supposed to be doing is the most important thing you will ever do.

Now, don’t get overwhelmed. If you don’t discover your complete life purpose through this process, don’t sweat it. We live out our vision in phases and if you are only able to see a small part of your vision now, that’s perfectly fine. Live that piece with all your heart and more vision will come with time. What’s most important is to go through this process of discovery and start living for whatever vision you grab ahold of. The rest will come.

The 2 most common obstacles I see people trip over as they try to come up with their vision is (1) They give up because they can’t see the entire picture of their vision and (2) FEAR and FAILURE. They are afraid that once they commit themselves and write down the vision they might fail.

Let me encourage you to push though these issues. The only failure is not trying – period. Once you start living your vision and see it become reality, a whole new world opens to you and you will never be the same.

“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” – Michelangelo

As you consider your vision, here are 5 components of what makes up a vision. These come from the book, The Leadership Challenge. Keep these in mind as you proceed to the next step.

Discover Your Vision 

A vision pulls people forward. It projects a clear mage of a possible future. It generates the enthusiasm and energy to strive toward the goal.

IDEAL (a high standard to aspire to)

Visions are about hopes, dreams, and aspirations. They’re about making a difference. They tell us the ennobling purpose and greater good we are seeking.

UNIQUE (pride in being different, an identity.)

Visions are about the extraordinary. They are about what makes us distinctive, singular, and unequaled.

IMAGE (a concept or mental picture made real or tangible through descriptive language)

Word pictures, metaphors, examples, stories, symbols, and similar communication methods all help make visions memorable.

FUTURE-ORIENTED (looking toward a destination)

Visions describe an exciting possibility for the future. They stretch our minds out into the future and ask us to dream.

COMMON GOOD (a way people can come together)

Visions are about developing a shared sense of destiny. Leaders must be able to show others how their interests are served and how they are a part of the vision in order to enlist others in it.

What Do I Do?

There’s only 1 thing you need to focus on right now to start the process of discovering your vision – Create a Dream Inventory. Here’s exactly what you do:

1. Get to a quiet place. You want to take this seriously and stay focused.
2. Turn off all electronic devices. Your phone, computer, everything. Make sure there are no distractions.
3. Find some soothing music. If you like the quiet, then fine. But when I’m deeply reflecting I prefer to listen to some form of classical music, preferable Baroque. Play something that helps you to be at peace and creative.
4. Remember a big part of this is spiritual.
5. Get out a blank sheet of paper, write “Dream Inventory” at the top, and let you mind go wild and dream. This is a right brain exercise so don’t analyze everything you are writing. What do you want life to look like in 5 or 10 years? What do you want to do? Where do you want to go? Who will you be doing it with? What issue do you want to solve? What kind of freedom do you want to have? The sky is the limit. The key is write without restraint and allow yourself to imagine possibilities and dream with reckless abandon.

Next I’ll tell you what to do with your Dream Inventory. Let me strongly encourage you: DO THIS RIGHT NOW. Refuse to procrastinate! Don’t wait and don’t move on to the next thing. This is the most important thing you could be doing for yourself so take action.

Make a conscious decision to leave the 97% of people who are addicted to mediocrity and part of the cult of average. Step in to the top 3% of people who are living life the way they want to live it and are getting incredible results because they are committed and focused. This is how they do it!

This is the first step to creating a new, focused and meaningful life. A life where you start to see you visions become reality. You do have what it takes and these incredible gifts are already inside you. You just have to get them out.