“He who cherishes a beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in his heart, will one day realize it.”
James Allen, As A Man Thinketh
We are drawn to doing.
It’s tangible, real and, even in the mundane, we get a quiet sense of satisfaction.
But how many of us have a vision for our life, intertwined with our doing?
It was Michael Gerber who first inspired me to consider that the reason why businesses and people are successful is that they have a clear vision, and every day they work towards realising it. It could be as broad as I want to be happy, comfortable and have a loving family. Or it might be more detailed around your surroundings, style of living and how you live your life.
I recognise the immense difficulty in trying to plan too far ahead. Who knows what you will be doing in 20 years time, let alone next week; but unless you want to end up majoring in the minor things, you have to have the biggest vision you can conceive.
Analyse the following:
- Career
- Family
- Financial
- Mental
- Physical
- Social
- Spiritual
Your vision should include an aspect of each, with some being more detailed than others. Don’t focus on your career or business hoping the others will look after them self. They won’t.
Remember to give yourself the space to think and plan. This is not a once a year exercise but more likely once a week. If you can pick one thing you want to accomplish each week that you think will move you closer to realising your vision, then you will be doing more than the majority of people.
This isn’t easy. But if you don’t have a plan for what you want out of life, then you will end up being so buffeted by external circumstances that your life will not be something you make, but by everyone and everything else.
Go to work on your life. Don’t live each day the same as the one day before and expect things to change. You have to change. Others can tell you what to do or show you a model of how it could work, but it rests on your shoulders to accept the pain of change and push through.