What is Your Vision?

This weekend, I have had the privilege of being a virtual attendee to an annual conference organized and held by Lisa Nichols and the organization she created, Motivating the Masses. It is an event held live in San Diego each year, and the reason I registered online to attend is that I heard her as a guest speaker on a podcast created by successful entrepreneur Dan Lok.

I was blown away by her story, her origins and what led her to create her organization. She had a drive to succeed to no longer stay in her "broke" circumstances especially after her son was born. He was her motivation to no longer be financially broke. She had motivation to no longer be emotionally bankrupt and mentally limited by negative thinking.

What drives some to go above and beyond their circumstances and others to simply accept and live a life of "quiet desperation"?

Why do you do What you do?

Those of you who have read my earlier blogs may recall that my third post here is about my journey with physical therapy and how I compare it to the road map of success. Creating that road map takes time. Figuring out what direction to move towards takes time.

But without understanding your "WHY" and being real clear about your motivation, you won't know "HOW" to get there. This results in remaining 'stuck' in the quagmire of confusion and haphazard thinking. We start feeling anxious, depressed and it can even manifest physical symptoms: headache, insomnia, body aches, upset tummy to name a few.

So how do you get your "WHY"? You need a vision.

A vision is basically a dream with a deadline. It is personal and unique to each individual because a vision comes from within you. It could rooted in an experience you have gone through, something you have witnessed and often something that may come from a deep-seated need to create something greater than yourself which usually (not always) benefits and serves humanity on a universal level.

It is important to WRITE your vision down.

The conference I am virtually attending this weekend is about learning to write and speak to be more effective in accomplishing they "WHY's" - usually towards a business, a service, or product. But it starts with writing your vision down. It memorializes your commitment to what you see, what you aspire to or what you want to create so you can bring it to fruition.

This also helps with any goal-setting planning. Once you have the vision down, you can move forward with mapping out a timeline for an action plan. You can start to sift through your network of contacts or resources that can help you achieve that vision. Who you know and what they do will give you further ideas how to transition that vision on paper to become a reality.

It is important to SPEAK your vision into reality.

Why is it that some people who have great vision never bring it to life? How many people have come and gone in life who let their visions die with them?

Speaking about your vision - talking about it to yourself, speaking it aloud (even if you write it down on a post-it note and stuck it to the bathroom mirror), reinforces what you see in your mind. When you write it down and start speaking about it daily, it becomes a priority enough to motivate you to do something about it.

While you might start second-guessing yourself with thoughts like, "This is crazy! why am I speaking this out loud? what if others think I'm just dreaming and not being realistic?"

This is when you need to ask yourself what is your definition of success? Is my vision big enough to make come true? How do I get there now that I have it written down, I have a deadline to make this part of my reality? Once you identify your vision, write it down and start speaking it forth to constantly keep it in the forefront of your mind, you are motivated to make sure all you do is in alignment with that vision.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

The Bible is a wonderful book to obtain great inspirational quotes. Proverbs 27:17 provides such a quote because it explains how it important the power of association is when building upon your vision.

Sword-making was created for many reasons, namely back in history, for war and during times of peace, its relatives such as knives were used in kitchens, to help prepare food so people could eat and survive the harsh world back when the internet, meal delivery or take out was not in existence (at least, the ones who had the vision for such concepts were not born yet!).

Skilled tradesmen like blacksmiths had a purpose within a village or community. They created objects wrought from metals like iron. To sharpen these objects was tremendously difficult and at times dangerous. Iron is a hard element, unlike gold. Iron cannot be bent or broken down easily except through fire or sharpened by another piece of iron.

So it is with us. We can be hard, unbendable, unwilling to listen or refusing to cooperate. We can even deny our own vision to change, improve or succeed. However, circumstances can change our outlook if the right person or association enters our life. A friend or someone who has gone through a similar experience can share a story that can start to chip away at our iron-clad heart.

The right association - personal or professional - can provide a platform for us to finally see that the reason for the vision is an opportunity to simply become a better version of oneself.

Remember, all a vision is a dream with a deadline. The questions I pose to you are what is YOUR vision? What is YOUR dream? Do you have it written down somewhere? Do you speak about it daily? Does it have a deadline? Have you captured the end in mind?

Write it down.

Speak about it daily.

Associate with those who do the same.

And never, ever underestimate the power of a vision.