What Is Your Vision?

"The only thing worse than being blind is to have sight but no vision."

Helen Keller

 

     The smoker door is closed and the smoke is billowing out of the chimney. Next to the smoker is a grill with brown juicy hamburgers being grilled to perfection. People are eating wonderful collages of foods on their plates and indulging in their favorite beverages. You are with old friends and new. You are experiencing exactly what you wanted to experience when you decided to respond yes to the Evite for the barbeque. This type of gathering is something you look forward to as soon as the weather changes and temperatures begin to warm.

 

       As you sit with your friends a discussions on politics, religion or parenting begins to evolve. You enjoy these types of discussion as well because it allows you to see into the world of others. You have evolved from always wanting to be right to now wanting to listen to others opinions while you also voice yours. You believe in your opinion and want it heard but you no longer want to destroy someone else’s just because it’s different. You also believe that all of these opinions and discussions are less meaningful if no action can come from it. You have matured to the point that life is about growth. That is why it is no longer good enough just to pass knowledge. Knowledge is key but what are you going to do with it. What do you want to do with it? You know now that you must have a vision. You can clearly articulate how things are right now but can you clearly articulate how you want them to be? Without that vision nothing will happen. You might as well not know anything because you will ultimately get the same result as someone who doesn’t. They will have ignorance as an excuse. Your only excuse will be you didn’t take the time to define your vision.

 

Vision Takes Work

 

     Now you shouldn’t be forced to outline your vision for life at a barbeque. That would make a lot of people avoid going to barbeques. Barbeques are meant to be fun and sometimes a vision isn’t fun. Some visions are difficult. Some visions will take work. Some visions will consume you to seasons of time when you just can’t afford to take a break to have fun. Yet those visions are non negotiable if you want to live a successful life. The funny thing is you can’t even measure your success without a vision. Your success is based on how you see life and the results you desire. Other people can’t define your success. Unfortunately some people allow that to happen but the people that allow that to happen are the people with no vision. We will go out on a limb and assume you have vision. You may not have a defined it yet but you have it. If you have defined it then you understand how important it was to define it at that time.

 

Knowledge is Power 

 

     It is a well-known fact that knowledge is power. It is power because the more knowledgeable you are the better chance you have of navigating your life properly along your journey. Knowledge gives you sight and without knowledge you are blind to the things that are happening around you. This knowledge will help you handle the circumstances around you. However, all knowledge isn’t going to help you. Knowing what happened on the latest episode of your favorite show doesn’t help you much. Knowing which celebrities are dating and which have broken up won’t help you either; unless you run a celebrity wedding planning company. Even knowing how many people were killed in the latest terrorist attack isn’t going to help you much; unless you are worried one of your relatives may have been there.

 

     There are of course multitudes of knowledge that will help you. Knowing how your government works and how decisions are made can help you get some legislature passed to improve your community. Knowing how mutual fund fees are determined and eventually charged can help you maximize the returns from your hard earned money. Knowing what makes your spouse feel unloved or disrespected can help you avoid those actions to ensure you have a growing and vibrant relationship for decades to come. Knowing your customers business goals will help you formulate how you can help them reach their goals while improving your own bottom line. 

 

The Math

 

     Some of the things you will learn will be displeasing. Some of the things you learn will be uplifting. Regardless of what you learn none of it is important if you don’t do anything with it. That is where vision comes to the discussion. Take all of the knowledge that you have and use it to formulate a vision. If you don’t feel comfortable that you have enough knowledge then go out and gain more knowledge. Yet, do not fall into that trap of believing you have all the knowledge. There is always something more to learn. This is how we grow. You will know when you feel comfortable enough with the knowledge you have to formulate your vision. Once that vision is formulated you can take the next step and began taking action to make that vision a reality. You were put on this earth to create. The only way to create is to take action and make something happen. Having a vision is critical to creating the desired results you want in life. It is a simple math. 

 

You + Knowledge = Vision

Vision + Action = Desired Results 

 

The summation of all the desired results you get along your journey in life will define your success. If you are missing anything from any of the factors of the above equations you will jeopardize the results you get along your journey.

 

     Dr. Martin Luther King had a vision when it came to his children and America. His vision was “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” His knowledge of the state of America at that time helped him determine that vision. He took vast action to make that vision a reality. Those actions lead to numerous desired results. Only Dr. King can measure his success because this was his vision. Yet, we all can say that because of his actions America is in a better place. Because of his vision many people are living different lives than they would if he hadn’t taken action. This doesn’t mean that his vision is a reality but it does mean that he took some great actions because of his vision. Once you define your vision you can do the same. Take the time today to either work on your vision or define it. No matter how much knowledge you have without defining your vision you might as well be blind. As always I wish you the best and remind you to enjoy the journey.

 

With gratitude,

Drew