Visit Your Vision Daily!

To reach your leadership destination, you must carry a rousing picture in your mind of where you are headed. Your vision should describe your aspirations for the future, but it doesn’t have to spell out the means by which to achieve those desired ends. For example, your vision could be as big as “write a book by end of the year,” but it doesn’t have to specify how many pages you have to write each day. A vision should teeter on the edge of unattainable yet within reach. A vision needs to be both ambitious and obtainable.

So what is the trick to making something so seemingly paradoxical…possible?

To motivate action, your personal vision should not stir emotion to act, but it should be in sight at all times. One of the chief reasons visions never materialize is the failure to visit it daily.

Every person who ever dreamed and realized their dreams, dreamed big. And they carried those dreams in the forefront. A goal in plain sight is a goal in sight. It is a powerful reminder to keep yourself on track.

Consider these two “ordinary” people whose “visible visions” led them to do “extraordinary things.”

Robin Wilson Home is an eco-friendly design company. The founder, Robin, chose to enter the business because she herself had suffered from allergies and asthma throughout her life. Her vision was to provide educational products to teach people about an eco-friendly lifestyle. She shares, “We are able to provide tips and solutions to concerned families. It is a wonderful feeling to see the look of relief on their faces when they realize these solutions are also affordable.”

When asked to comment on her vision, she revealed that the words on a paperweight that she received for her 30th birthday inspired the future of her career: what would you attempt to do, if you knew you could not fail? These words led to an answer… Build a company that helps people, teaches people how to live in an eco-healthy home environment, and find a way to be creative every day. That paperweight still sits on her desk, so when an idea pops up, she can respond appropriately by having those words guide her.

Marc Mero, founder of Champion of Choices, Inc., keeps his goals on post-its, stuck all around his desktop computer to remind himself of the important vision of his organization: to empower young people and at-risk youth to achieve lifelong success based on their own ability to make positive life choices. Once an underprivileged child in a deprived neighborhood, Marc had a vision to be famous one day. He wrote his dreams down in a diary every day and carries it around still at age 50. Marc went on to become a world-renown boxer and wrestler, thus realizing his dream. Today, he travels around the world speaking to young people with a new vision: to inspire them to overcome challenges and have hope for the future. Through his school presentations, Marc has inspired thousands of young people. Students relate to Marc’s story about growing up in a broken family and dreaming of a better future. Marc’s early athletic successes were sidelined during years of rebellion, substance abuse and bad choices. Following a series of personal tragedies including the loss of more than 30 of his friends & family members and while reflecting on his life, Marc was compelled to create a program that would allow him to reach out to students and encourage them to live compassionate, fulfilling lives. Marc continues to set daily goals that support his vision, and he believes that if your vision is in front of you every day, that you’ll make it happen.

“To choose a direction, an executive must have developed a mental image of the possible and desirable future state of the organization. This image, which we call a vision, may be as vague as a dream or as precise as a goal or a mission statement.”
- Warren Bennis

Join our webinar on August 25, 2010 3pm EDT to learn more about how important an ambitious, yet obtainable vision is to leadership success.