What does your future look like? How will you make the world a better place? There is Japanese have a proverb that says, “Vision without action is a daydream, action without vision is a nightmare.” One of the great lines from the Bible is in Proverbs: “Without vision the people will perish.” It is wisdom that should not go unheeded. If you look back on history, all the greats started with a vision. I don’t need to list them because you’ve already thought about the ones you know. It was something they believed in, something they wanted to become or some change they wanted to affect that drove them to their big goal. It was a vision of the future that carried them to summon the intestinal fortitude to keep going no matter what obstacles got in their way.
The point is that your vision should be the force behind your actions as well as the guiding principle to which everything you do is measured. From the name on your sign to the color of your garbage cans, all of it should be measured against your vision. If they aren’t, then you’re off course. That is why it is so important to create a roadmap to your envisioned future.
Along the way you’ll have milestones you need to reach to get there. Do you have your roadmap of goals written down? Is it posted in a place you can see when you get up, or go to the office every day and again when you go to bed or leave for the day? If you have a strong vision that you are emotionally invested in and post it in a place where you can see it, you’ll be driven to reach it all the more.
Finding your vision in the first place is difficult. As you look back on your life there is a common thread. There may be more than one, but for the most part you’ll see a pattern. The skills, talents, core competencies and all the things you’ve accomplished will contribute to this thread and provide a clue as to where you should be headed. The goal is to divine your destination and the shortest route to it. So many small business owners fail to take the time in the early stages of their enterprise to do this. Many just go on the premise that if they provide the product or service that the rest will just take care of itself. If your business model sounds like this, I have one question: Why do it?
The reason you started may have been the money, or that people found value in your skills, or you saw a hole in the market that needed filling. These aren’t bad reasons, but they shouldn’t be the main reason. Your life’s goal should be the main reason. I’ve met a lot of folks in the last year; brilliant, talented people. The most successful always have a plan.
Do you have a vision and a plan to achieve it?