Is Having A Vision Enough

Do you like games? I guess, like me, it depends on what sort (stop it – where is your mind going?). Well let’s play a little game – I promise it’s not a trick.

I want you to think about something you have achieved in your life. It can be something big or something small, but it needs to be something that was important to you. And it has to be something that you knew you were going to achieve. There are some things in life that you just know you are going to do. It could be a skill you wanted to acquire, it could be learning to drive, perhaps it was buying a specific car, or going on holiday to a particular place.

Got it?

OK great. Now here’s the thing. Have you ever thought about WHY it was that you knew you were going to achieve that, and why there are other things that you may not have achieved but wanted to?

How about if you harness that magic secret and reproduce it?

Well I know you can. It’s all about vision. But there is a piece that most “guru’s” miss out about vision. Because having a vision itself is not enough. Yeah, you can visualise yourself in Barbados, but that doesn’t mean you are going there for your holidays this year (unless you are my mate Carole).

Why Having a Vision is Not Enough

Let’s take the example of passing your driving test. Before I had passed my test, before I had even had my first lesson, I would think things like “when I pass my test I will be able to go to town whenever I want.” “When I have passed my test I won’t have to sit here at the bus stop getting wet through ever again” (what can I say – it rains a lot in Yorkshire!).

You see the important thing here was my language. WHEN I have passed my test, not - IF I pass my test. Not - I want to pass my test. Not - I’d really like to pass my test. As far as I was concerned it was a done deal. There was not even a tiny question in my mind about ‘whether’ I would pass my test. It was just a question of when because it was already a done deal.

Some coaches will tell you that you have to visualise every little detail. I think they’re wrong. Now I am not saying you shouldn’t be clear on what you want. Exactly the opposite actually. You should be very clear on that – the outcome. But the detail? And being able to SEE it in your mind’s eye. Well, it can’t hurt but it’s not the key. How do I know that?

Well, when I thought about when I was going to be able to drive, I had never even had a lesson, I had no idea what the mechanics were to be able to ACTUALLY drive. So clearly, I couldn’t visualise it. though I did try. At first I thought I wanted a female instructor, and then 2 months later I thought my Dad might be better - and then finally I found the right instructor for me. And 80 lessons later (lol) I passed first time!! So even though the details changed, I never gave up, because it was a done deal - I saw myself as a driver, even before I was.

And some people just aren’t visual people – they can hear stuff in their heads (nope not funny voices…although maybe…sometimes!!), they can smell what the sea will smell like – they can imagine the sun on their skin, but they just aren’t good at visualising.

Well, if that’s you DON’T WORRY – it isn’t the key. It really isn’t.

You know what is the key? The key is around accessing your emotions. Feeling the thing as done. When you have certainty about something – it happens. You are basically saying to the universe – to quote Jean Luc Picard from Start Trek - “Make it So”, and the universe listens and responds.

A friend of mine told me that the minute she saw her current husband (she has only had one), she knew she was going to marry him. She didn’t know how, when or where, but she just knew it. 5 years later, they were married.

I have another friend who wanted to run her own business by the time she was 40. She was 16 the first time this came to her. She had no-one in her family who had ever run a business, she didn’t know the first thing about running a business. She had no idea of what TYPE of business. But guess what, at 39 – she opened her first business. So - VISION in terms of VISUALISING, is just not important. It’s a ‘nice to have’ not an essential. And I would argue that it actually helps when you aren’t too set on the details, as it means you are open to the universe delivering you the right thing / person / experience for you.

This week, an audio of an interview with Steve Jobs was released called ‘The Future Isn’t What It Used to Be’.  It was mind blowingly fantastic. Because Jobs (who was a true visionary), was talking about mobile phones, ipads, wifi, years before these things were invented, years before we even believed they were possible. Even Jobs said that speech recognition tech was going to be tricky.

The thing is – he knew this stuff was going to happen. OK, he didn’t refer to actual words mobile phones, ipads, wifi. The detail wasn’t clear to him at that point. He just knew that it WOULD happen. And he was right. Because he was instrumental in making it happen. He had a vision of the future. He knew how that would feel. He had it in his mind as a ‘done deal’.

If I ask you what your life will be like in 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, can you tell me? Most people are very unclear about what they want. They know what they DON’T want (this crappy job/car/relationship) and they know what they would LIKE (a million quid/win the lottery/to be able to retire NOW), but they have no clear vision about what they believe is possible for them.

Once you have that clarity of vision – in terms of the OUTCOME, and how that will FEEL. Then you can plan it, and take action – which are also necessary bits. The universe did not plonk an iPad down on Steve’s desk and say – there you are mate – job done!  He still had to plan it, create it, test it, make it happen. But none of that can even start until you have your vision.

Without a vision, you are in a dark room without your phone torch app. Once you have your vision, it’s like turning on the torch, and the more you plan it’s like turning on the room light and seeing the whole picture and then – when you act – well that’s like your app turns into the sun and you can see for miles, you can see the future beyond your initial goal.  Planning and taking action are perhaps the subject of another blog, but you HAVE to have vision.

A year ago, me and my partner in crime Marion Bevington, sat down (well a little over a year ago) and created the Find Your WHY concept. We knew it was going to work for our WHYS Women and Men – of whom we had none at the time. And we knew that in 12 months’ time (TOMORROW) we would be sitting down for our 1 Year Anniversary – with our fantastic tribe of WHYS Women and Men. We did not know how, or where, but we DID know it was going to happen.

And if you are joining us tomorrow then here are the details again, please note if you haven't already booked I'm afraid all the tickets have gone.

Hope to see you tomorrow and if not – then let’s catch up about YOUR vision sometime.

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Finally, here are some other recent posts I have written:

• Why Positive Thinking Alone Is Shit
• Why Positive Thinking Alone Is Shit Part 2
• Why Positive Thinking Alone Is Shit Part 3
• Why Positive Thinking Alone Is Shit Part 4
• Quarter Life Crisis - Label Or Opportunity?