How the Well of Hope is Critical to a Successful Vision

Finally!

The 5 Tactical Initiatives that you must nurture to keep the ‘well of hope’ full when times are good and draw from when things are not so good, or downright bad.

The First is Vision

Your Vision, what you want to be, to do, have and give in your life … in all areas of your life … should be a living and breathing document and image that is clear and palpable.

You have to revisit and rewrite your vision on a regular basis. And not just read, but study and think into it. Are these still the images I see for my future.

I practice this and I coach my clients through this same process.

You are doing something for a purpose, right? Whether it’s your business, relationships, health or other areas of your life …. there is a reason, a purpose, a ‘why’ to what you are doing.

What are all the things that are necessary to make all of these reasons, these purposes, come to fruition. Everything! And what are the images you see as a result of fulfilling these purposes.

What are the things that have to be done for them to come to life but also …

… you MUST imagine and feel the results of the future NOW.

All those goals you have pursued are a part of your vision to fulfill your reasons or purposes in every area of your life.

But envision not just what gets you there, but you ARE there.

What does that look like? Where do you live? Who is in your life? What are you having for breakfast? Where are you having it? Where is your family?

Every single detail. This is your VISION.

Look at it, study it, rewrite it and renew your commitment to it and to all of your purposes in every area of life.

It's very easy to get a ‘high’ from our vision of fulfilling our ‘why’ but when times are tough it’s not so easy anymore.

When tough times hit, like we are currently experiencing, and you start to wonder about your ‘why’ it’s not so hard to lose your high.

And so, when we get slammed, either slowly or quickly, we have to tap into why we are doing what we are doing, what we were planning, and especially our vision of that.

Because our thoughts about purpose can be somewhat cerebral but our vision of living out our purpose(s) evokes our emotions and our feelings because we can see it, hear it, touch it, smell it, and yes, even taste it.

Rough times elicit fear, and the fear of failure, and your mindset comes under attack. Am I cut out for this after all? Can I really do this? I don’t have what it takes?

And then you start to measure yourself against others. They still seem to be doing not only fine but making money hand over fist.

You’re doing what they are, you’re doing what they are doing but not getting anywhere or losing ground and those voices of failure are getting louder and louder.

Have you asked yourself, am I living into their vision or MY vision?

You're only divinely equipped to build your vision. You will fail at building their vision!

It is so common to look at the lives of others, wish you had what they have, try to duplicate it and …. Fail.

And when you’re pursuing goals based on what someone else has or is doing, when things get tough, the energy and passion is just not there to continue.

The faith erodes and the well of hope is dry. It was never being nurtured in the first place.

This is a very difficult situation to deal with in an economic downturn especially if there are financial constraints as well and it will be tough to ride it out.

That is why it is CRITICAL that your purpose, or reasons for why you are doing what you are doing, and your VISION are YOURS and in alignment with what you truly believe and want and see.

When you're paying attention to them when things are good, you're depositing energy into the well of hope.

And when things are bad, you draw from that well of hope to feed your vision, you stand on the faith of what you’re doing, and use that energy drawn to face down the fear of failure.

This in turn feeds your efforts and determination to clear out the obstacles in the path of your vision, and better define what goals you have to put in place to make sure you still get there.

It’s not a magic pill. It’s not a panacea. It doesn’t replace required business or life strategic planning.

But it does make it a lot more likely you can withstand the storms that inevitably come.

Without a solid vision, fed by the faith of your purpose, and the hope of your vision, when things aren't going you’re way, it’s common to be immobilized by fear and in emotionally disarray.

With a solid vision aligned with your truthful desires, you will still have some fear, but you will feed off the hope of that clear vision and run back and take it.

That is why it is so important to nurture that vision. Nurture that hope. Take the initiative and really think into your vision every so often. Perhaps tweak it, change it, adapt it or whatever it takes to hold onto it.

Your vision is a snapshot in time, appointed for a particular season. Seasons change and so visions change, even if subtly.

We are now seeing an economic downturn. Your passionate about why you do what you do, who you do it with, how you do, and where you do it, but the vision path is unclear.

If you know what it is and why it is the way it is, you will be more nimble and flexible adapting to the unforeseen circumstances.

So, keep your vision actually written out and somewhere where you can see it as a reminder to always be thinking about it, and occasionally to be thinking into it deeply.

Remind yourself, inspire yourself of all the good that you do so that you can hold onto a life that is inspired, empowered, meaningful and abundant.

Your vision should stir you. It should stir hope. It should fill up the well of hope, so that when you need it, you can draw from it to fill your vision back up. 

Fill that spark of anticipation, expectation and motivation in action. 

See you next time for the Second Initiative ...