Turn Your Vision into Your Reality!

Don't miss the interview above where my wife Ria Story asked me some great questions. In it, I share some of my personal struggles of overcoming my short temper, rebuilding my relationship with my teenage son who hated me from age 15-19, and lots more.

Two Men and Their Words Inspired Me to Change My Life

"Independent will is our capacity to act. It gives us the power to transcend our paradigms, to swim upstream, to rewrite our scripts, to act based on principle rather than reacting based on emotion or circumstance." ~ Stephen R. Covey

I want to acknowledge the late Stephen R. Covey. He wrote The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People which provided my initial leadership insight and has been the foundation for my personal transformation (watch video above). After reading hundreds of leadership books, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is still #1 on my all-time favorites list.

"To lead transformationally, you must first live transformed." ~ John C. Maxwell

I want to thank John C. Maxwell for his endless inspiration and example and for mentoring me in person and through his many leadership books, especially The 5 Levels of Leadership which remains #2 on my all-time favorites list.

A Few Thought-Provoking Questions

• Do you like feeling stuck? Financially? Relationally? Personally? Professionally?
• Do you believe that to be where you are there was a time when you were uncomfortable? Personally? Professionally?
• Do you believe a vision you developed in the past brought you to where you are today? Personally? Professionally?

"Good questions can inspire people to look for alternative answers, to find resources that they have not yet explored." ~ Cy Wakeman

Thought is the Foundation of Choice

If you already knew what you need to know, you would already be where you want to go.

Until we change what we think, we will not change what we do.

Our thoughts are only real to us. No one else is aware of them. They can and do lead to other private thoughts. However, they only become known to others when they lead us into conscious action, when we make a physical choice.

When we act, our thoughts are translated to the world as choices, and who we are on the inside is revealed on the outside.

The Choice Formula:

Thought + Emotion + Action = Choice

• Thought – something we are consciously aware of in our mind
• Emotion – something we subconsciously feel based on our thoughts
• Action – something we do based on our thoughts and emotions

“The outer world of circumstance shapes itself to the inner world of thought.” ~ James Allen

Choice is the Foundation of Vision

Developing a vision, big or small, is a choice.

We must think on purpose about our purpose.

There is no conscious action without conscious thought.

When it comes to creating a vision for ourselves, our life, our team, or our organization, we must intentionally tap into our passion and purpose to begin to think of what could be. We can turn our potential into our reality.

The quality of our choices depends on the quality of our thoughts.

At this level of thinking, we choose to dream of what is possible. We let our imaginations run wild.

• What do we want to be?
• Who do we want to become?
• Where do we want to go?

We don’t ask, “Can we do it?” We ask, “What is possible?”

An effective vision taps into our strengths not our weaknesses. We will have the greatest impact and receive the greatest reward when we stay in our strength zone.

“Vision is not enough. It must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs.” ~ Vaclav Havel

Vision is the Foundation of Hope

Several years ago, I discovered a rather odd but impactful story about the power of hope. I was amazed by it!

An experiment was being performed with laboratory rats to measure their motivation to live under different circumstances.

Scientists dropped a rat into a jar of water that had been placed in total darkness (no vision), and they timed how long the animal would continue swimming before it gave up hope and allowed itself to drown. They found the rat usually lasted little more than three minutes without hope.

Then, they dropped another rat into the same kind of jar, but instead of placing it in total darkness, they allowed a ray of light (hope) to shine into it. Under those circumstances, the rat kept swimming for 36 hours!

That’s 720 times longer than the one in the dark without hope! Because the rat could see (vision), it continued to have hope.

If that is true for a rat, imagine the amount of hope a strong and powerful personal vision will provide to each of us. We are much more capable of imagining and reasoning ourselves into a brighter future, one filled with light instead of darkness.

Once we have a clearly defined vision, we must again ask ourselves, “Is it possible my vision could become my reality?”

We should also seek reinforcement from those around us who believe in us and our mission. Without hope, our vision will fade into darkness just as it did with the rat. But with hope, the light continues to shine brightly on our vision giving us a reason to “keep swimming.”

We must maintain hope that our vision will become our reality.

• Knowing it is in fact possible will give us hope.
• Having faith in the vision will give us hope.
• Having people believe in us and our vision will give us hope.
• Knowing others have done what we want to do will give us hope.

Hope is not a strategy. However, hope is necessary to develop a strategy.

Without hope, you won’t develop a strategy. ?Without hope, your vision is doomed. Without hope, you will remain bound.

“Where there is no belief or hope for growth to be real, it is no longer attempted. People, or organizations, enter into a state of sameness, and as we have seen, that is really when things are no longer alive. Death is taking over not growth.” ~ Henry Cloud

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That's what I do.?Feel free to reach out.

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My cell is 334-728-4143.

My email is [email protected]