Knowing Your Vision

Before you can get anywhere, you need to know where it is you're going. If you don't know where you're going, you certainly don't the road that will lead you there, which means there is little chance anyone will follow someone who is so lost!

The thing about following through on a Vision, is that Vision has to be something that has meaning for you. It can't be something you think you should want, nor can be a dream that others are forcing upon you. Your Vision needs to come from your own heart, it has to have meaning and importance to you.

This sounds obvious and easy, but it really isn't. To a large degree we are all products of our upbringing. In North America, the ideaology of capitalism rules. Those with the most toys win. We're conditioned to believe that the pursuit of happiness means the pursuit of money. You need to get a good job so that you can buy a big new house and a shiny new car. Once you have the big house and nice car you'll be happy.

But will you?

For most of the answer is "no". Once we have the house and car, we then want more and won't be happy until have those things. Maybe these things are: a vacation property, a boat, a home entertainment theater...

Don't get me wrong, I don't think you should establish a goal for yourself, achieve it, then retire from life entirely. Heck no, I think you should continue to strive for bigger and better goals. But that doesn't mean you can't be happy with what you already have as well. If you already have the new house and car be happy with that WHILE you are working towards that goal of purchasing a lakefront cottage.

I may be getting a little off topic. This section is more appropriate for the attitude section of this Blog.

Okay, so let's get back to establishing what you really want. It's really not that hard to do, but it does take a little bit of time. If you don't take the time, you may end up chasing a superficial goal.

Here's the exercise: Imagine money is not an object. You're Donald Trump and if you want something you just sign a blank cheque and tell your assistant to go get it for you.

What is it your assistant would get for you? A new career? A relationship? A bigger house? A better body?

If there were no limitations in your life, what is the one thing that you would most want?

Once you think you have something, lay down on your bed or the couch and allow yourself to daydream about it. If now isn't the best time to do this, save this exercise until you go to bed tonight. Then see how long you are able to daydream about that thing.

If you are able to hold onto and develop your dream for greater than 15 minutes then you are probably on the right track. But if that thought disappears within the first 5-10 minutes, then you should probably question whether you have chosen the right Vision or not.

I frequently think how nice it would be to have a new car. But when I try and think about the car, within a couple of minutes I have simply driven the car to the place I really want to be. Maybe I've driven it to the river for a canoe trip, or maybe I've driven it to a resort vacation with my wife. This tells me that canoe trips and nice vacations are more important than a car.

Thus, if I work and work, and finally save up enough money to by that $50,000 SUV, how happy am I going to be?

Probably not very.

In this situation there are going to be a few stressors working against me. Society would think it perfectly normal for me to work 10 hour days in a job I hate, but one that pays well and allows me to buy a nice car. There's nothing weird or unusual about that at all. But what would society think of me if I opted out of taking on a full time job and instead chose to work seasonally at a ski hill so I could take the summers off and canoe every day for 3 months straight!

I would be called "weird" or "lazy" or "unmotivated" or "a slacker", wouldn't I?

But what if I was living my dream and happy every day of my life? How silly is my lifestyle then?

Think about it. Why are you motivated to do the things you do?

Are you following your true dreams with integrity?

When you close your eyes in your bed tonight, wipe all the stressors from your day from your mind. Where would you like to go, what would you like to be?

After 4 or 5 nights you should start coming back to the same things. It is these things that you most covet.

Next week, I'll talk about how to start turning those dreams into reality.

Blog Objectives

I'm brand new to this "blogging" world and hopefully it works out...

The purpose of this blog is to pass along some of my thoughts on leadership and the development of teams.

I think as a general outline to follow I'll begin with "leadership" and then elaborate further on the roles of leaders within a team.

So to start, we need to ask ourselves what is it that makes a leader? What qualities within an individual to we look for before we are willing to follow him/her?

If we were to look at some of histories greatest leaders: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Margaret Thatcher, Winston Churchill, Helen Keller, Nelson Mandela... just to name a few, we need to ask what do all of these individuals have in common?

They all have varying degrees of intelligence, charisma, passion, competence, etc. but the one think they all share is a vision and direction. These people could all envision a change for the future and the roadmap they would take to get there. The first person these people lead was themselves. They didn't necessarily worry about who was behind them. They were prepared to travel that road whether they be alone or amongst a crowd of thousands.

Think about a team of sled dogs for a second. What is the lead dog worried about? His destination. That's it. That's all. Once he's in the reigns and given the signal to go, he's off. Pulling on his harness, focused on the trail, with all of his might. The rest of the pack sees his focus, trusts his abilities, follows and supports him.

The lead dog is not bothered with each individual dog in the team. He doesn't run around in circles from one dog to another asking them their motivation for being on the team. He doesn't worry about this stuff, because like our human leaders, he's going to his destination whether you join him or not.

So before you can lead, you need to know where you're going. You also need to know why you're going there. If you are on a path to a destination with no conviction, you are unlikely to be followed.

This is where this blog will start then. Self Leadership.

Using exerpts from my book, V.E.A.R. Toward Success, I'll be sharing with you how to use Vision, Energy, Attitude, and Resolve to achieve any goal or desire you choose. Should your desire be one that helps with the common good, then I guarantee once you are on track, committed and driven, people will share in your passion and you will have followers to lead.

If all goes well, I expect to post a blog no less than once a week.

Stay tuned...