Vision

Welcome everyone, to the Vivid Grace Podcast. I’m your host Wes. Join me as we strive to live out our passions and know an abundant life.

Before we begin, I wanted to thank everyone for the support. I was so encouraged last Wednesday by the number of people who reached out to me and commented on the quality and discussion of the podcast. I was beyond thrilled and humbled by it. A few offered only critical feedback, but such is the reality of what I do. I am well aware there are rough edges in my production to be smoothed out. Right now my focus is putting out content that resonates with listeners while honing my knowledge and skill in this area. I appreciate the patience you all are showing me as I fine tune my abilities. This was why I had wanted to take December to release episodes where I was the only variable in the hopes that when I share the interviews, I’ll be able to represent each guest well in quality of sound and production. All in all, It was so incredible to hear that my efforts and time have not been a waste for either myself or for you.

Last week we discussed that Values aren’t preferences but that they are engrained in us. We considered common barriers to seeing those Values lived out. And looked at how Values work to create a fulfilled life versus a dissatisfied one. If you haven’t listened to last week’s episode I would invite you to do so. It’s not needed for today’s topic, but I think you’ll get more out of this episode if you have. Today we’re going to build upon what we discussed and look at the topic of Vision. Values and Vision work hand in hand to create a fulfilled, balanced, and authentic life.

You might think when you hear me say Vision that I’m speaking in the prophetic since. I do think I could rock one of those purple, blue sparkly shawls wrapped around my head as I gaze into a crystal ball. However this is not what I’m speaking about. When I say "Vision" I’m talking about what you’re able to envision even though it hasn’t come to pass. For those familiar with the Old Testament of Scripture there are countless records of the prophets speaking of things that will happen, but at that time had not. When we talk about Vision this is in less the sense of “I had a literal dream” or “God told me” or “while meditating I connected with my inner chi.” This is more the concept of building and planning something that exists only within your mind.

I have a vision where the people I come into contact with will know their passions and be able to live them out. My vision is that people I partner with would come alive and know fully realized lives – hence fulfilled, balanced, and authentic. I also have a vision to be like Daniel and Joseph in the Bible, one whom leaders turn to for wisdom. For me, these are big ideas and at times I wonder if they’re foolish or not. But when I forget what I envision I look at it again. I remind myself so I stay on track. It’s easy to get distracted or discouraged that’s why we need reminders. Whether that’s a person, or a note, a picture, an alarm, or even an unexpected event.

What is your Vision? Have you ever thought about it? What is it in your own life you want to see come to pass? As with Values, it’s not uncommon for people to have no idea. We don’t get asked this question very often. Worse, culturally we have embraced Nihilism (the belief that nothing matters) and view possibility through a very jaded pair of lenses. As I mentioned in the first episode, I’m a realist, but part of that also means that it is realistic to build new things. Our Founding Fathers had a Vision for a nation where government was kept in check through limited power and generally accepted values. Martin Luther had his infamous Vision where a person wasn’t judged by the color of their skin. William Wallace and Joan of Ark each had a vision of their nation being free from English rule. Today I doubt many would mock their Visions. Then what is it about our own Visions that we can’t accept?

Vision gives us direction and an image to paint. Ask me to draw an image of a tiger stalking a gazelle in the jungle and you’ll probably get some poorly drawn stick figures. But if the image is there and all I need to do is color it I can do that all day. Vision operates in the same sense. It provides clarity and a greater sense of being, because few people like being in that nebulous sea of uncertainty. Without Vision we become like a ship tossed from one wave to the next. We have nothing to work towards, no milestones to celebrate, and can easily slip into that kind of cheapened, miserable life I talked about.

Let me give an example. The first episode of this series I recorded probably a dozen times. Every time something would happen: I’d say the wrong thing, I’d stutter, there was a background noise I either couldn’t remove or was too distracting, or I didn’t like my tone. You could argue I was being too picky, but I want you to listen to these and walk away from it with a sense of quality behind these episodes. Now it was right around Thanksgiving, so not that long ago, and one of my goals for that day was to finally record the first episode. I took the twenty five minutes and thought it was good. Then I listened to it and tried to polish. It was awful. I kept losing my place. When I tried to record a segment it recorded over other segments. It was incredibly frustrating and discouraging. My poor cats. I let out this howl that sounded like Huge Jackman as Wolverine. I was so angry I wanted to give up and curse my way out of the situation. Then I started thinking about how important creating this podcast was and that made things even worse.

“God, am I beating my head against the wall?” I asked. “Why is it that everything I want to do and build it’s just me? I don’t know anyone else who does a podcast that’s willing to help. I don’t know anyone else who’s written a book that’s willing to help.” I vented because trying to figure out everything on my own was getting to me. A few moments passed and a new thought entered my head, “Write a script.” I had been trying to speak everything from memory and it wasn’t going very well. I sat down, feeling a fresh sense of determination and wrote about 2,000 words.

I looked over it once or twice to make sure I liked the flow. I even read it as a practice run. Then I finally took the time to record it. When I was finished it was the first time I felt excited or as though I had stayed on track! There wasn’t a flood of “umms”, “rights”,or “you knows?”. It sounded so much more cleaned up. There’s obviously room for improvement and I hope to get there, but it was good enough for me to plant the flag and move forward. How does that example relate to Vision? Because when I went to record that episode, and this one for that matter, I had a framework to guide me. At times I still will say something not in the script or scrap a sentence if not an entire paragraph, but it gave me clarity as I went into the recording. And this is exactly what Vision does. Vision gives clarity.

Vision doesn’t tell me what barriers will get in my way. It doesn’t tell me how the details will work out. But it gives me an idea for a path of where I’m at and where I want to be. Vision is so much greater than tasks on a list or a game plan. Vision is a primary aim, an imaginary realm to reach up towards and hopefully grab a hold of. Our Visions will often stem from our Values. When we know what we Value then we know where we can take those Values. Vision is the fertile soil for our Values just as our Values are the structural pillars for our Vision. They go hand in hand and if you’re missing one the other won’t be as complete.

Enough about me, what about you? What is your vision for your life? Don’t start with the drab, safe stuff. I want to know what makes you come alive. What makes you smile and your eyes twinkle? What is that thing you’d ask for if genies were real and could grant three wishes? We get ensnared by trying to be “realists” that we actually become out of touch with reality. At one point space travel, or cell phones, or medications, or indoor plumbing, or Christmas Tree lights, or MyPillow, were nonexistent. They were encapsulated in someone’s mind. As one might take a hammer and nails to construct a shed or a table the ideas had to be constructed.

Don’t think that having Vision means you wake up one day and your Vision has happened. It might be slow. I’ve had a Vision since I was about twenty that I could make an income off of writing and speaking with others. Little by little I’m laying down that foundation and framing out my ideas. Of course, I wish things were easier, but they’re not. This is where the value comes in of incorporating ways to keep on track. As I life Coach I wear the hats of a few different roles, chief among them is to hold someone accountable. When someone says they want to change a behavior, but aren’t, sometimes I need to be the voice to remind them of their vision and how it’s lining up inconsistently with what they’re actually doing.

Other times, they need a friendly reminder. My very first client as a Life Coach came to me with several things she wanted to work on. We’d been speaking for a few weeks and she didn’t think she had made much progress. I helped remind her of her goals and pointed out the steps she had already taken. I could hear the relief and refocusing of her efforts as someone else pointed out that she wasn’t spinning her wheels. Moving slowly? Perhaps, but we all need this sort of support. That’s why I remind people that Life Coaching isn’t just about the people “who really need help” it’s honestly more for the person who also really could use it, but since they have a fulltime job and a home they think they’re fine.

If you don’t know what your vision is then I challenge you to start considering it. It can have layers. It can grow and be refined over time. This isn’t something written in stone but organic as you achieve greater and greater clarity. Next week I’m going to bring to you some points made by Micheal E. Gerber in his book the E-Myth. Though the book is about running your own business his concepts rely heavily on vision and values and he makes some great points for us all to hear.

Before we wrap up there are a few questions that he asks in the book that

I took the time to write down and answer myself. I encourage you to do the same.

You’re more than likely not going to capture the entire spirit of your vision with one simple question. So don’t. Instead ask yourself the following:

How do you want your life to look?

How do you wish your life to be on a day-to-day basis?

What would you like to say you truly know about your life?

How would you want to be with others?

How would you want others to think about you?

What do you want to be doing two years from now? Ten years? Twenty?

Being specific as you can, what would you want to learn during your life? Breaking it down into spiritually, physically, financially, technically, intellectually, relationally,

How much income do you require to do the things you wish to achieve?

What do you measure as success?

What would it look like for others to be impacted?

This all culminates to provide the vision necessary to bring your business (or life efforts in our case) to life and life to your business (efforts). Your Primary Aim, which is detailed in all the answers above, provides you with energy, purpose, and the grit necessary to withstand the day-to-day mill.

Energy. Purpose. And Grit. Those aren’t qualities you can snatch off a shelf or order through Amazon. They take time to develop and need a Vision, or a fertile bed of soil, in order to grow.

Thank you for letting me spend a part of your day with you. I deeply appreciate you listening. If you would like to explore this area of Vision further, either in the Realm of Life Coaching or otherwise, I invite you to email me.

I’ll speak to you next Wednesday. In the meantime let’s be intentional in our efforts to develop fulfilled, balanced, and authentic lives.