I heard it said once that vision without action is only a dream, but action without vision is a nightmare. In my first article, The Road To Success - A.C.T.I.O.N., I discussed action. So today, I'd like to discuss vision with you.
The first thing you need to do is to establish what your vision is. In order to accomplish goals, it is very important to be focused. To be focused, there must be something to be focused on.
The reality is the future is coming whether we're ready for it or not, and those who don't create the future they want will have to endure the future they get.
What does your future look like? Take some time and think about what you would like your future to look like. Write your ideas down. Once you have some ideas to work with you can begin developing a plan to create your future.
For example, let's say you are currently employed outside of your home on a full time basis and your vision is to be able to work from home. Now that you have defined your vision it becomes much easier to develop a plan to achieve that vision.
Part of your plan should include research to find out if your vision is realistic or a pipe dream. So using our example of wanting to work from home, you would begin researching options that would provide you with an income from your home. The more research you do, the more focused your vision will become, and the more likely you are to succeed.
Depending on what your vision is, you may get overwhelmed by the size of the task ahead of you. Remember these sayings, the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time and Rome wasn't built in one day.
The next step is breaking the task down into manageable chunks that you can handle.
Completing this step is crucial. Many people give up at this step and get lost in what I call ?action avoidance strategies?. What are action avoidance strategies? Here are a few of them:
Analysis Paralysis
Procrastination
Denial
Lack of Good Reasons to Complete the Task
Fear of the Unknown
Now, once you are 70% of the way to being ready to begin, start moving forward. If you wait until everything is perfect to begin working towards your vision you will never start. The other 30% will unfold as you move forward and this allows you to select, reflect and correct your plan along the way.
Intentions + Action = Results
It's imperative to move out of the planning stage and into the action stage if you want to create your future and accomplish your vision.
