Easy Peasy Vision Setting

“If I knew where I was going, I’d know what to do.”

Visions are excellent organizing principles around rallying people, resources, and energy. They’re North Stars that can guide an individual’s future. 

“I want to be a lion tamer when I grow up!”

“And we’ll call it the iPhone.”

“I dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Visions also – IMHO – get way overcomplicated.

This is normal. For so many, they seem like the exclusive realm of tech geniuses, statesmen, or CEOs. But when you break them down, you’ll see they’re for everyone. Your child has visions. Your dog has them. And you can too.

There are millions, but today let’s break it down and focus on 2 kinds of vision:

Visions for your life. 

Visions of partnership.

This morning, when you made breakfast, you probably started with an end result in mind: a smoothie. Bam! That’s a vision, too. 

Visions are pictures of an idealized future state. 

Professional Work Visions

Day to day

What your future life looks, sound, and feels daily. It’s what you actually do, where, and with whom, especially when you’re the decision-maker.

Big Picture

What a positive future looks like for the people whose lives you’ll change–in your team, organization, industry, and global level.

Everyone’s vision is in a state of defining and refining. 

Everyone’s vision. Even Elon Musk’s.

Given what I know about visions, Elon did come out of the gate with the hyperloop and space travel. And visions often start small – clean, affordable car travel.

He started with the version he could imagine, and as he got closer to the first vision, it expanded.

So whatever vision you have or think you should have, it's just the vision you have so far. As you and your career evolve and grow, your vision will expand. The trick is to keep reevaluating over time.

The secret about vision is that it’s not a fixed state. It’s an idea that gets filled in the closer you get to it. Like a canvas that’s never quite done. Vision is REvision.