Vision

I've heard different versions of questions related to regret which has led me to ask myself what I would do differently if given the chance. There's not much I would change, but there is one decision I've questioned multiple times. As a teenager, I did not apply to the university I dreamed of attending because I didn't want to burden my family with the cost of out-of-state tuition. Though not often, I have had moments when I wondered how my life would have turned out if I'd at least applied to the university that I'd never visited, but envisioned myself being a part of all those years ago.

In July, I joined one of the most well-known university systems. Working for a systemwide office, I've had the opportunity to visit nine University of California campuses. I attended a meeting with a marketing director at one particular campus and she handed me a box. She said, "I wanted to give you a small gift to welcome you." I smiled. Twenty years later, I was being welcomed to very university I wanted to attend as an undergraduate student. I told my colleague the significance of her words and her gift and she responded, "Well, now you are officially part of the UC family."

My desire to be a part of that university was limited. I reduced the possibility of joining that university to a student experience and because I didn't attend as a student, I thought I'd missed my chance. Life still managed to lead me to the very same place. I hadn't missed my opportunity. My opportunity was simply different from what I imagined.

Maybe you have a vision that hasn't played out. That's not adequate reason to believe that your vision is faulty. It could just be that the vision hasn't played out yet. Vision is not limited to your timetable. Vision is not limited to your current circumstances. Vision isn't even limited to your concept of possibility. If you've had a longstanding vision for your life, don't let it go. Don't let the passage of time, detours, negative feedback, successes of others, or your own self-doubt cause you to forget or neglect your vision. One day, what you envisioned could unfold right before your eyes in a way you didn't even imagine.

Update the Vision

Rest in peace, vision board

A few years ago, there was a big push for the creation of vision boards. The philosophy behind it suggested that there was encouragement and accountability in visually focusing on the aspects of life we want for ourselves. Having created a vision board and displaying it in my bedroom I can attest that it was effective in providing motivation and a mental kick when needed. However, I recently looked at my vision board and that same impact I initially had faltered. It became more of a fixture and held the significance of something nice and nostalgic to view. I couldn't hang it up. It no longer served its purpose. It was time to update the vision.

With no fanfare or a second look, I walked my vision board out to a dumpster and let it fly. In order to update the vision I needed to release the last one. It was created years ago—prior to a life-changing trip around the world, prior to the death of my father, prior to the restructuring of my circle of support, prior to relocating, prior to getting a new job. That vision board was created during a time when my life resembled nothing that it does today. My vision needed to change because my life changed.

Have you thought about a vision for your life? I'm not referring to that generic, simplistic, contrived answer we supply because we've flipped to a new calendar year. I'm talking about an intentional, focused, and purposeful time of reflection. It's amazing that we can set and follow vision and mission statements for the organizations and companies we work for or serve, but when it comes to setting personal directives to guide us through our lives we are satisfied with essentially 'winging it'. We get up, day after day, living habitually instead of purposefully. Let's commit to at least being as focused—and work our way up to becoming more—on self-improvement than we have been when following the vision of the leadership at our workplaces.

Take the time to create or update your vision. You are worth more than a habitual life; you are worth a purposeful life. Your life is entirely too meaningful to live in anything less than purpose. Think on purpose. Dream on purpose. Live on purpose. But first, before you can live on purpose you must update the vision.

Reach Instead of Retreat

There is a gap between our reality and the future we envision. For some that gap is small. Some have taken necessary steps to approach their desired lifestyle and have consistently progressed toward their vision. Others have such a large gap between reality and desire that they are too frightened, overwhelmed, and discouraged to even try. No matter where you fall on the spectrum or how at odds your reality is with your desire it is always in your best interest to reach instead of retreat.

The problem that most people have with reaching is that it requires more. To reach is to stretch and take those extra steps or work those extra hours when everybody else is comfortable, taking a break or resting. Reaching requires strength. To reach is to step out on your own at times, leaving behind comforts and familiarity. Reaching requires better. To reach is to leave behind good and acceptable in order to pursue great and incredible. Simply put, reaching is harder.

Retreating is far less complicated. Retreating leads you on a crowded, boring, and unfulfilling road. To retreat is to surrender, go back, give up, and return to a place, lifestyle, or group of people you once left or removed yourself from. To retreat is to throw up your hands and decide that your life and your dreams aren’t worth the extra effort.

Consider the gap between your reality and your desire. Have you been reaching to close that gap or have you been retreating and making that gap larger? What you’re afraid of is not bigger than the greatness inside of you. Whatever fatigue you may experience while reaching is not nearly as exhausting as realizing that you’ve spent your entire life working on someone else’s vision. Whatever temporary discomfort you may feel as you stretch yourself will permanently develop a much stronger and more purposeful you. When you examine your life and the direction it is headed please keep in mind that easy doesn't equal living a life at ease.