What is a Vision
Most people think they’re not good at discipline and that’s why they’re not achieving the life they want. It’s not so much that people struggle from a lack of discipline as they do from a lack of vision.
People think they need more discipline. I hear:
“Rory, I know I need more discipline.” Or, “I have someone on my team that needs more discipline.”
But they may actually need more vision.
One of the most underutilized assets of a disciplined person is vision.
The amount of our endurance is directly proportionate to the clarity of our vision.
When we see something that we want in our life, when we have a clear vision of something we’re trying to earn or achieve or do or have, the fact that we can see it so clearly creates a context.
A context for us to endure pain.
For us to make sacrifices.
For us to be disciplined.
There is a payoff.
That payoff creates the context, the atmosphere, and the environment by which your discipline engages automatically.
Self-Discipline Training
I’ve come to learn that most people aren’t great at creating vision. To do so, we have to think long term.
There is no context for making sacrifices if we don’t:
- Have a clear vision
- Spend much time thinking about it, or
- We think it’s not possible
Our bodies and our brains default to doing whatever is safest, whatever is most comfortable. So, you have to learn to think long term.
As you think long term, a number of powerful things happen:
1. When you know exactly what you want, you start thinking farther out into the future.
2. As you are clearer about the long-term goals, the short-term decisions become clearer.
3. It becomes very apparent what you should say yes to and what you should say no to. The things that you should do and that you shouldn’t do almost become natural.
The clearer you are about your long-term goals, the more obvious it becomes what decisions you need to make in the short term.
Create a Personal Mission Statement
Perhaps you were told not to dream.
Or you were told to get your head out of the clouds.
It’s the worst possible advice that somebody could have ever given you. The reality is that the ultra-performers, the multipliers, the winners, and the leaders are the ones who spend the most time dreaming.
Spend some time thinking about your mission — what you want to achieve. Then think long term and watch those dreams become a reality.
What do you want to achieve? Leave me a comment below.
