Entertain The Limitlessness Of Possibility

To tackle the challenge of figuring out what to do with our life, we have to get good at an art superior to the prescription described in the previous post titled, How to Develop of A Mission. We have to get good at the art of sketching a vision. They – a mission and a vision – work hand in hand.



The differences that separate them is a bit blurry but we can make do with these (rather crude) distinctions: 

  1. 1. A vision suggests a futuristic outcome and a mission suggests an in-the-moment drive to reach that outcome. 
  2. 2. A vision reveals what lies ahead and a mission makes a way to what lies ahead
  3. 3. A vision induces inspiration and a mission induces perspiration.

Martin Luther King Jr. is famous for his speech which begins with I have a dream. The word dream is a less boring word for vision. A vision – that visual representation of a worthy ideal – is indispensable to addressing problems. It brings clarity to what we feel is wrong and places our plans for reform into focus, distilling, in the process, our sense of mission. 

The idea of "sketching a vision" may prove a source of discomfort to some, so it can be useful to clarify. A lot of the discomfort tends to arise from the paradigm that a vision is a stream of mental images which appear at unexpected moments. A vision is something accorded, a revelation – the discovery of which we play no part in creating or "sketching". This view can be sympathized with. Part of the reason it exists is due to a culture which celebrates success in a way that shuts off the working bits that allows for it. We get bombarded by stories of "overnight success", so that settling down to tease out personal definitions of success becomes cumbersome. It is important that we entertain stories of overnight success with a healthy kind of skepticism – the kind nursed by a curiosity aimed at discovering the requirements for such success.

A fair amount of inspection can reveal (in addition to the fact that there is no such thing as overnight success) vision is a useful quality for success, i.e., the art of bringing desired outcomes into fruition. Vision can be thought of as the ability to define an outcome with clarity. And the idea of sketching proposed in this BasicPulse entry forwards the premise that we need to constantly define and redefine our outcomes on many levels, until the outcomes we desire shine with clarity. Sketching a vision requires joining seemingly disparate visual representations together. It requires connecting bits of dreams to find out what they might be trying to say. 

However, entertaining this process of connecting dreams can prove a source of difficulty. Our mind suggests that only a handful of possibilities can be entertained in our interface with reality. For example: 

Say you have a vision for peace to reign in the world, you may fail to entertain the mental images that point in that direction because the violence you witness in the world blinds you from how world peace might be actualised. But in truth, the illusion of reality plays only a small part in your failings to hold on to visions. The main culprit is a lack of a trustworthy system that hold the pieces of your creative outputs. When it comes to a vision the best thing to do is hold on to pieces of it. No matter their degree of disparity and how they may fail to be in touch with what is possible.

How to Sketch a Vision

In the art of sketching visions, the most useful requirement is to entertain the limitlessness of possibility. Perhaps the most useful piece of wisdom in this context comes from the carpenter who strolled the plains of Galilee spreading good will. He said: 
Ask and it is given. Seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be open unto you. 
It is important that rather than be engaged in the constant worry most of us make a point of our lives from efforts to tackle the challenge of what to do with our life we apply this bit of wisdom – ask, seek and knock – in our negotiation with reality.

A useful criteria for sketching a vision comes from David Allen's Book Getting Things Done. It is important that you:

  1. 1.  View the project [required to bring the desired outcome] from beyond the completion date.  
  2. 2. Envision "WILD SUCCESS"! (Suspend "Yeah, but...")
  3. 3. Capture features, aspects, qualities you imagine in place.

It's possible to meet mental block when engaging this exercise. In fact, given the conditioning most of us undergo, it is to be expected. If the flow seems a little blocked, Allen offers the following suggestion, Ask wouldn't it be great if...? long enough to have the option of getting an answer.

Here are a few examples to keep ideas flowing:

  1. 1. Wouldn't it be great if... I wake up to nice Ferrari in my front porch? 
  2. 2. Wouldn't it be great if... People care more about global warming? 
  3. 3. Wouldn't it be great if... I am in a loving and romantic relationship? 
  4. 4. Wouldn't it be great if... I solve the riddle surrounding the existence of Dark Matter?
  5. 5. Wouldn't it be great if... I double my current income? 
  6. 6. Wouldn't it be great if... I sing a duet with Beyonce?

It's ok to be outrageous. Entertain the limitlessness of possibility. If worried about the criticism which can arise from others do this exercise in the privacy of a diary, in a trustworthy place. Zero in on those which pull interest and continue to define what a clear outcome would look, sound, and feel like.

Another useful way to tease out a vision is to pull from already existing missions. Recall our formula from mission development in our previous post: I can {insert action} to {insert what an ease to a problem you highlighted looks like}.  Add "because" so that the formula becomes: I can {insert action} to {insert what an ease to a problem you highlighted looks like} because {insert ideal image}. 

Here are a few examples to keep ideas flowing:

  1. 1. I can write to change the way people understand race because I see a world where diversity is celebrated. 
  2. 2. I can think to bring astronomical solutions to world energy needs because I am committed to being a world class engineer providing affordable and sustainable energy that meets demand
  3. 3. I can sing to uproot the interpersonal barriers that result from inequality because I believe in community.

As noticeable from these examples (and will come to see in spending time with the aforementioned suggestions) sketching a vision takes us closer to why certain problems pull our psyche. The idea is that despite the existence of problems we can draw from resources which reside in our mind to sketch ideals. The good thing is our mind does this already though it can be of tremendous value to accord it guidance. To heed to the advice of Albert Einstein who said, 'imagination is better than knowledge" – perhaps echoing the value inherent in the art of entertaining the limitlessness of possibility. 

Enjoy! 

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Post Author: P. W. Uduk 
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Photo Source: www.examinedlifeliving.org

Question of the week: What tools do you use in defining clear outcomes? 

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1 comments:

  1. Clarity of purpose I believe Is the most veritable tool. Be it vision or mission, it must be clearly stated and make less blurred and ambiguous.

    More tips paul..

    ReplyDelete

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