Passion is that vague notion of motivation. Dreams are things that pass the time, either waking or asleep. Vision tells you where you are going and what you will have to overcome on the way.
Not to discount a virtue I spent countless words romanticizing in my last post but passion by itself is not enough. Fire that burns creates heat. It is what you do with that heat that makes the difference. If you have a fire, it can warm you, cook food, and light the night. If you put that fire in a locomotive, it makes steam and steam engines changed the history of mankind. You put that on a solid, well maintained track, and you can go places. That is where vision comes in.
Too often in the modern age of motivation, the idea of vision is misconstrued to mean the ability to envision your successful, fulfilling, and happy future. While that may be part of it, I say it is more like the vision a running back has when he runs. He doesn’t have to keep his eye on the end zone. If he did, Ray Lewis or his clone would knock his vision out. He runs as hard as he can, seeing the line blocking in front of him, seeing the defense pursuing him, making every move he can. Vision you see is not the ability to dream. It is the ability to see your way through to the end.
I believe passion should define the dream. Just as when that 18-year old returned from his first powerlifting tournament and dreamed of being a world champion. It does not need to be constrained by reality. (Again, I have contradicted myself.) Dreams can be as big and as glorious as you wish them to be. These dreams should be a natural continuance of your passion. BUT dreams do not get things done. We all know passionate people that are further from realizing that passion than they were when they started. We all know dreamers that see how glorious it could be yet never get further than that passionate first burst. Nope, discard the cause head passionate protesters and the star-gazing escapists before you become lost in their Siren’s song and are crashed on the rocks with them.
You need instead to find your Vision. Head toward that dream with all the passion you can muster but let the path of your journey be defined by your vision. Let me put it another way. We all dream of being rich, never having to worry about money, bills are paid, work is optional and life is a paradise. Well, how many of us are working to get there? We watch Fox Business and Bloomberg with our IRA in mind but we don’t have a real investment strategy. We watch programs describing multi-million dollar homes without considering how we could afford that. Nah, too much between us and them to see our way. No wonder the world is full of discontented people blaming Washington, Wall Street, and the Establishment. Instead of finding a way through, they would rather blame someone else for them not being able to keep up with the Joneses. Maybe it is the fact that Mr. Jones and Mrs. Jones work their asses off to live that way? Maybe they sacrifice lunch with Ronald to save a few extra dollars. Maybe they are focused on making a difference in their own situation instead of following Obi-Wan on some damn fool idealistic crusade.
That’s the way vision works. You see your way to the end. Not all the reasons why you can’t make it for yourself. Vision is limited to what lies immediately before you. It is your 90-day plan and how it fits into your annual plan and how that fits into your 5-year plan. Consider what is in my vision right now. In my training, it is simple. I have made CMS in weightlifting, MSIC in powerlifting, and now want to make CMS in Girevoy. Last year, a monkey wrench was thrown in my plans but hell, that’s what makes it fun. To combat this, I added a new goal–Run a marathon. (October, Vegas, It’ll be fun. Come see my wife and I renew our vows.) What makes that goal contain vision? There is a plan on paper. Numbers to hit, miles to run, all leading to a specific date that I will arrive at ready to go.
Are obstacles going to pop up? Use your vision to swerve around them but not off the road. Your road closes? Take the detour but get back on it as soon as its clear. You gotta keep your eyes on the prize. You gotta have Vision.
If you need me, I’ll be around.
