In Martin Luther King’s vision of the future, he was described a life that was far better than he believed was actually possible in his own lifetime. He was fearless in his description of a better life for his children and the generations to come. He had no idea how the vision was going to come to life, but because he believed that a better future was possible, he committed to taking the small steps each day to get him there, and he wanted to plant the seed so that others could share in bringing his vision to life.
When we work with coaching clients about creating a personal or organizational vision, we ask them to imagine a future that is outside of their reach today. Our goal is to support each of our clients in living a bold creative life. To envision your bold creative life, we ask you to stretch outside what you currently believe is possible for your life. We are asking you to be fearless when thinking about your future, like Dr. King.
Take a moment right now and think about your vision of who you will be by the end of 2014. Does it inspire you? Scare you? If it doesn’t do both, at least a little, then we encourage you to think a little more boldly about what is possible for you in the coming months. We know, first hand, that it’s not always comfortable to live at the edge of possibility. In fact, it can be quite frightening, especially because you don’t yet know the “how” of getting where you want to go; you just know you want to get there. Creating a vision that inspires you will support you in making the many small decisions that shape your movement toward that vision each day. Worrying about the “how” isn’t all that useful since we shouldn’t yet know “how” if we’ve created a vision that is beyond what we currently know how to do today.
The goal is to think of things that inspire you and encourage you to move forward, not things that will paralyze you or give your internal voice new reasons to be harsh. That distinction is important. If you find your vision causes you to be insulting or diminishing of your life and your dreams, shift it to one that inspires you and, at your core, you believe could be possible.
This week, we invite you to think about a vision for yourself that is fearless and post it someplace where you can see it everyday. Create a vision that inspires you to think in new ways and motivates you, daily, to make choices that get you closer to a life you can only begin to imagine.