CHAPTER ELEVEN
YOU NEED A VISION
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (Proverbs 29:18)
No matter how talented you are, if you lack vision, you will never go far. Vision is what defines the essence of your talents. Vision tells you what to do with your giftings. Vision is the link between talent and destiny.
In literal terms, vision means sight. When a person can’t see well, they say he is impaired in his vision. So also, in the school of accomplishment, vision is the eye of destiny. When you lack it, you are heading nowhere really. Vision is a mental insight into your purpose.
Purpose is what God had in mind when He created you. When you become conscious of that purpose, it is called vision. Therefore, everybody has purpose, because God has a plan for everybody. But not everybody has vision because not everybody has discovered those plans God has for them. They are not conscious of purpose; therefore, we say they lack vision.
The problem with most people is not lack of purpose, its lack of vision. Vision is discovering your assignment in life. Vision is the consciousness of your assignment. Vision is looking into purpose. Vision is being purpose minded. Vision is being mentally obsessed with purpose. Vision is being driven by purpose.
The journey toward a fulfilled life starts with discovering purpose, being conscious of it, driven by it, obsessed with it, looking into it and working toward it.
“Yahweh answered me, write the vision and make it plain upon tablets, that he who reads may run” (Habakkuk 2:2 –W.E.B).
From this verse, we can conclude that vision means “making plain your purpose for life and running with it.” Vision is defining your life’s assignment based on Gods divine intention. Vision is identifying the essence of your existence and stating it clearly so that deliberate actions can be taken toward accomplishing it.
Purpose is God’s responsibility. Vision is man’s responsibility. Purpose is God generated. Vision is man generated. God has given man the ability to connect with purpose through insight. This connectivity is what I call vision -the first and primary step toward accomplishment.
Discovering Purpose
Self examination is the genesis of discovery. If you want to know what your assignment is, then you have to start by knowing yourself. You must know all the things that are packaged within you. There are several things to look out for.
First you must look out for your talents because they are tools placed in you by God to help you accomplish His assignment for you. Therefore, talent is a clue into purpose. If you are confused about your purpose, check your talent. Talent has a direct connection with purpose. Talent is Gods investment in you and He expects you to capitalize on it to fulfill the task He has created you for.
Secondly, you must look out for your passion. What are the things you develop natural passion for? What are the things that stir you up? What are the things that make your heart to jump? What are the things you have developed obsession for? Is it children, broken homes, depressed people, eradicating ignorance, making life better for others? etc. Whatever area you have a natural obsession for, is an indication of purpose. Start working toward influencing lives positively in those areas.
Keeping Your Vision Alive
No one can give a voice to your vision like you. So, you must believe in your vision. You cannot become what you don’t believe. You don’t need other people’s endorsement before you pursue your vision. It is only when you believe in your vision that you gather the mental energy to pursue it.
There was a young man called Joseph. His story was recorded in the Bible book of Genesis 37. He had a vision that he was going to be a big star and that the stars of his siblings as well as those of his parent were going to bow to his. This angered his siblings so bad that they sold him into slavery. But the young man Joseph believed in what he had seen, pursued it earnestly and he soon became a great ruler; one that his siblings would later bow to.
I want to repeat; what you don’t believe, you can’t become. When you have discovered your purpose, you must have faith in it and in yourself as that’s the only way to get accomplished.
Actions they say speak louder than words. Talk is cheap. If you are vision obsessed, you’ve got to show it; you must behave it. That is, live and act it. They work with it. If vision must become reality, you must channel all your efforts toward its fulfillment. I have a vision of challenging people to wake up and take their destinies in their hands and to accomplish that, people must receive enough motivation to arise. As a result of that, I write motivational books. I don’t write novels, fiction and other books that kill the spirit. I write purely motivational books that lifts the spirit. By so doing, I’m behaving my vision. My actions are geared toward fulfilling this vision.
Two brothers invented the first aircraft. They had a vision of easing the problem of movement by creating a vehicle that will move in the air and get people to their destinations very fast. Of course, this vision attracted a lot of mockery from observers. But they believed in their vision, pursued it tirelessly and today, we all fly across the earth so easily.
Until you take steps, you don’t go steps ahead of others and be sure you are taking steps that connect with your vision. While doing this, you’ve got to ignore the possible mockery you are likely to get from other people. Mockery is not always bad; when it comes, it is a sign that you are doing something unique and different from others.
It is what you behave that empowers what you believe and determines what you become. You are a lawyer today because you went to law school yesterday. Similarly, what you become is a function of what you do routinely. Someone said the secret to your success is tied to your daily routine. What you do habitually determines what you become eventually.
What you think of yourself influences what you become at the end of the day. Many people see themselves as inferior, not adequate enough, not capable of doing anything big, not capable of succeeding, only capable of failing. That’s the kind of mindset that kills the potentials in any person.
Some people would say “well, only educated fellows can make an impression and you know I never got pass grade six”. So they belittle themselves and consequently, they fail. Some have concluded in their minds that they have failed in that business already, and in no time, failure begins to manifest in the physical.
Whatever you want to venture into, you must think possibilities. Don’t think failure before you think success. Success is possible as long as you accept it in your mind. If you can think it, you can do it. Failure is only a pathway to success, so you need not be afraid of it. Therefore, cultivating the mindset of success is what empowers your vision for fulfillment.
I mentioned a bit of this in section A. We also looked at one of the most remarkable verses of scripture as found in Proverbs 27:17. It says “Iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend”. Let me tell you what this means. You are constantly influenced in your mind by the kind of company you keep. It is often said “show me you friend and I will tell you who you are”. You don’t grow any higher than your association and you don’t get any better than your company.
Why? The reason is simple. Your association “sharpens your countenance”; that is, influences your vision either positively or negatively. So if you want to be great, mingle with people that think great. If you associate with mediocre people, you’ll die small.
If you want to keep your big vision alive, you’ve got to blend into associations that believe in your vision. Stop hanging around negative people. Start hanging around positive thinking people.
The truth is this, mindsets are contagious. The longer you stay around people, who believe “it can’t be done”, the more vulnerable you are to failure. Look out for associations that will stir up the potential in you and provoke you to take positive strides toward accomplishment. That’s how to keep your vision alive.