When you think about success in your career and life, do you have a clear picture of what that would mean to you? Is there a specific milestone, or a feeling, or even a lifestyle that would epitomise your success?
Stephen Covey tells us to ‘start with the end in mind’. This is excellent advice, because if you think about it, it’s hard to complete a journey without knowing the destination and the same is true for our personal vision of success. We need the power of vision to energize our journey. When we have a destination in mind, we have a way of evaluating if we are going in the right direction and what we have to do to get there.
It took me until I was in my forties to really think about my big vision. I had a health crisis where I had serious infections that made my work next to impossible for several months. After being passed from one specialist to the next and realising that my healing had to be in my own hands, not those of strangers, I understood the importance of taking control of one’s destiny. My big vision is to empower countless female leaders around the world to become the most powerful and influential version of themselves. I partner with global companies to help dismantle the barriers that prevent female success and the success of other diverse groups such as people of colour. A more empowered world, a more equal world = a better world. My big vision is to leave the world a better place than I found it, through my passion of helping women succeed.
If you think about your big vision right now, do you have a clear idea of what it is? Can you see where all the late nights, early mornings, stressful days and family time missed because of work commitments is taking you?
Do you have a vision which is greater than your current role and priorities? With a big vision, you can put all your current stresses and strains into a wider context. You can see what the end goal is going to be and you can judge from day to day if you are on track and whether the investment you are putting continues to be worth the reward.
The past is not a predictor of the future. We cannot assume that the trajectory of our career to date is an indicator of where it will go. There are so many variables that might affect it, but perhaps the biggest one is your own insight and commitment to it. Often, when I ask leaders what their big vision is for the future, they look at me blankly and say they do not know. Some even find such a question anxiety-provoking as they must suddenly think about something that feels outside of their control.
Defining your big vision puts the future squarely on your own shoulders, which can feel like a heavy burden to carry, but the future does not need to be so foreboding. We are all dealing with the consequences of our actions – intended or unintended. The difference between owning your big vision and reacting to circumstances as they emerge is that you have given yourself the power to choose. You choose the landscape, trajectory and journey of your success. If you do not quite hit the goal, then you are still likely to have come further and reached greater heights than you would have without it. When you define how you want to navigate the future, you will feel more empowered and committed to making it happen. One of the ways that you can unlock your big vision is to visualise it.
Here is a guided visualisation and worksheet that will help you do that.