Visualising your 2019 and beyond

Theodore Hesburgh once said, “The very essence of leadership is that you have a vision. It’s got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet.” One should not underestimate the power of a vision. McDonald’s founder, Ray Kroc, pictured his empire long before it existed, and he saw how to get there. He invented the company motto – ‘Quality, service, cleanliness and value’ – and kept repeating it to employees for the rest of his life. His empire has grown as he had envisioned. What you visualise is what you will realise.
We need to have a vision for every area of our life; for our family, business, spiritual, relational, physical, mental, social, financial and professional. We have bigger visions than we think. God has a bigger vision for us. If you want to achieve what your parents could not achieve or what your compatriots could not achieve or what other business leaders failed to achieve then you need a vision that will guide you into the future you desire.

You need to be passionate about achieving that vision. You will be able to defy the odds and achieve the impossible because you have set yourself a target to achieve into the future. You would have set a future state that you are looking for. An unwavering passion for your vision gives you a picture of a brighter future that you cannot let go.
The desire, the passion, the yearning to achieve your vision will ignite your progress towards that vision. When you have come up with a vision make sure you remain passionate about it, you should value it, you should fight for it and work at it tirelessly and you will definitely reap the desired rewards.
It’s important that you put your vision on paper; you write it down clearly and understandably. There are key elements that one needs to be cognizant of when drawing up a powerful personal vision that is compelling that can energise your followers.

The first thing that you should grasp is to know your purpose on earth. You should ask yourself why God put you on this earth. Each person has a unique assignment that God wants you to achieve. You can notice this assignment by the gift you have.

If you follow your gifting it will provide the direction for your daily living. You should know who you are so that you don’t live a life of confusion, a life where you do not realise your full potential.
A passage in the Bible in Romans chapter 12 from verse 6 to 8 says “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”

If you identify your gift then set your vision along those lines because when you do so you will pursue it with passion. Your personal vision will be inextricably tied in to your business vision if you decide to set up a business.

The second thing you need to be aware of is to have values. You need to define your deeply held beliefs that define what is right and what is fundamentally important to you. For instance, your values could be that you will be honest, have integrity, be accountable or live a morally clean life.

These values will provide guidelines for daily choices and actions. Values determine what’s important to you. They define who you are, what you do and where you are going.
Thirdly you need to visualise your future; where you believe God is directing your life. It is future focused and not the past – where you are coming from. Your future is the end result and not the process for getting there. You should not be limited when visualising your future because of your current state, or because of other people’s opinions about you. You have a great future which can only be limited by your imagination. Dream and imagine big.

The fourth key element is to set your goals; what you want to achieve. Your goals give you a sense of direction toward which you put all your energies. Goals are the targets for you to achieve. They clearly define what you must do.

The last key element you need to do is to take immediate action. Don’t procrastinate. You need to implement what you have put on paper otherwise your vision is worthless. You need to be focused, disciplined and you should continually improve to make your vision a reality.

l Stewart Jakarasi is a business and financial strategist and a lecturer in business strategy (ACCA P3), advanced performance management (P5) and entrepreneurship. He is the Managing Consultant of Shekina Consulting (Pty) Ltd and provides advisory and guidance on leadership, strategy and execution, corporate governance, preparation of business plans, tender documents and on how to build and sustain high-performing organisations. For assistance in implementing some of the concepts discussed in these articles please contact him on the following contacts: sjakarasi@gmail.com, call on +266 58881062 or WhatsApp +266 62110062.