Imagine jumping into a car and being so eager to go somewhere. Your driver is in the driver's seat with the same level of enthusiasm, but you start to realize the car isn’t even moving forward. You see the driver has the GPS system all set up, with their hands on the wheel, as if ready to take off; however, there is no corresponding movement or actual acceleration.
As visionaries, we should not only be ready for take off, but we should actually ‘take off’. A visionary is not just a dreamer, but a person who executes. People easily follow those who know where they are going. We all naturally want to follow people who have a plan in place on how to get where we also want to go. It’s easy to recognize those without a plan or someone who truly isn’t currently heading anywhere. Because of that, are you driving your vision or are you having failure to launch it?
what is stopping you?
Do you know that you are made to be creative, to have ideas, to solve problems, and to be an agent of change? As a visionary or a future leader, you need to know where you are going and how you will get there. The difference between a good idea and a bad idea is one that has been tested and proven. Vision can be a thought or a hope, but in order to achieve it, you have to bring that idea to life.
What is stopping you from pushing the gas and moving forward with your idea? How many times were you hopeful about what you wanted, but chose to focus on the million and one ways it could go wrong? And how many times have you given up because of your thoughts about others opinions? Instead of thinking negatively, try to clear your mind and see the many ways your idea can go right. It's better to go forward and take a detour, than not to move at all.
What is in your environment?
Don’t give others the power to hold you back. People may not realize it, but sometimes their personal and spiritual growth can be stunted by the limitations they have come to accept from their environment. What you choose to surround yourself with may be the very thing stopping you from launching and taking flight.
Take some time to look around you -who are your supporters? What can you learn from those around you? What does your environment say towards the success of your vision?
Do you take initiative?
People who sit on their ideas are people who can’t take initiative. If you continuously fail to launch your ideas, you must begin to exercise this flaw as if it were a muscle. Don’t be afraid to build it up.
I didn’t know it at the time, but when I was younger, I was a problem solver. I didn’t like the idea of things not being resolved. I would notice conflicts around me and the friction that came with them being unresolved. I was often too shy to speak up. However, little by little, I would speak up on an issue or provide my opinion about it. This led me to take more initiative later on in life, about things I became passionate about.
If you push yourself to win small battles towards taking more initiative, you will win the war towards launching your vision.
What are you carrying?
If you read my past blog post, “Why is it Important to Have a Vision for Your Life,” (click to learn more), you would know that a vision can help you know where you are going, how you will get there, and what you will need. Before you take flight, you pack for where you are going. If you are experiencing failure to launch your vision, have you checked what you are carrying?
What are you trying to take with you that is not necessarily needed during this next season of your life? What you think you need may actually turn out to be baggage. Are you afraid to launch because of years of unresolved discouragement by others? Or is it because you have constantly compared yourself to others?
For more information on this, check out “The Cost of Comparison.”
What are the things that you have carried this far and have not yet let go of?
Whenever someone tells me of their vision, I usually follow up with one question, “When?” When are you thinking of executing your idea? Recently, a friend shared some great advice with me: by putting a date on something, it holds you accountable and forces you to do what you said. Everything won’t be perfect, but there are lessons that can only be learned after you launch what you have. Therefore drive your vision, don’t let it drive you.
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