Vision – A Head and Heart Affair

In my last post – The Importance of Vision – I wrote about the value of having a dream. A clear vision enhances one’s life exponentially. That cannot be understated. A business owner with a clear sense of direction for his/her personal and professional life will achieve far more than the owner who is merely putting in his time.

For the next few posts, I want to focus my attention (and yours) on some of the many benefits of possessing a compelling vision.

Let’s start with PASSION. People with a dream are PASSIONATE. Why? Because vision stirs up emotion. There is no such thing as an emotionless dream. This is the feeling aspect of a dream. It stirs us to the core of our being.

You may have experienced this before. Have you ever shared your dream with someone? As you were talking, maybe your palms got sweaty, or the pitch in your voice rose, or the pace of your speech increased. In other words, you got emotional! You became passionate! A dream should move you emotionally! It should stir up passion in you!

In other words, when you imagine what life would be like once your dream is realized, you become passionate about it. This gives life to even the most boring and meaningless task or routine. The feelings attached to your future reality are brought into your present circumstances, fuelling your day-to-day progress toward the goal.

Most Canadians face a crisis of mediocrity. Many have become sick with maintenance mode malaria. Many people are content with barely getting by. It’s just business as usual, many simply going through the motions. But vision is always accompanied by strong emotion. And the clearer the vision, the stronger the emotion.

Vision and passion work hand in hand. While vision is a seeing word that involves what you see in your mind, passion is a feeling word that involves your emotions – what you feel in your heart. Passionate people are those who feel strongly about something. The “something” in this context is the vision, the dream. A compelling, clear vision fuels passion.

The importance of getting your emotions involved in this process cannot be understated. Think about the power of your feelings for a moment. If you allow your emotions to dictate your every decision, you may find yourself in trouble! However, if you can channel your emotions properly, you have found a powerful ally in the accomplishment of your dream.

Successful people understand this. Their dream is both a head and heart affair. They see their vision in their mind and they feel deeply about it in their heart. This stirs up great passion, and passion is the fuel in your tank that will empower you to arrive at your preferred destination.

If you can’t feel it, you can’t see it! In other words, if your dream doesn’t stir up strong feelings in your heart, you may have some further work to do in more clearly defining what you really want.

The opposite is equally true. If you can’t see it, you can’t feel it! A stronger emotional response will be created when you can more clearly imagine your preferred future. See it and feel it. Feel it and see it. Imagination and emotion make a powerful team.

People with a dream are passionate. On a scale of 1-10, how passionate are you? Ask a close friend to give you some feedback.

In my next post, we will look at the motivation a dream inspires.

Eric Deschamps – Business Coach, Ottawa