Vision

If you’ve heard me talk about the Iditarod, then you’re probably aware the word has several attributed meanings. As I was thinking about today and this week on vision the meanings were forefront in my mind, again. One meaning is “distance or distant place” and the other is said to mean “clear water.” While racing, the mushers carry a pot big enough to hold 3 gallons of water and they bring materials to light a fire. They fill they pot with snow and light the fire. The fire turns up the heat on the snow in the pot and purifies it into clear water.

Your vision for your life and business is that ‘clear water’. To get there you need to have plenty of dreams and thoughts to fill the pot. The enemies of filling the pot with dreams are complacency and negativity. Negativity just tells you, “you’re not worthy to leave the lodge”, “who do you think you are?”, “you can’t do that!”, “You’re just going to look like a fool.”, “no one in your family has ever achieved at that level” – and a thousand other things meant to keep you down.

Complacency will leave you satisfied with the status quo. Leaders and mushers who are satisfied with the status quo rarely leave the lodge. And why should they? They have a nice fire, plenty to eat and drink… It’s comfortable.

Why leave the lodge? Because greatness was never achieved in the Lazy Boy! The trail is where the personal satisfaction and glory can be achieved!

Fill the bucket full of hopes and dreams!

Fight the battle over complacency and step on negativity on the way out of the lodge!

Use the beginnings of hope, desire, and passion to be the kindling for the fire. Use the passion for growth that we talked about last week to be the ignition that creates sparks. This is not the time to be concerned with the what if’s? and can’t happens. This is the time to dream the dream!

Remember: Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper for supposed lack of creativity. A Munich Schoolmaster remarked that Albert Einstein would never amount to much. Beethoven was called inept as a composer.

The trail awaits, greatness is out there – it’s time to fill the pot with hopes and dreams!

Dream big today!

This week, I want to focus on our “vision” as leaders. There are many reasons for vision – personal vision, as well as, professional and organizational. Vision provides the energy – or the push necessary. Many times achieving the vision will push us farther than we would go without one. The vision for “Iditarod Leaders” is what I call the “Burled Arch”. Just as a reminder, the Burled Arch is the finish line for the Iditarod Dog Sled Race in Nome, Alaska. The mushers start the race, approximately, 1100 miles away in Anchorage and for close to two weeks they chase the vision of reaching the Burled Arch.

Like the Burled Arch, you vision must be so compelling that when you become discouraged or when bad weather hits on the trail, you will not turn back or drop out. Vision is that fire that burns in your heart – that compelling, nagging, sometimes even haunting destination that must be attained. It is personal power and organizational cohesion.

As we start the week, I want to extend a challenge – DREAM BIG!

As we start to develop our “Burled Arch”, work to enlarge the vision. I can still hear one of my mentors, Jim Wideman. He would constantly say, “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time!”

What are you aiming for this week? How big is your dream? I want to encourage you – STRETCH! Stretch yourself! – you have to believe in the possibility that you can achieve your dream! Belief is essential, however, the first stage is to dream.

If you knew you wouldn’t fail…

If you knew that anything was possible…

If you had complete belief in yourself…

What would you attempt? What would you chase?

What would be your… “Burled Arch”?

On the trail this week – DREAM BIG!