Friday Four: Four Tips to Help You Fine-Tune Your Vision
Friday, February 22, 2008
Your vision in life need not be as lofty as King's. If your dream is ultimately to make a difference in the world around you, there are some things you can do to fine-tune your dream and vision to life, ensuring it's the best possible vision you can have that is still plausible and doable.
1. It isn't status quo. Career building opportunities that present themselves to you doing the same old thing, aren't necessarily the best opportunities of which to take advantage. Your vision in life should be a search to improve and make better that which is already being implemented.
2. It improves life. One's career building actions should ideally be centered around making something better. The improvement of the quality of life of the human race speaks wonders of one's vision in life.
3. It looks to the future. When building your career, always look to the future for inspiration and drive. Fine-tune your vision with the possibilities that await you by enhancing what currently exists and looks to improve the lives of those in the not-so-distant future.
4. It's lofty but reachable. The difference between a career building goal and a vision in life is that the latter is inspiring while the other is just another item to tick off one's checklist. Be inspired by something greater than yourself to make your dream and vision in life!
The book Bring Your Vision to Life, contains more techniques to help you fine-tune your dream and vision in life. For more details, click here.
Read more.. | 0 comments
VISIONARY: Martin Luther King Jr
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
King's career building goals started early. The astute King realized he needed impeccable credentials to foster his vision in life, and he worked at it effortlessly, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology; he would go on to earn or receive a total of 20 doctorate degrees in various disciplines, including divinity, systematic theology, and laws.
King's ability to bring his vision to life started after the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955. After a black woman named Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white man, King co-led a boycott of the bus company. He was arrested during the campaign, which resulted in a US Supreme Court decision to outlaw racial segregation on all public transport. It was the first of many accomplishments King would achieve to bring his vision to life.
King's Christian personal vision plan involved non-violent protest. He organized and led peaceful marches for blacks' rights to vote, labor, desegregation, and other basic civil rights. Most arguably known for his I Have a Dream speech at the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom event, he eventually achieved another career building goal when he received the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the youngest to ever receive it.
Unfortunately, Dr. King's career building efforts were cut short by an assassin's bullet in 1968. One needn't look too far, though, to see the results of Dr. King's extraordinary passion in bringing his dream and vision to life. Forty years after his assassination, thanks in large part to his vision and life and career building efforts, the United States is a thriving multiracial society.
Read more.. | 0 comments
Ask Yourself This: Do You Have a Dream?
Monday, February 18, 2008
That elusive dream is essential to building your career. A dream is like an untamed vision in life, something to inspire you, something to which you can aspire. Not too many people's dreams match their career building goals. Many people set themselves up for failure because they don't understand the importance of having a dream or vision in life.
Dreams can do great things to one's career building goals. If one wants, for example, to jumpstart a new project, the dream can provide that initial spark of inspiration or the lingering strength to see your business through to completion. Dreams are important because they can motivate you to start working towards accomplishing your Christian personal vision plan.
Martin Luther King Jr., for instance, had a vision in life where the United States would hold all men equal. He dedicated his entire career building efforts to making that dream come true. Despite his assassination at age 39, his efforts changed the course of the history of the United States.
What about you? Do you have a dream that you can transform into a vision in life?
Read more.. | 0 comments
Friday Four: Four Tips to Help Your Ambitions Fly
Friday, February 15, 2008
Career building goals for visionaries like the Wright Brothers do not necessarily materialize out of thin air. They work on it, and their passion for their vision in life matches the intensity of their ambitions. If you are interested in building your career around revolutionizing the world as we know it, here are four tips to help your ambitions fly.
1. Self-study can make or break you. The Wright Brothers themselves were not trained engineers, but they invented the mechanism that revolutionized aviation! If your career-building goals revolve around something for which you have passion but in which you do not necessarily have training, you can always study for it.
2. Never give up 'just because.' Career building opportunities present themselves to you every day! Just because one person says your ambitions are crazy does not necessarily mean it is. You need faith in yourself and your vision in life, and if you should not let some corporate-type pencil pusher tell you that it is not going to happen for you without asking for and understanding his or her reasons why they think so.
3. Persistence is key. People with ambition never give up, and they never stop pushing. The late John "Scatman John" Larkin had his monster hit, Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop), at age 52! Before topping the music charts worldwide, he had to overcome his lifelong stutter. Career building success can come at any point; it is never too late to fine-tune your vision in life. What matters is how much you keep at it.
4. Know when to shout for help. When it comes to building your career, you can sometimes be so blinded by the passion that they fail to see their shortcomings - where other people are excellent. Always be willing to work with someone on bringing your vision to life. Ambitious people who succeed - the Wright Brothers and Thomas Edison among them - always have people around them who help make it happen.
Remember: ambition is a good thing.
My book Bring Your Vision to Life, contains many more tips on helping you reach your career building goals, using a simple organizational approach that will help you develop a vision in life that matches your passion and ambition. For more details, click here.
Read more.. | 0 comments
Visionary: The Wright Brothers
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
In the early part of their lives, Orville (1871-1948) and Wilbur (1867-1912) Wright were hardly poster children for a vision in life. Wilbur didn't complete his high school education because the family moved from their hometown to a larger city, and he was initially frustrated with his own lack of ambition. Meanwhile, Orville dropped out of high school to start up a printing press. Wilbur sooned joined his brother in a bicycle building enterprise that would soon fuel their growing interest in an industry that they would soon revolutionize: aviation.
Their vision in life: human flight. It was their career building goal to come up with the world's first successful pilot-steered flying machine. It wasn't easy for the two; many different people tried beforehand to make a successful flying machine. The Wright Brothers - despite not having a formal education - were driven by their vision to eventually invent and build the world's first successful airplane, thanks to their invention of controls that would enable pilots to steer the flying machines effective and maintain their equilibrium.
What can we learn from the Wright Brothers?
1) The lack of formal education is not necessarily a barrier to success. The success of one's vision in life and career building opportunities comes not with a formal education, but with a drive and desire to see their career goals to fruition. Neither Orville nor Wilbur were engineers; the two were high school drop-outs. Their vision in life drove them to self-study, and the result was an invention that would change the world.
2) Every experience is a learning experience. The Wright Brothers gained the necessary career building mechanical skills that they needed from the years of work in their own bicycle building business. Experience is one of the best teachers.
3) Swallow your fear. Many before the Wright Brothers had died in pursuit of their vision, but that did not stop Orville and Wilbur from making their vision in life a vivid reality.
My book, Bring Your Vision to Life, contains many more inspiring examples of people who dared to dream and make their visions in life smashing successes. Visit the "Book" section here for more information.
Read more.. | 0 comments
Ask Yourself This: How Daring Are You?
Monday, February 11, 2008
Taking risks is part and parcel of building your career. When career opportunities come knocking at your door, it helps to have a vision in life that gives you the inner strength and gumption to take that extra step of faith.
For instance, if your career building goals revolve around developing ideas for new products and services, or maybe improving the way something is done, to make a process better, you are going to have to take that leap of faith and just do it. Most people are not open to new ideas, and sometimes, groundbreaking ideas or products based on leaps of faith will be met with ridicule.
In the Bible, for instance, people laughed at Noah when he agreed to build the Ark for God. They were not laughing when they drowned in the flood that followed. The title boatmaker probably was not in his career building goals when he started to assemble that giant ship, but he took it on as a leap of faith.
I am sure people thought the Wright Brothers Orville and Wilbur were absolutely crazy when they decided to follow their dreams and make the first airplane. That historic day, they dared to take their vision in life even higher than most other people, and it paid off with more than a footnote in history dedicated to their names for posterity.
You can be that person who can change institutions or organizations for the better. You can be that catalyst who sees the needs of others and paves the way for these needs to be met. You can be that person who has a clear vision in life, takes the opportunities God gives, and runs with them, to make a true difference in the lives of millions.
The question is: do you want to be that person?
My book Bring Your Vision to Life, is written to help you plan out a vision in life that is so close to your heart and so real to your passions, that you cannot help but dare to make it a reality and a success. For more details, click here.
Read more.. | 0 comments
Friday Four: Four Tips to Help You Identify Needs Around You
Friday, February 8, 2008
Like Thomas Edison, a person whose vision in life is to identify the needs of society and come up with ways to meet those needs, will be of utmost importance to the society around him. Persons whose career building goals revolve around becoming effective agents of change are fulfilled in many ways.
If you are interested in building your career around becoming a social entrepreneur, someone whose vision in life ultimately is to make a difference in the world around him, here are four tips to help you identify needs around you.
1. Follow your passion. What do you enjoy doing? If your vision in life and career opportunities are centered on something that you enjoy, the odds are great that you will end up being immensely satisfied if you practice what you enjoy, and do that for a living.
2. Look around your neighborhood for opportunities. If you are not the type whose career building desires involve around a 45-minute trek to the city so you can time-in and time-out as some corporate-type individual, you can find a lot of opportunities in your immediate neighborhood. For instance, if you like children, you may want to craft a vision in life that involves taking care of the next generation and preparing them for greatness.
3. Meet with like-minded individuals – and seek out naysayers. When developing your vision in life and mapping out your career goals, you need both cheerleaders and cautious Charlies. Cheerleaders are people who can encourage you and provide both inspiration and practical advice to help you on your way. Cautious Charlies are people who are a little more grounded, those who can see both sides of the coin and help you fine-tune your vision.
4. Do not tune out the media just yet. There are many opportunities being written about everyday. Whether you are online or reading a newspaper or magazine or watching television, the story of someone with a successful vision can often inspire you and jump start your vision-making.
Remember: you have the unique opportunity to become a true world-changer. Find what needs changing and get started!
My book Bring Your Vision to Life, contains a wider range of content designed specifically to help you identify needs and help you streamline tune your vision for a fulfilling, lifelong career of social entrepreneurship. For more details, click here.
Read more.. | 0 comments
Visionary: Thomas Edison
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) was a man of influence, intelligence, and perseverance. In his lifetime, he and teams under his influence or supervision worked on more than a thousand projects that ultimately received United States patents. He is known for a host of inventions, including the phonograph, the electric light bulb, the fluoroscope, and a moving picture camera. He has influenced over 20 industries, including the fields of medicine, finance, national defense, and mining.
Edison would never have achieved his career building goals had he not been a man of vision. His first invention, a vote recorder that sped up the counting of votes for assemblies and meetings, did not sell, and shortly thereafter, he swore to himself to never attempt to invent anything unless he was sure there was a commercial demand for it.
What a career building move that was! Practically every invention he came up with had a clear, tangible use for society. The first invention after his vote recorder was a stock ticker that brought brokers Wall Street quotations quickly and efficiently. He discovered 'etheric force' which revealed the existence of the electromagnetic wave and led to the invention of the radio. His Menlo Park Laboratory, the first organized technical research lab, birthed the mimeograph machine, the phonograph, and, most famously, the lightbulb.
He invented devices that could detect torpedoes; telephones that could carry on conversation in the heat of war; glare eliminators to make it possible to spot periscopes in the water; and the fluoroscope, a device that enables surgeons to perform the first X-Ray operation.
Edison even dabbled in movie-making after he invented the practical movie camera. After the industry started to use his invention for entertainment and not education, he quit the industry, saying he was an inventor and experimenter, not a theatrical producer. "And I had no ambitions to become one," he added.
Thomas Edison knew what he was (an inventor). He also knew what he wanted to invent (inventions that would have a clear use in society). He stuck to his creed of creating useful and wanted inventions; his drive and work ethic helped change the world.
What about you? Do you have a career building vision of a particular need that you can fill?
Read more.. | 0 comments
Ask Yourself This: Are You Filling A Need?
Monday, February 4, 2008
Many great opportunities arise at every turn, which can be very frustrating when you're developing your career building goals, simply because you have to find an opportunity of which you're going to take advantage. What do you do when there are simply too many?
When it comes to building your career, most people tend to focus on careers that allow them to pursue what they enjoy doing. Instead of taking advantage of opportunities, their career = building efforts lean towards self-fulfillment and self-enjoyment rather than a greater calling that allows them to contribute to the improvement of the lives of others. While there's nothing innately wrong with building your career around yourself, it can be worth the effort to take a look outside of yourself and considering a wider, greater vision in life.
This world is in an ongoing state of deterioration, and it is the rare great man who focuses his vision of life and career objectives on addressing the decline and working to reverse it. Your society needs an agent of positive change, someone with a Christian personal vision plan, a person whose vision in life is to improve not only his lot but those of others.
Could that person be you?
Whether you are in the process of building your career or merely mapping out your career building goals, you have the unique opportunity to become more than just another nine-to-fiver, just another pencil pusher, just another potential multimillionaire with little idea of just how spectacularly s/he can change the world.
Ask yourself the following yes-or-no questions, thinking hard about the implications of your answers:
1. Have you ever considered building your career around a venture that explicitly aims to effect positive change in your society?
2. Do you think others will be willing to help you bring your vision to life?
My book Bring Your Vision to Life, contains a wider range of content designed specifically to help you develop and fine-tune your vision for a fulfilling, lifelong career of social entrepreneurship. For more details, click here.
Read more.. | 0 comments
