A couple of weeks ago, I posted a guide on what I picked up about bringing visions to life from my work with conscious visionaries over the years. Since then I’ve had many conversations with people and my own experiences with struggling to see visions through, all pointing to the need for us to rehash a couple of beliefs and practices I highlighted in that guide that will help us stay the course…
Be unrealistic
“That’s unrealistic.” As visionaries, we take pride in and apply our intelligence, experience and creative abilities toward our visions. We dedicate ourselves to a reimagining of an old system or an entirely new creation, making sure as best we can the vision is viable, workable and sustainable amid uncertainty. So when we hear “unrealistic,” especially from esteemed figures in our fields and communities or the intended audiences we’re looking to serve, it can trigger underlying doubt and become demoralizing if not addressed.
We need to trust ourselves and our fundamental creative impulses. We have to remind ourselves of the time and energy we’ve spent in fleshing out and tightening up the vision in light of no precedent, model or example. As intelligent, wise and creative people, we wouldn’t have made that investment if we didn’t believe the vision was possible and worth it. It is precisely because it hasn’t been done or presented before that many can’t see what we can see, give up or shun the vision, and meet us with that cutting pushback of “unrealistic.”
Despite not being able to look at history for examples that our particular visions will materialize, we still have history on our side. For those who’ve created new thriving systems and obsoleted dysfunctional ones; for those who’ve carried out revolutions; for those who’ve ascended to the highest positions at organizations, companies and nations in unprecedented fashion, they’ve all been met with “unrealistic.” Yet, as history shows, they’ve made their visions real, and realistic.
Discern between awareness and stuckness
It is necessary to develop an awareness of the issues we’re trying to fix or solve when fleshing out our visions. Much of, if not all, the time the awareness is what leads to our having the visions in the first place. We want to be in the know about the injustice, inequality, inefficiency and overall dysfunction that exists for the sake of our visions. We want to get as much information about what it is that we’re trying to reimagine or evolve to ensure the viability, workability and sustainability of the vision.
We have to be mindful, however, of just how much we get caught up in the problems, and lose track of the solutions or intentions our visions hold. Awareness begets confidence that we’re priming ourselves for the vision. Stuckness begets deflation and overwhelm. We can focus on what’s wrong with what is to the point that we lose track of what we know in our core is possible. It’s here that we feel the density of the problems so much that we get stuck in them, and lose the prime opportunity to move on and soar with our visions.
Keep attention on intentions
Instead of getting stuck in the problems, we can use them as a springboard for the development and realization of the vision. That’s why it’s incumbent upon us to keep our visions front and center at all times, not the problems. Whenever the going gets rough, and it will, we need to summon the intentions embedded in our visions to strengthen our resolve and strategy in seeing them through.
The election of a president who seems hellbent on keeping old consciousness in place, for example, could dishearten the conscious visionary, especially with all the gains toward having a more progressive system in recent years. Yet, instead of dwelling in disappointment, one can use the contrast between what they want and what’s happening to pivot back toward the vision of what our society would look like based on love, abundance, compassion and harmony, as well as how to best get there. Attention on intentions helps the visionary step (back) into and stay in the vision, which is crucial in moving it forward.
In short, bringing paradigm-shifting visions to life is no small feat. What they ask of us is a rigorous commitment to personal and world transformation that’s not for the faint of heart. But those called to the undertaking are not faint of heart. We are champions of possibility, boldly proclaiming who we are and what we’re capable of with a tremendous amount of heart. Let’s continue to answer the call to forge a new path for our world.
