I’ve had a heavy dose of visioning in the last 4 weeks. I led a 90-minute session on “Envisioning the Change You Want to Create” for TrueU. Last Friday, I spent a visioning day with eight amazing women leaders led by Angie Nuttle of CorporateOD Strageties. This, on top if my annual ritual of reviewing the past year, envisioning the upcoming year, and setting goals. With the typical lull in work activity over the holidays, I am feeling I’ve been totally focused on dreaming and not doing.
I’ve seen firsthand the amazing things that can happen when you allow yourself to dream and to put some shape around that dream. People I’ve worked with to envision have started new businesses, traveled the globe, transformed relationships, moved into prosperity, changed themselves and the world around them.
Yet after a month that was rich with dreaming and light on doing, I am more than ready to move out of dream mode and into do mode. And I know that the order is correct – first dream, then do.
Folks get tripped up in this dream/do cycle. There are two types of traps:
Doers, who believe that dreaming is a waste of time. Far better to do something, anything. And oh, by the way, they are far too busy with all they are doing to take some time to pause, reflect, or allow themselves to imagine anything other than their current state of affairs.
Dreamers, who believe that what they think up will magically manifest itself once they articulate the dream in some manner. They create the vision board, sit back, and wait for good things to happen.
Both are dead wrong.
This Japanese proverb is a great summary:
“A vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a nightmare.”
Bottom line – you must be both a dreamer and a doer. Start with dreaming. It gives you something worthwhile to aim at. It sets your priorities. It ensures that you are busy doing the right things – not just things. And then do. Work like you mean it. Set goals and milestones. Stretch yourself. Take a risk. Make a mistake or two and learn like crazy. Keep plugging away. Do something that moves you forward every single day – even though it seems small.
So dream a bit and then do a lot. (Keep your head in the clouds and feet on ground!) Repeat every day. You’ll be amazed at what happens.
Here are some past blog posts that may help you with both dreaming and doing:
The Hard Truth about Transformation
The Fastest Route Might Not be a Straight Line
When Planning Turns Into Procrastination
How to Overcome the Biggest Resistance of All: Your Own
Resolving NOT to make Resolutions
Do BHAGs Scare You –They Do Me!
