As mindfulness comes more and more into the mainstream and business world, I am often asked where vision fits.
Since mindfulness is about being fully present with the experience of each moment and vision is about a future you desire, how can you do both at the same time?
Do you have to choose between the present and the future? Do you switch back and forth? Is one better than the other?
The answer is: You do both at the same time. Mindfulness and vision are complementary, not exclusive.
It requires presence to identify and embrace vision. Vision is about the future you desire in the context of where you are right now. It’s about knowing who you are, where you’re going, and the values that guide you.
- Knowing who you are means you have a significant purpose and know what’s important and why.
- Knowing where you’re going means you understand what you are becoming and see a picture of what it looks like.
- Knowing what guides means you are led by your values and use them in making everyday decisions.
When you are clear about your vision, you must live in the present as though it is happening now. You can’t have a vision for a healthy life and continue a diet of junk food. As a leader, when you articulate a vision you say is important, you need to act consistently with it. People watch what you do more closely than what you say.
When you live in the present and are clear about where you’re going, the entire path does not need to be clear. As you take action, your next steps will become clear. Vision is not about planning out all the details and then following them regardless of what is happening in the present.
Vision is about the destination; the path reveals itself during the present. The closer you come to your vision, the more clearly it reveals itself, and the better you understand what it’s really about.
When you focus on both mindfulness and vision, your potential explodes
and you are able to live more fully in the present.
When you know what you want, you recognize opportunities as they arise and can respond quickly. You don’t need to worry about tomorrow because you know you are on the path to your destination. And what you need to do next will become clear as you move forward.
While you are on the path, you can enjoy it . . . if you remember to live in the present and get the most out of each moment.
You don’t have to hike to the top of a mountain to take in the beauty of each moment.
Each moment has its own inherent beauty and possibility for joy. Will you always be happy when you live in the present? No. But you will be engaged in the full range of the human experience, fully alive. And you will be better able to see the possibilities as they arise that will lead you in the direction of your vision.
Such a very important distinction: Vision and mindfulness are complementary, not exclusive!!! We must be alert and active in the present! But present efforts of necessity must be aligned with our vision of what’s important!!!
Well said, John! Being alert in the present to how your efforts align with your vision. You remind me of the adage: Learn from the past, plan for the future, but live in the present.
Hi Jesse Lynn,
In this article, you wrote:
Vision is about the destination; the path reveals itself during the present. The closer you come to your vision, the more clearly it reveals itself, and the better you understand what it’s really about.
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In these words, vision sounds cosmic. As if it’s a real “something” out there to be discovered. I’m curious if that’s what you meant? Is vision discovered as if it were the unfolding of a pre-set plan? My role then is to simply stay mindful to its unfolding? Or is vision the ability to see and make connections that have no inherent connection, but become connected because of my mindful sight?
Not to be coy: I think it’s number two. 🙂 To me, vision is the ability to connect and alchemize raw materials in ingenious ways. Those raw materials are not beckoning to me in any cosmic or pre determined way. They simply “are.” It’s what I do with them that animates them in a particular way.
What do you think?
I agree it’s number two. I didn’t mean to imply it’s cosmic or predetermined. What I have observed is that the closer people come to achieving their vision, it begins to expand and they understand it more deeply. Sometimes they think their vision changed, but when they look closely, they see the surface may have changed but it was really an expansion, not a transformation to a new vision. For example, I was working with the head of Learning and Development for a Fortune 500 company. Her vision was to transform the department to partner with business leaders to provide development opportunities to build a pipeline of talent at all levels. Over the years, she was promoted several times, moving out of HR, and eventually became an officer of the company. Her vision expanded but the essence of it didn’t change. She remained committed to ensuring HR partnered with the line of business and that business decisions included consideration of impact on the people. You can also look at someone like Steve Jobs. No matter what he did, he was always about making computers or whatever technology he was working with, easy for regular people to use. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision included vivid images such as “one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.” If you believe in this vision, the path to get there is up to us to figure out, and we do it one step at a time. Grand master plans to achieve one’s vision rarely work.
Rather like a chicken/egg puzzle. And yet, if I think about mindfulness as slowing down, observing, paying attention and breathing, I become aware that without MINDFULNESS, one might be caught in a cycle of busyness that will never bring one closer to the vision. Thanks, Jesse. important article
Great point, Eileen. Thanks for adding your insights.
I read a post the other day saying it is pointless setting goals.Rather, we should find out what our purpose and mission are and take steps on a daily basis to get closer to them. I would like to know your take on that.
Thanks for your time.
I see goals as the milestones that mark our journey toward our vision. And I think they are helpful as long as you don’t get so locked into them that you start focusing on them to the exclusion of your vision. Unforeseen events will occur that often make it necessary to refocus on our vision and set new goals.