You are familiar with the beautiful sight of a rainbow in the sky. It tells us that the rain has passed by and that the sun is shining again. What is actually at the end of the rainbow? Is it a pot of gold as I was led to believe when I was a child?
If we transfer our thoughts from the weather over to our lives and our businesses, I think that we all have a rainbow to follow. I believe that what we are about to accomplish can be seen as a rainbow in the sky. The colours of our rainbow represent the spectrum of our lives, things that we have to deal with to reach whatever we wish to find at the end of our respective rainbows.
The pot of gold that I was told is at the end of the rainbow is for you and your business – whatever you decide it is. You need a vision to work towards, a vision that guides you in your everyday work. You need that vision when you struggle and find things difficult, however, you also need the vision when things are running smoothly. The vision that you set for yourself and your business is an aim on the horizon that you navigate towards.
To quote myself from something that I wrote in my first book “You can never be better, go further, or accomplish more than the vision that leads you.” I see that the vision is what drives us forward, especially when things are tough. We need the vision as a direction to aim towards. It is like a shining beacon in the night. The vision is then divided into goals and strategies that act like milestones and guidelines for action, moving us towards the vision.
You know how it is with the end of the rainbow, as you come closer to the end it moves further away and it seems like you are never going to reach it. Just as it is with the end of the rainbow, it is the same with the vision. When we get closer to our set vision, we can see a new vision ahead. That is because we have learned things along the way and are able to see things we did not see in the past. In time that makes the vision grow and continually evolve.
I see all too many businesses that put up a vision as a part of a business plan just to satisfy certain stakeholders, such as investors or the public. Those kinds of visions only become bunkum and mean nothing. Make sure that you set up a good vision for yourself and for your business and make that vision a part of everyday work. Make sure it is understood and shared by all, because in doing so, you will create a momentum within yourself and within your business that is going to move mountains.
Walt Disney had a vision about an amusement park in the middle of the lush forest of Florida, miles away from any large city. We all know how that ended up. Not only is there one park, there are four of them, a race track, several water parks and a metropolitan area with more than 2,2 million people.
Until next time, think your vision over, both for yourself and for your business. What is it that you want to achieve?
To those of you in the Northern Hemisphere, I wish you a good summer ahead and to all of you, in both hemispheres, I wish you good luck with creating your own vision.
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