The Two Parts Of Vision, And Which Comes First

When we speak about our vision, most people are focused on what they want to do or create.

But there are actually two parts of vision.

Being and Creating

There is the vision for who I want to be and the vision for what I want to do or create.

These are not actually separate — it’s not binary. Rather, they are parts to a whole. Like heads and tails on a coin.

But it can help to consider them separately.

The vision for what I want to do and create changes over time. It changes in part based on who I am at the time I create that vision.

My vision for who I want to be changes less often.

This is the higher vision I hold for myself.

What Can We Measure?

Some people believe that the “being and feeling stuff” is not relevant because it’s not an objective metric. It’s not something that an outside observer can see. A person who doesn’t know us cannot see if we are fulfilling that vision.

It’s not a box we check on an action list.

This is partly true, partly false, and completely misguided.

The Truth

It’s true that this is not a box we can check on an action list. This is actually the point, as we’ll see.

Other People Can See Who We Are

The statement that an outside observer can not see it is not true.

People who know me have reflected back to me that I seem more at peace. More grounded. Less all over the place and less in my head. Not that I don’t have more work to do in that regard, but I’m leading more with my heart and stepping out of fear.

Those who know me have a reference point. But what about a stranger, someone who meets me for the first time?

Last month at Unleash The Power Within, I was given the responsibility to send over 300 participants across the firewalk. I had to look at them and know that they were ready.

I had to give them certainty that I was confident that they were ready.

I had to do this without talking to them.

Purely through my energy and physiology, I had to convey certainty and grounding in a moment of chaos, when these participants were feeling extreme fear.

They didn’t know me, but they could sense my being.

In the three weeks since then, I’ve participated in one conference and two trainings. I’ve met several new people. Many have commented on my presence.

That is me living in the vision of who I wanted to become.

Peaceful. Calm. Grounded. Leading from my heart. All part of the vision I had for my higher self.

More often than not, I am living this daily.

The Fallacy of Checking Boxes

The direction to focus on actions that an outside observer can see — on checking the boxes — is misguided unless those actions are aligned.

Action for the sake of checking off boxes is an escape from the discomfort of uncertainty. We often believe it will give us momentum. The truth is that nothing is more deflating than working hard to achieve something only to realize it didn’t take you where you wanted to go.

See my series on precrastination, where I wrote about this in depth.

The “strategic plan” for bringing the vision of what we want to create into form is only worthwhile if the vision still applies.

This brings me to the big piece that most people miss.

Do. Have. Feel. Be.

What order do you put those things in?

Many achievers believe we must

Do something to Have what we want, so that we can Feel happy and finally Be our highest version of ourselves.

Tony Robbins says that the greatest force underlying human behavior is the need to stay consistent with our identity.

What we do emerges from who we are.

The order we want to aim for is:

Be. Feel. Do. Have.

In fact, the “have” falls away when we act from an integrated and aligned state of being.

Our vision for what we want to create — the work we want to bring into the world — will change as we evolve in our unfolding.

Meeting the Resistance

When we elevate to the higher vision we are holding for ourselves and we’re still holding onto an old vision for what we want to create or do, we experience inner conflict, which manifests as “resistance.”

Resistance isn’t always fear. Sometimes it’s a sign that what you’re trying to do isn’t aligned. In fact, in the physical body that’s often what’s going on.

If you keep talking about something you want to do, but you’re not doing it, perhaps it’s time to consider that this vision is no longer aligned for you. It no longer fits with who you are.

Letting Go

What would happen if you let go of what you thought you wanted? Even just temporarily?

You give yourself space to call in a new vision aligned with who you are.

In fact, you might even uncover a new sense of who you are.