Having a vision is different than just setting goals. A vision goes beyond goals and sees the big picture. Goals are simply individual targets to hit on the way to your bigger vision.
But, you’ll never fulfill your vision without goals. Both are necessary, working together.
Your goals need to be connected together in some way to a larger narrative that tells a bigger story.
A conductor of a symphony has the vision—he sees the big picture. He knows what this new piece of music needs to sound like. When he hears the second movement, for example, he hears it in the context of the entire piece.
He can’t be a good conductor if he’s only focusing on each individual movement as isolated entities, disconnected from the larger musical piece the symphony will be performing.
And, he can’t be a good conductor if he’s only focusing on what the individual instruments are doing. The flute plays in the context of the rest of the woodwind section, and the woodwind section plays in relation to the rest of the orchestra as a whole.
So, are your goals connected to a larger vision?
I’m not talking about the smaller, necessary “maintenance goals” of everyday life—“today my goals are to pay the light bill, go grocery shopping, and get an oil change.”
No, I’m talking about your larger “life-shaping” goals—goals that move your life in a direction that causes you to thrive and flourish.
What? You don’t have any of these life-shaping goals? And you don’t have a vision? Then we definitely need to talk--stay tuned!
--Sean Cox, Chicago