Proud daddy moment yesterday: I watched my oldest son (7) take my youngest son (5) and teach him how to vision. I am proud of both of my sons. My oldest for getting it and sharing it. My youngest for being willing to learn.

I’ve been slowly teaching my two boys to rock climb over the last year or so. They are still young so it’s been fun introducing them to something new. They started by climbing very short distances and then stopping or dropping off before completing the climb.

Normally when they quit, they had good holds. They were in a good position to keep climbing. But they had gotten to a point where mentally they were “high enough”. Fear would kick in and they’d stop and ask for help down or just let go.

This is a very common experience when teaching anyone how to climb. The first goal (for an instructor) – aside from safety – isn’t to teach skills or technique, but to help someone gain the confidence that they can do it.

The challenge for most new climbers is what they see. They have a vision problem. They usually envision:

• “This will be difficult.”
• “I’ll never learn this.”
• “I’ll probably fall.”
• “I’ll look silly to other people.”

A climber’s vision is crucial. What they see has such a huge impact on what they will actually experience. They see:

• “I’ll make it to the top.”
• “I’ll learn this and soon be tackling climbs I’ve never imagined.”
• “I’ll be safe.”
• “I’ll probably make good friends here who all started just like me.”

The Importance of Vision

Vision is a critical part of leadership.  Vision, when we talk about it in this context, is about “seeing with your mind’s eye”. It’s the ability of a leader or leadership team to see something that doesn’t yet exist.

Regardless of what your vision statement says, if what a leader or leadership team sees is the amount of effort, or risk, or likely failure, they will act in alignment with that vision.

What you see, what your team sees, is most likely what you will experience. If you aren’t content with what you are experiencing, you probably need to change your vision.

Learning Vision

I initially had to teach my sons, “You can do it”. I didn’t worry about them following routes or climbing correctly. What I wanted them to learn was to see themselves as people who could start and complete a climb. I first had to give them a vision of success. Any success.

My oldest was a little stronger and became confident a little faster. Once the confidence settled in, he started tackling all kinds of climbs. Real climbs. The kinds of climbs the big kids and adults were climbing.

He ran into challenges again. This shook his confidence again. So I taught him how to vision.

We laid down together on the mat in front of a route. I taught him how to imagine himself climbing. What would each handhold feel like? How might he want to shift his weight as he moved? Where would he put his feet?

He started doing it. And he started completing harder and harder climbs. Why?

Mostly because he can see himself doing it now. Now when he looks at a climb, he can imagine himself at the top. He can also imagine himself succeeding through all of the middle.

My youngest son has recently learned the first lesson of confidence. My oldest saw that in him. That was when I saw them lie down together in front of a route as he taught his brother how to vision too.

My Visioning Experiment

I’ve believed in and taught the power of vision for a long time. But a couple of years ago, I decided to approach it differently.

I have vision in many areas: business, family, marriage, personal wellness, fitness, etc. Instead of setting goals, I wrote out a set of statements that described my vision as a present reality. At the end of the statement, I described one or two things I would do to take steps towards that vision becoming real. No big plan, no complicated strategy.

Then I began a habit of reading this statement to myself nearly every day.

What I was intentionally trying to do was to teach my subconscious self to see myself differently. Based on seeing myself differently, I knew it would be easier or more natural to take the steps I needed to build something different.

A couple of weeks ago, I was reading the list one morning and I realized something: I needed to update the list. Much of what I had written had become reality. The old list no longer made sense.

What is your 2020 vision?  (I’m surprised I don’t see more people playing off of that!)

What do you see for yourself this coming year? If you set a simple goal like “I want to lose weight”, we can talk about being intentional, creating a plan, and setting SMART goals. That’s the typical approach.

But if as part of your vision of losing weight you mostly see discomfort, misery and eventual failure…you’ll probably be uncomfortable and unhappy and you’ll quit.

However, if your vision is about how good you’ll feel during the process, how much you’ll enjoy eating differently, the exercise, and the joy of hitting your goals, you stand a very high chance of getting there.

If you and your team are setting goals for your organization, but regardless of the goals, all you can see are challenges, limitations, and frustrations, you probably won’t make much progress.

However, if you and your team explore how the inevitable challenges will make you stronger, how you’ll come up with innovative solutions to deal with limitations, and how satisfying it’ll be to see your team build something together, then you’ve just done a significant part of the heavy lifting required to be successful.

Take time to vision. Bring a friend.

Follow the model of my sons: Learn to “lie down” in front of your goals. Take time to imagine yourself and your team moving through from start to finish. Do this with someone else. The challenges are inevitable. Imagine yourself facing them and overcoming them.

My oldest son (7 years old!) looked at the 40’ walls yesterday. He asked, “When can we climb those?” His vision has grown. I see it too. He doesn’t know what it feels like to be that high off the ground or how tired you can get or that strange loneliness that comes with a problem no one can help you with.

But the challenges are part of the fun. He’ll learn that too. He’ll overcome.

You can do it too.

Have a wonderful 2020!

Take good care,

Christian

Would you like my help for yourself, your team or board to get a clear vision of 2020?  Don’t leave it to chance. Give me call 907 522-7200 or e-mail me.

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