“No one is less ready for tomorrow than the person who holds the most rigid beliefs about what tomorrow will contain.”

— Watts Wacker, Jim Taylor and Howard Means –The Visionary’s Handbook: Ten Paradoxes That Will Shape the Future of Your Business (1999)

In many of my writings I speak of staying in the present, living in the moment, being in the “now” because that is the only real time there is and it is when our minds are in the moment that we can focus on what is at hand and not be distracted by thoughts of the past or fears of the future.

While we are living in the “now” and optimizing each moment it is also important that in this space we call “now” that we are also visionaries. It is the visionary person who sees and understands the grandeur of the possibilities of our journey.  Being in the “now” does not negate the visionary, quite the opposite, being in the “now” allows us to see the reality before us and presents us the opportunity to envision changes that we desire to create.

When you review some of the most famous of leaders in different aspects of life you will find that they have a common thread among them and that was that each were visionaries, that each was able to see the future they wanted to create. Like a chess player those who have changed this world were able to see three to four moves ahead and plan their moves in a way that would create the reality that they desired. Some of the visionaries that come to mind are Gandhi, Buddha, Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, Alexander the Great, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers … the list goes on and on. There are also many people who were visionaries whose names we don’t recall, people who invented the microchip, people who developed the internet, people who began the Red Cross, etc.

Look around and you will discover many visionaries who have or are impacting your life. Look towards your parents and consider how they were visionaries in regards to your growth and development, look in the mirror and consider how you have been a visionary at points along your journey.

Are you a visionary today, are you envisioning that which you want to create or are you head down and reacting to life as it happens?

It is important to note that having a vision does not mean that you have to look years ahead and possibly become overwhelmed with what lies ahead rather having a vision is simply the practice of raising your gaze and getting a new perspective. The key is to practice lifting your gaze often, practice looking a couple of moves ahead and understand and appreciate the journey you desire to create.

As a visionary develops and creates the journey he/she looks to the future without limits and sees what is not yet there and asks “why not?”

“If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise.”

— Robert Fritz

A person with vision is not shackled by the reality of today, a person with vision sees beyond what is and creates what is not yet. As Thomas Edison said “Vision without execution is hallucination” one must take action to create that which one envisions.

You are a creator; you have the ability to be a visionary and change your world and therefore change our world!

What is your vision and what are you doing to proactively create your reality?

Today, lift your gaze and see that which can be!