Vision, Passion, and Discipline

All our life we have been told to set goals, write them down and work towards completing them. We know this can work, but it can be so boring. One alternative is to create a vision board?
To create a vision board, all that is needed is a goal, or a dream and to be open to the possibilities of your imagination. Find pictures, sayings and cut and paste them on a board so you can see your possibilities daily. In the process, you will feel inspired, uplifted and you’ll have a sense of direction. It’s a way to document what your inner compass is telling you.

It’s not magic, just creating the board is not enough. You need vision, passion and discipline.

Vision is seeing with the mind's eye what is possible in you, others, in projects, and in causes. Vision results when our mind is open to possibility. As William Blake once said, "What is now proved was once only imagined." When we have no vision, or forget our capacity to choose or create, we fall prey to becoming the victim.

Passion is the fire, desire, strength of conviction and the drive that sustains the discipline to achieve the vision. Passion arises when human need overlaps unique human talent. You don’t have to be the most talented athlete to win the race. You can have average talent with a greater passion and cross the finish line first. Without passion the void is filled with insecurity and empty chatter. In relationships with others, passion includes compassion.

Discipline is paying the price to bring that vision into reality. It's dealing with the hard, brutal facts of reality and doing the work. Discipline arises when vision joins with commitment. The opposite of discipline and the commitment is indulgence-sacrificing what matters most in life for the pleasure or thrill of the moment. The journey, doing the work, holds the lesson and the gift.