How to Accomplish Your Big Vision

(Mondays are Lynn Miles Peisker days at The Daily Blur. Lynn’s the Executive Sister and Chief Plate Spinner at the Imagination Advisory Group. Check out her growing archive of posts here.)

Did you ever just have a really big vision for the future?

I mean, like you just knew. And then you wrote it down. Like scribbled the plan for the next 20 years.  And it was inspired and awesome and resonated with everyone in the room.  This happened to me recently.

And then life happened. Stuff like germs and fatigue and college visits and we’re out of milk again because, yes,  I live with a teenager.

And so I forgot the vision. I forgot the BIG DREAM.

How to return to the passion and enthusiasm I had only days ago? The answer, I believe, is to just do the next thing.

I once had the privilege to hear one of the wisest women of our time, Elisabeth Elliot, speak in person. She defined suffering, and please forgive my 20-year-time-lapse-paraphrase, as having anything you don’t want (like the flu) or wanting anything you don’t have (like a washer that actually works.) And this was from a woman who has known real, gut-wrenching, unimaginable suffering in her life.

When you find yourself in situations of suffering, large or small, what do you do? Mrs. Elliot advised, “Just do the next thing.”

That is true for pursuing your big dream vision as well. Make a list. We make ours on Basecamp which is awesome. And then you work the list. You work the list hard. You go hard in the paint on the list.

And then pretty soon it’s 20 years later. I know this because I am a parent of grown-ups. And because you worked the list,  because you did the next thing, by golly, you are there. Your big dream is a reality.

Oh, and don’t let any of this stuff get in your way.

Dream big. Work the List. Call me in 20 years. I can’t wait to see what happens.