What is Vision?

Helen Keller once said: “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.”

So what is vision? A quick google search will bring up all sorts of grandiose definitions – usually juxtaposed over a setting sunset or a black and white portrait of some historical figure. Jonathan Swift wrote: “Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.” (case in point – I googled that and it was written in curvy font over a black and white photo of ol’ Jonny).

At first I thought “That’s a great definition – I’ll use that.” but the more I looked at it, the more it started to sound like it could have been a quote from that little kid with Bruce Willis on The Sixth Sense…

Let’s simplify it; vision is just a picture of what something should look like – it’s the picture on the puzzle box. And just like trying to do a huge puzzle with no idea what it’s supposed to look like is a bit of a nightmare – trying to put a life together piece by piece with no vision can be a frustrating experience! We end up never really achieving all we were capable of, which like a half-finished puzzle – is a bit of a shame; not just for ourselves but for everyone around us too.

So, take a quiet moment at some point in the next few days and ask yourself: What do I want my life to look like? What do I want to experience? To be known for? If I could make a difference in the world – what would I do?

And here’s the key: Dream Big. Don’t limit yourself, and don’t let things limit you either. Not money (or lack of), upbringing, education, family history, your age – nothing. Start with a clean slate and dream big. Create the picture first – then start putting the pieces together.

There are numerous examples of what can be achieved with vision – but one of my favourites is the story of Walt Disney and Disney World:

Disney World has become the most popular tourist attraction on the planet. It’s the size of San Francisco (yes you read that right! Over 27,000 acres, of which about 65% is still undeveloped). With more than 62,000 employees it’s the largest ‘single site’ employer in the U.S and if you were to stay in a different room each night it would take you 68 years to cover all the different hotels and resorts.

Sadly, Walt Disney, who was once fired from a newspaper for “lacking imagination and having no original ideas”, died before construction started and his brother Roy took over the project. When it was opened in 1971 someone remarked: “If only Walt was here to see this.”

Roy responded: “He did – or you wouldn’t have.” That’s vision.

Over 17 million people visit Disney World every year.