Perspective

Perspective is key. For instance, if you were told that you would receive $1,000,000 for jumping out of a plane without a parachute, would you do it?

If you say "No," immediately, you would lose the opportunity for a million dollars. Why? Safety? No! Because you did not know the plane was on the ground with its emergency slide open, so you jumped -- but to the wrong conclusion.

How Many NOs Before a YES?

When I was growing up, my father (God rest his soul in peace) made it so clear to us that his NO meant NO and not MAYBE or LATER. Later when I started my first business peddling goodies at age 11, I brought this attitude to business. The first customer I approached made it so clear to me that he was not interested. I could almost hear my father screaming in my ears, “I said NO and I mean NO.” One day I decided to give myself a benefit of a doubt by returning to the same customer who had said NO to me. We were both surprised. After buying almost everything I had on me, my former rejection told me, “I have been looking for you everywhere. The moment you left, my wife convinced me that we needed your products. I tried to run after you but you had already gone too far. I am glad you came back.”

Since that time, it takes about four NOs for me to really believe someone is not interested.

Eliminating Options

Wouldn’t it be beautiful if we all could see the end from the beginning? Oh may be just have a glimpse of a few miles ahead of us? The good news is that we can. Though God has hidden the future from us, He has provided a way for us to form a framework within which we can eliminate options. Some call it vision. Others call it purpose. I call it eliminating nonsense. The mind is full of imaginations, dreams, wishes, and aspirations. The temptation to conquer the world can sometimes blind us from reality. Wishes take over reason and we find ourselves riding on the wings of the unattainable.

But what exactly does it mean to have a vision? Does it mean confinement to the finite or the elimination of chances? Certainly not. I call vision the trimming off of the unnecessary- the elimination of time wasters. The most difficult part of having a vision is eliminating options. Options have a way of enslaving us to indecision. Indecision breeds inactivity as we wait for the best alternative to jump out of the sea of options. We wait. And wait. Until it’s too late to choose.

If you forget everything, at least remember this: “ Eliminating options is half the task of crafting your vision for the future.”

Happy dreaming!