Special Report:

Expand Your Sense of Vision

By Dr. Tony Alessandra, PhD.

1. Listen to your yearnings.

Don't dismiss your daydreams, or for that matter, your nocturnal dreams, either. They may be signals from your mind and body of some unconscious attraction. And don't listen just to those that fall under the heading of "money" or "things." Think about nonmonetary, nonmaterial rewards such as a job you'd love or more quality time with your family or doing something to help mankind. What's important is what's important to you personally.

Sometimes it's helpful to recall your childhood or youth. What propelled your dreams back then? Where did your imagination take you? What most influenced you?

Chuck Williams, for instance, got his first taste of fine cooking at age seven from his grandmother, who owned a restaurant. He didn't go to college, but instead worked as a mechanic, then a contractor in Sonoma, California, where he also was involved with a local cooking group. Then he became fascinated with the kitchen equipment he saw while on a trip to France.

Two years later, he bought a hardware shop to which he later added housewares and cookware. The store was an instant success and the seed of what would become the Williams-Sonoma retailing empire of upscale kitchen stores, cookbooks, accessories, and catalog sales. Williams, who readily admitted to having few management skills, made up for that in creativity and instinct-and in following up on his fond childhood memories and interest in cooking.

And it's not just the fun or fanciful moments you should recall. If you were poor, maybe helping others escape poverty could be your mission as an adult. If you were abused, maybe abuse prevention is an area where, in your heart of hearts, you would like to make a difference.

2. Seek feedback.

"Unfortunately," said Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, "most people would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism." But getting others to give you honest, constructive feedback may help put your mission and your goals in perspective. They may uncover a diamond you thought was just a pebble, thus sending you off in a better direction.

You should be able to get a source of feedback for free from friends and colleagues. But if you can't, hire it. It soon will pay for itself.

3. Focus on your strengths.

You may have heard the adage, "Don't try to teach a pig to sing-it wastes your time and annoys the pig." Too often we try to force ourselves to become detail people when we're not, or to climb the management ranks when what we enjoy and excel at is the rank-and-file work.

Ask yourself: What am I really good at? What do I most enjoy? And think about a mission and goals related to those answers.

4. Identify and manage your weaknesses.

While concentrating on your strengths, do all you can to keep your weaknesses from dragging you down, either in terms of performance or just in the sense of taking up a lot of your time with fretting.

If you're great at sales but terrible at filling out reports, for example, maybe you ought to hire a part-time administrative assistant or swap duties with another employee so you'll have the time to sell and formulate your ideas about better ways to sell.

5. Ask yourself: "What's in it for me?"

As you select your dream or goal, keep asking yourself, "Why do I want this?" and "What's in it for me?" That sounds selfish, but it's a way to keep on track and make sure you're not superimposing someone else's goals on your own. Should or ought need to take a backseat to what feels right and comfortable for you.

So look for the personally compelling reason. "My father always wanted me to follow in his footsteps" or "My boss thinks this is a good plan for me" are not good answers because a mission is not a duty or a task; it's a dream. And if the dream doesn't excite you, then it's probably not a good match.

6. Write a mission statement.

Answer the question, in writing: What is it that I would really, really like to do that would utilize my strengths and make a difference? Don't worry at first about the logic or how this mission might be accomplished. It's not a plan. It's an expression of values.

Once you've got it, you may want to modify it over the years as your priorities and beliefs change. But, in any event, get the mission down on paper. Then you can figure out how best to achieve it.

7. Take time to get away.

It's important to carve out some time to let your mind wander. Get off by yourself now and then, without the phone, fax, beeper, or TV. Unleash your imagination and see where it roams. Listen to what your heart tells you.

8. Deal with distractions.

On the route to achieving your dream, you'll find change, risk, surprise, stress, and perhaps even failure. But if you're committed, you'll adapt.

"Gee," you might say to yourself, "I've never run a marathon in a hailstorm before. It'll probably slow me down, but it'll slow the others down, too. Meanwhile, it'll give me experience running in unusual conditions, and it won't necessarily divert me from my goal of completing a marathon."

9. Stay in the here and now.

One of life's hardest lessons is that you can only affect the future by staying in the present. If you let your mind wander into the past and what might have been, or into the future and what problems could await you there, you'll likely lose your way.

Avoiding these extremes is what athletes call "the zone." They're not obsessing about last week's defeat or thinking ahead to how powerful next week's team is. Instead, they're fully engrossed in the process of doing the best they can, right now.

10. Do it!

"The best way to predict your future," says management guru Peter F. Drucker, "is to create it." Once you know your mission and goals, that's the time to get down to doing it.

It's so in every field of endeavor. Writers must sit down and write; salespeople must sell; managers must manage; and painters must paint. Too often, though, people are locked into habits that prevent them from moving ahead. They relive yesterdays, they invent excuses, they procrastinate, they doodle in the margins of life's tablet instead of seeking to write their signature boldly. So don't give up on your dreams but, instead, pursue them with passion. END