I read a post by Indrani Guhathakurata in which she wrote, “Develop a clear vision with self-discovery because your vision is the blueprint for your life”. I commented, “Vision- self-discovery relationship. It is an intriguing one.”
I wondered what is the relationship between the two of self-discovery and visioning the future. This prompted me to search this idea with compelling interest.
Self-knowledge is essential for personal growth and self-improvement. It involves identifying personal values, strengths, and weaknesses of both hard and soft skills, behaviors, tendencies, and thought patterns. Benefits include self-love, self-worth, and purpose, guiding decision-making and setting goals. Values include honesty, interests aligned with work, and temperate energy helps communicate needs.
This knowledge of self satisfies one seed of the seven seeds of life as outlined by David Fischman in his book “The Secret of the Seven Seeds: A Parable of Leadership And Life”. The seven seeds represent the path to success and balance in life: self-knowledge, meditation, egolessness, service to others, goodness, balance, and freedom.
Self-discovery needs self-knowledge and so one seed of life is satisfied.
The Link to Visioning with Self-Discovery
Companies need to know where they stand to know where they are going. To do so those companies perform analysis such as SWOT analysis to find their strengths to build on them and weaknesses to improve them.
This way those companies know the gap between where they are and where they want to be based on facts and not illusions. They may then develop strategic plans to fill the gap in steps to reach their visioned future. This is to say that companies without knowing themselves cannot decide where to go because they simply do not know the gap that separates them from where they are to where they want to go.
We may extend the same logic to individuals and say that if they do not know where they stand right now how would they know where they want to go and envision their future?
Vision gives direction and sight over our lives to make our goals and mission become a reality.
I hope the link between self-discovery and having an unblurred vision of our life is clearer now to the reader.
I absolutely agree with everything expressed in this article, as always exemplary in its logical path.
What else to add?
We should all ask ourselves what our vision is and then, every now and then, understand if our life is going in the direction of that vision or there is something we need to change or adapt (the circumstances of life change), improve, strengthen. In other words, we must avoid falling into the trap of believing that what we are experiencing is part of our “normality”.
Staying in the present does not mean not having projects! It means making a sort of local mind about where we are, understanding how we feel in that precise moment. Because our life, imade up of small and large projects that push us forward, may require some adjustments in the vision.
And therefore it is important to put ourselves back at the center, to start again from the vision, and to find within ourselves the answer to how and where we are going.
Aldo Delli Paoli This important comment underlines the importance of recognizing our vision and adjusting our life accordingly.
Having a vision encourages us to stay present, understanding our feelings and adjusting our vision as life changes.
It encourages us to put ourselves back at the center, starting from our vision, and find our own answer to our current situation, avoiding the trap of believing our experiences are normal.
My friend- your comment is a great reminder that we should not prison ourselves that what we do necessarily serves our vision. WE need to pasuse and review our steps and doings to ensure they serve our purpose. Without these check points we fall victims to our assumptions.
Great comment as usual my friend. Thank you
Thank you!
Such wisdom, Brother Ali! Thank you for sharing.
SWOT analysis is such a useful tool for companies, especially when used in discussion with varied points of view. I used to ask members of leadership teams to prepare for these sessions by asking their staffs to send them ideas in each category, and to ask customers and suppliers.
Perhaps when applied to individuals, similar data gathering might be appropriate.
Then we might envision how to use our strengths to overcome our weaknesses and look for opportunity within threat.
At an individual level, I think there is something about capabilities -knowledge, skill and supports like habit that we currently have or must develop to achieve a particular envisioned future. But I’m getting ahead of the process you’re outlining.
Alan Culler such a constructive comment you share Brother Alan.
I like very much your methodology of collecting ideas from different parties to fill your SWOT analysis with ideas. This is a great approach.
Thank you for adding this important idea and we all grow wiser to reconsider our shortcomings in the past. We are on the same boat. 🏆 🎯 🙏