I heard a wise saying many years ago, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” What vision do you have for your future? Is it clear? Is it in writing? Does it have a deadline?
There is a saying from my favorite book that goes like this, “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” So let's break this statement down and analyze it.
First, we need to write our vision and make it plain on paper. If we don't, there is no direction. Like George Harrison said many years ago, “If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there.”
Second, it says, whoever reads it runs with it. It sounds like once we are clear about our direction we have a reason and that reason motivates us to take action.
Third, the vision waits for an appointed time. How many times do we set a goal with no deadline or timeline on when we want to accomplish it. It happens all the time. If there is no deadline, there is no urgency. No urgency no action.
Fourth, “Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” Tarry means to remain, stay or to wait. How often to we become impatient for something to happen. I think impatience is one of the great destroyers of success. It's easy to become impatient when nothing is happening.
Let me illustrate my point. A farmer goes out in the springtime and plants. How crazy would it be for that farmer to go out two weeks after he planted and begin to curse the ground because it hasn't produced? That wouldn't happen would it? Of course not. It takes time to grow a crop.
Also, when does the farmer prepare and plant? In the springtime. Fall is way too late. I see it happen all the time with salespeople. They wait too long to plant and there is no crop to harvest in the fall. Remember we reap exactly what we sow. Sales is really simple. Help others!
Here it is in a nutshell. Write your vision down on paper. Give it a deadline. Take action. And be patient and wait for it to grow.