“We don’t rise to the level of vision, we rise to the level of our decisions,” Loren Ridinger.  It’s one thing to have great vision it’s another thing to bring it to life.  A decision is just that: clear choice coupled with action—the key is in the action.  In order to rise, we have to believe in the vision.  We have to believe in ourselves and our ability to fulfill that vision. At conference I had another take away which is that we must decide like the person who lives that vision would decide in order to experience what we want to experience.  I’ve said it before, you can imagine going to Bali all you want—that’s your vision—but buying a ticket to Florida is not the same thing—that’s the decision.  If we keep deciding like we always have then we will get what we always got.  Life gives us what we put into it so we have to make sure we are very clear on what we want—and what we need.

When it comes to the level of our vision, it’s safe to say that we often dream too small.  We may have a big idea but with no workable way to do it, all it stays is an idea.  A vision requires steps and action and the choice to take risk.  That risk can be anything from saying yes to something we haven’t before or saying no to something we haven’t before; it can be walking instead of driving, taking the stairs instead of the elevator.  It can be as monumental as wiping the entire slate clean and starting somewhere new.  But the point is this: if we don’t do something different nothing will ever change.  The good news is it doesn’t have to be a huge life-altering step from the get go, it can be something small that breaks the pattern.  It compounds from there because we see that changing course is often a series of small adjustments that gets us where we need to go.  At the end of the day every big move starts from the smallest of decisions.

Life changes in a blink—sure it may not be overnight, but it changes faster than you think.  One moment, one step, one choice at a time moves us closer to our dreams or further way.  It’s all up to us.  We can have an idea or an image of what we want in our minds but if we do nothing that idea will never come to light.  Not everyone is aware of what they want right off the bat—we aren’t all that fortunate to remember who we are early in life and for most of us, the world gets in the way and wreaks a little havoc on us until we settle into who we are.  We can’t let the noise and fear and distraction get in the way of the real dream.  We have to recognize that calling, that hope, that voice, and yes, that vision—and we need to support it.  If it was given to us it was meant for us and there is nothing that will take that away, so as long as we are clear and are willing to take responsibility for those choices, it becomes inevitable.  Choose wisely.  Choose big.