Without CLARITY, No Dream Can Come True
Mike Ihezuo
Despite other ingredients of making your dream come true, without dream clarity, your dream will end as daydream.
Introduction
I speak in- and to- the public. I ask questions a lot. It is because I believe in the power of questioning. Too many don’t, hence neither questions nor can answer questions as a result of not anticipating questions. I feel bad when I ask question and for 180 seconds the person questioned will be stuttering and stammering especially over their dreams, visions, purpose [mission, intent], plans, and pursuits. This leaves me bothered. If one can say this is his plan, purpose, vision or dream, I expect the person to roll and flow on it when asked question on it. Inability to flow leaves person like me thinking if I am talking to the wrong person.
I discover that the reason for such non-flowing is that many people have ideas, dreams, visions, pursuits and plans but don’t have the CLARITY of what that entails, what they want to do, what they supposed to do, and what they intend to do, yet make so much noise about it, as if they are good to go. It is a preparatory problem. One of my acquaintances always say “Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance, P>P>P>P>P.”
Illustrations
For instances;
Someone says, “I have a dream to do X or Y thing”.
You ask, “what does the dream entails?”, “What is all about?”
The person stammers 300 seconds.
Someone said, “I want to do K or T business”.
You ask, “What need will the business serve?”, “What business sector is it?” or “Who will be your customers?”
The person stammers 240 seconds.
Someone says, “I want to look for employment”.
You ask, “which type, sector or where?” or “as what [position]?”
The person says any type, anyone, anywhere, and stammers 180 seconds.
If anyone wants accomplish anything significant, clarity needs to be defined with specificity. The reason many often do not get what they want can be traced to clarity problem – clarity of dream, of vision, of purpose, of pursuits and of plan. Do not assume that because you want to do something, that you understand that thing. Seek for clarity from a known-better-than-you.
The desire to achieve a dream or vision is enough push to kick off without sitting one down to ask: do I clearly see, and understand my dream, vision, purpose, plan, program or pursuits? I see this case daily! It is good to bring plans, and dream into focus, masticate it [meditate] and clarify contents and components. Caveat: I don’t advocate over-analysis as it can paralyze you, but you must always analyze [deep think].
Dream
The “WHYs” You Must Clarify Your Dream
In case you belong / fall into the group of those who jump on impulse of doing things without clarifying ideas, let me help you with these 4 WHYs.
WHY #1
A dream that is unclear won’t get you anywhere. QED!
Any person stumbling, stammering, stuttering and mumbling in attempt of explaining his/her dream is not ready, rather unprepared for the dream. Period. Anyone thinking his name is either lying or intending to do so.
…Defining What You Want
Permit me to shock you!
How can one who wants to be a staff of a venture perhaps an ambitious enterprise, approaches you a recruiter or a business coach you’re, and you as a recruiter/business coach ask him/her, “what’s your goal / target?”, “What do you want to achieve / accomplish?”, “What gap are you filling?”, “What are you bringing to the table?”, “What is your market?”, “What needs are you satisfying?”, and “What do you want contribute or become?” And the person can’t answer all, or at least half. Some will answer nil.
Those questions if not correctly and originally answered, the person won’t achieve the aspired dream. The primary reason people don’t get to where they want is that they don’t know what they want, or how the thing they want looks like. The tendency is that they may see the thing without knowing that is it. This is also in the spirit realm as it is in physical realm.
Parallel enough, one of the reasons people don’t get what they prayed for [talking spiritually now] is that they do not know how what they want looks like…and this is shown in their not specifying the description of what they want.
…SMART
Defining what you want requires you to be SMART [let it be Specific, let it be Measurable, let it be Achievable, let it be Realizable, let it be Time bound]. Anything less than that, makes it non-lucid, unclear and confused.
WHY #2
Put up efforts or sacrifices to make dream clearer.
Every clear dream has swallowed up some efforts. Some persons can go to the “mount”. Others spent days thinking over it. Many pray and fast. Few study and research. It takes time, efforts, resources and money to clarify your dreams, purpose, plans, vision, and pursuits. For instance, giving your business/company a name can take days, weeks, even months of thinking it out. Thinking of business you are into it can take days, weeks…even other resources. These are efforts and sacrifices. Destroy the mindset of things that cost you nothing, even efforts.
How Do I Clarify My Dreams – Practical Approach?
Some essentials things I do as person, leader and developer to clarify my dreams are;
Questions – I ask myself questions – why am here on this issue? What do I want? What do I need? What am I feeling? What do I need? What is happening? What am I seeing? What can I see? What am I seeing? Hearing? Sometimes, questions start the process of my clarifying my dreams.
Thinking – I spend hours, days or weeks thinking and rethinking over the dreams, plans and programs especially in the dead night.
Nature & Things – I observe nature and things, times and seasons, circumstances and situations if information can come from them, and I learn from nature and things a lot.
Reading & Studying – I refer to books, starting with Bible, then other relevant books on such topics and read. Boy, I read! Books are one of my greatest assets. And I read to cook myself above 100 degree C, confirm what I’m thinking. or researching.
Past Experience – do I have experiences in this area or can I get one who has, perhaps for information or partnering or collabo?
Money and Materials – when I was graduating from Indiana Christian University Bible College in 2002, the guest lecturer who was the Provost of College made a striking statement to us. He said when your available cash at hand and cash that can CAPABLY be raised cannot prosecute your dream, it means that, that dream cannot be really yours, or at least, yours for the time being, and there’s no reason for you to kill yourself or waste your time. I adopted this wisdom and knowhow right from 2002. I always check my purse.
The above help me. You can have or find yours, to form your means of clarifying your own dreams, but if don’t have, or can’t develop one, use mine to start with.
Clarity
WHY #3
Clarified Dream Create Priorities
Life offers us many easy way outs, least line of defenses, immediate opportunities, survival options and necessity doctrines. These offers us opportunity to be caught up in a web of busy-ness in the disguise of business. It is easy to get messy in the day-to-day routine of life that one losses sight of his dream even the big picture. This is made possible when dream is not clarified or is fuzzy.
A clarified dream helps you get your priorities straight. Repetition and pasting things where your eyes flashes always are simplified ways to make your dream clear and unforgettable to you . Clarity of dream gender clarity of priorities. If you see your dreams clearly, and keep it before you continually, and focused, it will help you understand what you must sacrifice and what you must dedicate yourself to be on the move.
Only a clear picture of WHO YOU ARE, WHERE YOU WANT TO GO can help you prioritize what you want to do. Make a choice to bring you closer to your dream…that realigns your priorities.
WHY #4
Clear Dream Motivates and Directs Teammates
All dreams whether individuals’ or corporates’ require engagements and participations of human elements. You need a team to work out your individual’s dream. So, it is for group’s dream. This is only possible when you possess a clear picture of the dream or can communicate the dream in clear undistorted terms.
I believe goals fail because organizations fail to accomplish what they set out to do – the reason being that they don’t clearly define their goals. How can employees that don’t understand the companies’ goals and game plans achieve her corporate goals? No way!
Clarity
My 3 Believes On Clear Dream Motivating Teammates
I believe every CEO needs to study the game of football in order to understand goals, visions, dreams, and stakes [interest].
Football is a goal-oriented game. It is a goal-game. It is a game that can never be without clear goals, clear interests [stakes], clear rules [professionalism, etiquettes], visions and dreams. The goal is clearly defined by scoring goals. And scoring is at a location called goal post [inside, net]. The 2 goalposts are at the 2 opposite’s ends of the pitch called goal lines. Why called goal lines? Eleven [11] players of opposite offensive side struggle for a single interest to move the ball [object of game] across the goal line but only through the goal post. Every one of the 11 in each side has specific, segment/sectorial and group/team task at a time, t in the field to perform. General interest [stake] is to win. Win is by scoring goal! Now the defenders + keeper, forwarders/strikers, midfielders knows exactly what to do individually [as an individual winger], collectively [as any of 3 sectors] or even as a team player.
When there be a defensive team, the team has its goal advantage, they’ll use their defensive sector to prevent the opponent offensive sector to score, and at same time, to increase their scoring tally using their own offensive sector.
I know all CEOs, Managers, and Unionists understand that I’m talking to them, not to Chelsea FC?
I believe every CEO needs learn Project Management thinking with respect to dream/vision. People, and their tasks in organization are projects. The earlier you know it, the better!
I believe every CEO should be an Architect in Thinking with respect to dream/vision. What do I mean? A leader must know how to identify the dream, draw it [as architect], finish it before starting it [as architect] until you finish it. I mean if you are true leader [visionary], you need to know the end before start leading the team. You have to see it, otherwise your team will be incapacitated to fulfill the dream.
One of the leaders’ greatest and toughest challenge is continually thinking and seeking about how to communicate vision to others. Why? If the leaders create unclear picture, people equally follow unclear way. Lack of clarity inhibits persistence, hinders initiative, dampens foresight, and undermines follow-up and follow-through.
Followers don’t give their best to something fuzzy or not clearly understood. People don’t stay on course on dream or vision they’re not seeing.
Check whether this could be the challenges of your organization or employees.
Anytime a group, department, team, or organization doesn’t SEE CLARITY or FOCUSED PICTURE of what she’s trying to achieve, it zooms off-track – destined out. There’s no magic, no mystery and no miracle about it — just a leadership principle.
Conclusion
Try to make clears your dreams, plans, vision, programs, purpose, else it will be vague, and you will be frustrated and cannot realize the dream.
Mike Ihezuo helps organizations and individuals to succeed and achieve their dreams. He can help. Reach him on leadermikeo@gmail.com or www.mikeihezuospeaks.net or any of the digital channels.
Questions
What do you think?
Leader Mike is a Leadership, Management, Conflict, ARC, Entrepreneurship Coach
Email: leadermikeo@gmail.com
