“Dissatisfaction and discouragement are not caused by the absence of things but the absence of vision.”
- Anonymou
When we have a clear vision for each aspect of our lives (professional, financial, relationship with God, personal relationships with others, and physical) the different things that pull at our lives and demand our time will be easier to deal with.
Most people have their professional life planned out pretty well. I guess because we spend so much time there and people rate and judge one another by the success of their careers or their businesses. For example, Southwest Airlines had the vision to be “the low fare airline.” That was the filter they passed all ideas through. So if someone had an idea in a staff meeting to add dinner to the New York to L.A. evening flights, the next question asked would be, “how does that help us to be the low fare airline?” If it did not help them achieve their goal to be the low fare airline the idea was scapped. So if an idea raised costs that caused the company to raise fares it would not help them achieve their overall corporate vision. That doesn’t mean the ideas are bad, they just don’t help you achieve your vision.
Now, apply this principal to the five aspects of your life. But wait…if you don’t have a vision for all aspects of your life then there is nothing to apply.
You need a clear vision for your professional life, physical life, your relationship with God, your relationship with others, and your financial life. I would encourage you to get with your spouse and work on things like your vision for your marriage, for your children, how you spend money, how you save money, etc. But what if I’m not married? In your case, you don’t want to just be married. Start putting in writing what you want your marriage to look like. That way when you meet a guy or girl and start getting serious you can apply your vision to see if things “fit.”
The bottom line is that life happens. You are bombarded with things every day. Decisions, choices, alternatives, consequences. What do you pick. How do you make the decision? Look at your question through the lens of your vision. You can take that job that will pay you twice as much money, but you will have to move across the country and work 80 hours per week. How does this effect your vision of your marriage, your relationship with your kids, your involvement in your local church, does it leave you any time to exercise and take care of your body?
For me, the physical part is hard. I ask, “Should I eat that extra piece (or three) of pizza?” For the last few years I haven’t had any vision for my physical health. I always had an excuse. I was in law school and that took up a lot of time for study and homework, I was studying for the bar, we just had a baby and I need my sleep, etc. Over the past four-five years I have put on some serious weight. I have to get focused on this area and answer the tough questions like the one above or, “would you like a Krispy Kreme donut?” Maybe the answer should be, “no, I’m trying to lose 40 pounds so eating that extra piece of pizza will not help me achieve that vision for my life.”
Once you have a specific, clear vision for the major aspects of your life the decisions will start to get easier. You won’t have to stress over making those decisions. You just have to see if it helps you get closer to being “the low fare airline” or if it moves your further from that goal. For most decisions that you make, there are no super-bad choices, but they may be bad for you.
Start working on and praying that God would reveal your life-vision so when the next big decision comes your way you can decide with confidence. Like the lead-in quote to this post says, a lack of things does not cause your dissatisfaction, it is a lack of vision.
