The "Extra" on the Ordinary - The most pathetic person in the world is some one who has sight but no vision.

“If I paint a wild horse, you might not see the horse… but surely you will see the wildness!”Pablo Picasso

I always wanted to put my thoughts down about how to be completely tuned in with one’s personal vision and purpose for any aspect of life. And I am sort of excited that I finally put fingers to the keypad… Lol

I will start first by stating the objective of this post.

It is my fondest wish that readers would find this post useful and worthy of a second or even third read to carefully ruminate and put into practice the ideas and philosophies of life that can become quite useful to anyone irrespective of how far gone they are in the wrong direction.

Life is a teacher. No doubt, we learn everyday. And the much touted experience we gloat about is learned from our mistakes. Mistakes sometimes genuinely made and many times from misguided points of view.

These lessons must however be passed down to the younger ones. And that is one primary objective this post sets out to achieve.

The most important guiding post for any young person is a well-defined and articulated vision. A vision conceived and well thought through for which your actions in the present serve no other purpose but to achieve that vision.

A vision is simply the big picture.

What you define as the end game, or a future state that you desire for a journey you are about to embark on or that which you already started.

Now I am getting excited!

The human mind is such an amazing gift. You can never be wrong or right with the dreams or visions you conceive. The extent of your vision is defined by the experiences and the things you learn and see everyday. It is a desired state!

Growing up in my teenage years, I learned one very important and valuable quote:

“If you can dream it, you can achieve it!”

You cannot be at a desired state that you have never envisioned. You may not realize it, but everything you see, learn, experience get retained in your subconscious mind and lay the foundation for which your vision gets a lift.

When it is said that you guard what your eyes see and what you feed into your mind, it is simply because the garbage you feed your mind becomes the basis for which your thoughts, actions and ultimately your visions are fleshed.

Having a clear vision is therefore the first step to any endeavor you wish to embark on. It is the guiding light to the actions you will take in the present.

Let’s look at this instance:

A young accountant has a dream- vision to own a property for which he intends to move in with his young family. He is clear about how he wants to live in a simple apartment with four bedrooms and enough space to park three cars. He also doesn’t want to stay in a shared property.

He is clear about his vision.

Then he sets the goals that will support the decision. He goes on to align his goals:

He hopes to live in a neighborhood that is in close proximity to good schools for his children and within a few minutes to standard and modern medical facility/hospital. He also hopes to stay within 1hr driving time to his work place.

He is fleshing his vision with clarity of thoughts.

He goes on to put reality to his vision.

If he intends to live within close proximity to the hospital, his work place and a good school for his kids, clearly he would have to cough some good money to afford a house within the city centre.

Now that is the driver for his efforts. He would have to work within a cost band and then project his earnings to see how far his deficits is in order to make his dream come through.

So as soon as he starts to make aggressive savings and investments tailored towards earning him enough money or wherewithal to achieve his dream, others will perceive his efforts differently. Afterall they are not privy to his dream. Because he is internally driven, he wouldn’t see a lot of the things that his friends and people had imagined he would be. He isn’t working with their vision for him.

I must say that your vision must be time bound. Do not leave it open-ended. This would be akin to having your visions tossed about like a rudderless vessel on high sea.

Be practical in setting the time to achieve your dreams and vision. Consider the realities of your current state and situation, but do not be too conservative and limit the possibilities. Only the audacious can breakthrough the boundaries and limitations set by our minds.

Once you set a time to your vision for your life, plan or endeavor, your body, mind would subconsciously work towards meeting the time line or just around it.

That brings us to conversation about time.
If your visions are now time bound, why would anyone waste time dillydallying on important things. Why would anyone spend an awful lot of time on things that would not bring them any closer to their vision or dream?

There is no dream or vision achieved without consistency. Check yourself. The things you started and abandoned, did they bring you closer to anywhere?

Right! I thought so too.

Consistency is driven by an internal motivation to keep at it until the goal is achieved. For as long as your actions are in line with the overall objective or vision for an endeavor, you must keep stoking the embers and keep your dream burning.

You may have a great vision, however if the consistency of your effort is non-existent you will always start from the beginning.

I often ask young people one interesting question. And in one instance I recollect asking a young secondary school girl during my engagement with them last year at the school hall.

I asked her to tell me what she wanted to be when she is all grown.

She says she would love to be a pharmacist. I then ask why? She answers that she would love to save lives.

I thought that was a worthy response.

Then I asked further if she ever dreamed of the kind of life or house she would live in.

She says she would love to buy a benz (lol…. kids of these days) and would love to live in a mansion with many rooms.

My next set of questions was all that remained to flesh up her dream.

I asked if she could see the color of the benz? The upholstery and the color of seats? I asked if she can see herself driving it? Shutting the door as she puts her kids in the back seat? Smell the fresh scent of prestige leather?

I asked her for the color of the external walls of the mansion? How big the house is? I asked if she could smell the aroma of roast chicken from her kitchen while she is wearing an apron with her family waiting up for dinner. And on… And on…

Your vision must be in High Definition (HD). It must be so real you can feel it. That is where the sense of responsibility, determination and consistency will emanate from.

Wake up people, stop having lazy dreams! Our God given brain is designed to imagine and create. Not to live off the dreams of others. You must own it. You must see it and live it. Let it be of your creation, designed for yourself alone.

Don’t have your dream in monochrome. Black and white! Dreamers rule the world.

True fulfilment comes from achieving your vision and dream for your life and endeavors. But first you must dream it. It must be crystal clear.

When your dream and vision is all clear, it is important that you work your way back to the present. The things you must do to achieve that dream and the steps you will be required to take till your reach eldorado must be well articulated and determined. Nothing must be left to chance.

You must work your way from the desired state back to the present moment and decide how that journey would be.

You decisions concerning that endeavour will start from that work back.

Everything you choose to do must be aligned to the journey and the plan.








Your life’s vision defines who you want to be, what you want to be known for and the set of experiences and accomplishments you aim for.

If I were you, I would write my visions down. Download it into paper. Bring it to life. Create it. Be accountable for it. Follow the light.

There is nothing you cannot achieve, if you set your mind to it.

But guess what? You have to Start now!..

Cheers.

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10 thoughts on “The “Extra” on the Ordinary”

  1. I am so psyched up!!!! I have dreams but I don’t put colours or smells to them,I will start now!!! Nice one Duke!

  2. This speaks to me.

    I have always been a man with clear vision while growing up but it seemed to be muldled up at a stage along the line in my life. Sincerely, I am still struggling to redefine it clearly. Which accounted for my wobbling for some years now. This might be the nudge I needed.

    Thank you bro.

    God bless you.

  3. I like the bit about consistency. You just have to put in the work….time and time again. To quote Kanye West .lol. “giving up is way harder than trying”.

    1. Thanks so much the great broo. I am a Victim. Have really learnt a lot from your write up. Time for me to restrategize. More wisdom sir

  4. Thanks Akin,it’s been some sort of struggle in properly articulating the dream(s) together with a lot of other things coming in the way,but I’ll keep at it without relenting.
    Thanks for your words of encouragement as some of those previously shared have been instrumental to breaking a long time scourge.

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