Ali Hasan
If you go to YouTube and type “Arnold’s 6 rules of success”, then there will be some videos in front of you which will show the 6 rules that Arnold Schwarzenegger followed to get successful. The first and foremost rule followed by him is “To have a vision”.
According to Arnold, “You can have the best ship/airplane in the world but if the captain/pilot doesn’t know where to go, then you drift around and you end up nowhere”. Same is the case with your life as well as entrepreneurship, especially when you’re just starting up. You’re full of enthusiasm and you have 10 different ideas in your head but this may lead to confusion and create a lot of conflict later on.
Having many ideas in your head isn’t bad, it’s actually a sign that you can think in many directions. But the problem arises when you’re fascinated by each of them and fail to decide on the single idea that you’re going to proceed with. When you’re young, you might not realize how important and powerful it is to have a strong and compelling vision but as life moves on, you regret and accept the fact that it was the single most important thing to do.
To put things in perspective, I will give you an example. There are millions of people who dream of starting a business but they fail to even begin as they lack the necessary resources to do so. On the other hand, there are millions of people who are born with a silver spoon and have all the necessary resources but even then they fail.
Do you know why? It’s because they don’t have the vision to succeed even when they’re born in a family where generations are involved in a business. While I, myself was born in a middle class family, I had some friends who were quite rich. They were not billionaires by any manner but wealthier than me and I thought that they would use their advantage to do whatever they want.
While they did whatever they wanted like partying, drinking or enjoying their life to the fullest, they didn’t dreamt of anything spectacular like me. They had the resources to take their life to the next level but most of them were satisfied and content with their life as they were financially secured. There’s nothing wrong to be satisfied with your life but it’s wrong not to aim higher and to not push yourself to achieve your full potential.
But what do my friends have to do anything with your vision? Well everything. This case shows that a person might have the best possible resources to do whatever they want to do but they simply won’t act in their best interest as they lack the vision to do anything. There are millions of people who waste a vast majority of their time while having the resources to do what another person can only wish for.
This explains that just having the resources won’t make any difference in your life whatsoever if you don’t have a strong and compelling vision. If you’re reading this by any chance, then I assume that you’re sick and tired of being poor or average.
You have big plans and want to do something in your life that others can’t even imagine. If that’s you then use your hunger and desire to grow as a person both personally and professionally. Have a big vision for yourself and combine it with your hunger to be successful in life.
Many people don’t believe in having a vision in their life as they believe that only more money could solve their problems. But if that was the case, then you can look up to many billionaires who went bankrupt even after accomplishing everything. Just because you want something or you achieved it, doesn’t mean that the game is over.
You still need to push further by working smartly in order to sustain your success. This is where having a strong and compelling vision will help you when you have lost all hopes and you see no signs of revival. There are many soldiers who came back from near death experiences just because they had a very clear purpose of seeing their family once again.
There will be many difficult times when you’ll have to decide for yourself and you’ll be confused. At this crucial time, it will be your values, ethics and principles that will help you to decide and move forward with your life. In short a strong and compelling vision will set you up for success even when your competitor will have better resources than you.
Remember the saying that hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t works hard. This saying was true 100 years before, it’s true today and it will be true 100 years from now. So if you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, then take some time and think about your vision which will guide you for the rest of your life towards success.
One thing more, a strong vision is one which is a bit realistic and achievable. You should also change your vision from time to time in order to adapt to the marketplace. For example – If you had an offline business before, then you must have an online presence by having a website or an app. You should also focus on having a strong social media presence. If your employees were working from an office, then after the pandemic they could work from home.
You see having a strong and compelling vision is important but you have to adjust and pivot from time to time according to the changing demands of the marketplace. Look what happened to Blockbuster when it failed to adapt to the marketplace while Netflix gained a lot of market share and profitability.
Benefits of having a Vision
To sum it up, have a big vision for yourself even when you have nothing. A bold vision will help you not only in your professional life but also in your personal life. Lastly, not having the optimum resources can be a bit tricky but if you persist enough, then you can have anything irrespective of your financial circumstances.
I still remember when my friends were binge watching TV shows and getting entertained, I was getting educated through books, videos and other informational content. When they were partying, I was busy working on my business venture. When they were spending a ton of money on stupid stuff like a fancy new iPhone or a cool new bike, I saved up money in order to invest it either into myself or in any money producing asset.
As of now, they like cool in their social media pictures and I don’t. There are also considered more successful than me as they have everything, a job, some cool products that they bought on EMIs but I know that when time comes, I will be financially secured, free to do whatever I want while they would still work 9-5 just to put food on the table and keep their lives running.
Although I gave you an example to illustrate the importance of having a vision, please don’t compare your life to any other person as it’s not good. If you feel like doing something, then do it. If not, then just skip it. But always remember that you don’t have to what others are doing just for the sake of it. Carve your own niche and do what truly matter to you. This is how a vision will help you throughout your life while someone would be stuck on a hamster wheel.
Hope you would take some time to contemplate a vision for yourself which will set you up for success.
