“Vision is limited by words.” So said the insightful Grasshopper.

A vision by it’s definition is visual and the words are an attempt to describe a picture. That’s really difficult to do, even with practice. Reminds me of a story . . .

Years ago I volunteered to read the Sunday comics in the newspaper to the blind. What a daunting task. You not only had to read the words that were in each frame but also had to describe the actions and the who, what, where, when and why of each character. I invite you to try it the next time you are reading the comics.

If you do, you’ll own the experience of vision being limited by words.

Let’s say you have a vision for the future: a way of doing things or a service or a product that will be useful to others. Explaining it is not the best, first option. Crawling inside of your vision and feeling it will help generate the emotional oomph you’ll need to eventually fuel your words.

Once you have a picture of your vision and the feelings that go along with it, you can then begin to choose your words. If you speak or write before you have a feel, the words will just be words and the picture you’re attempting to paint will be incomplete.

This may just be another way of saying, “If your heart’s not in it, you’ll deliver a weak message to anyone who’s on the receiving end.”

Here’s the real message: Just because you’ve come up with a vision, just finding words to describe it isn’t enough. There is work necessary to communicate that vision and that takes immersion into your idea. That means you need to get wet with sweat.

Want the real world news? Your vision will die with you if you don’t take the time and effort to breathe life into it now. If it’s truly a vision, it will be front and center on your “take action” agenda. If it’s not, it’s no more than a passing fancy – the eye candy of culture.

If you’re only talking about your vision, you’re being limited by your words. Yes, you’ll always have something to talk about but nothing to show for it.

All the best,

John