“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
—T. S. Eliot
How far could you go in 2016 if you put your mind to it? Could you make history in the year ahead if you harnessed your best ideas, focused your energy, and whole-heartedly explored what you are truly capable of?
This is the year of the history maker—those who push the envelope, who refuse to march in step with the status quo, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers; the crazy ones.
Those willing to break rank, break through boundaries, and break the mold are the ones who will make their mark on history.
Could that history maker be you?
Make this the year you make history!
Most people will never make history. Why? Because they are preoccupied with what I call “the clutter of the common”—the mountains of minutiae that keep most of us safely chasing our tails; they will never have the kind of success of such history makers as Steve Jobs or Ray Kroc or Walt Disney because they are simply too cautious.
In other words, the common person is perpetually distracted by “common chaos” because it provides a familiar busyness that feels safe and self-justifying.
Simply put, the average person is not willing to take the kind of risk that is required to be a history maker.
If you are going to make history in 2016 and beyond, you’ve got to be prepared to take risks.
Not just any risks, but calculated risks. How do you do that? You get really clear on what you want to make happen—and then you write it down.
A clear and compelling vision will act as your anchor, rudder, and sail—it will provide you with a compass that will keep you on course.
I challenge you this week to begin writing a history-making vision for your life. Click here for a free PDF guide to writing a 12-part vision for your life!
Listen to Part 2 of my webinar “Gaining a Vision for Your Life” by clicking here
Take the risk and tune in this evening! Remember, if you’re going to be a history maker, you’re going to have to be a risk taker.
“History favors risk-takers.”
—Iveta Cherneva
Risk takers are men and women of faith who are not afraid to go out on a limb.
I’m reminded of Jesus who invited Peter to take the risk of walking on water. And even though Peter eventually began to sink, he was not afraid to take the risk.
“So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.”
Matthew 14:29
Risk takers are water walkers; they leave the shore of comfort and the realm of the familiar to navigate the sea of unlimited possibility. They are willing to cast their nets into the deep.
The world was built by people who took risks: Pioneers who were not afraid of the wilderness; scientists who were not afraid of being ridiculed; thought leaders who were not afraid of progress; politicians who were not afraid to challenge the status quo; slaves who were not afraid of dying; youth who were not afraid to ask, “Why?”; dreamers who were not afraid to take action.
When you begin to write your vision, write it against this backdrop.
If you’re going to establish anything that is new; create anything that is new; innovate anything that is new—if you’re going to make an impact, it’s going to take some degree of risk.
The American Heritage Dictionary defines risk as “the possibility of suffering harm or loss” or “the potential of losing something of value,” yet I discovered risk is also defined as “the intentional interaction with uncertainty.”
Risk is a consequence of action taken in spite of uncertainty.
When you take a risk, you are risking a potential uncertainty—an unpredictable, un-measurable, uncontrollable outcome.
But let me ask you this: What if that outcome is not necessarily something negative? What if the outcome is unprecedented success, prosperity, and happiness?
What if the outcome of your risk brings unpredictable success, un-measurable prosperity, or out-of-control happiness?
Would you take the risk then?
If you’re anything like me, you’re answer will be a resounding “Yes!”
So let’s look at writing a vision from the perspective of 2016 bringing you unpredictable, un-measurable, uncontrollable success, prosperity, and happiness!
Now, many people have a “want to” in their spirit, but they allow fear to immobilize them because they are always asking, “What if it doesn’t work out?”
But what if it does?
What if your vision and dreams could come to pass?
How can you write more certainty into your undertakings as you begin to take those risks—as you move into unfamiliar territory; as you go out on that limb—how do you download that kind of success into the equation?
The best way to mitigate negative risk and increase positive risk is simply to write the vision and make it plain.
You will never know what outcomes are possible until you are willing to take the risk of actually writing the vision down.
“Write the vision and make it plain…that he may run who reads it.”
Habakkuk 2:2
The spirit realm is the causal realm—and gaining a vision for your life is a spiritual discipline.
When we talk about you gaining a vision, we’re talking about you tapping into the mind of God and asking Him “What do you have planned for my life?” Not only does God know the end from the beginning and everything in between, He wants to show you what your future is going to look like.
God gave Abraham the following instruction:
“Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you” (Genesis 13:14-18).
The first thing about writing a vision is a willingness to look beyond the present into the future.
Visionaries are imagineers—they use their imagination to figure out what the end of a year is going to look like….and then the end of two years, ten years, twenty years, and thirty years. They have the ability to look beyond where they are right now.
Writing a vision does not take into consideration the present.
Sir Winston Churchill said, “History shall be kind to me for I plan to write it.” He boldly said he was going to write history.
When you start writing a vision for your life—or begin to write history, so to speak—it’s possible that people will call you arrogant; and if they do, you’ll discover what normal people call arrogant is really about having courage.
It takes courage to have faith—it takes courage to not only believe God is instructing you, but to believe you can accomplish what He’s put in your heart to do.
A visionary is a person who has a whole lot of faith in who God wired them to be.
If you cannot see yourself living beyond where you are, you will never go where you want to go. You’ve got to be able to see yourself in that place on the other side of your current circumstances.
You cannot seize what you cannot see.
When you write a vision, you’re writing it for a future point in time. Not where you are, or where you’re coming from; a vision does not consider what you have or do not have, but exercises faith to activate the will and motivation to bring it to pass.
A vision is God’s appeal to you to stir up latent gifts, abilities, talent, and potential that are hidden on the inside of you and have a time frame in which to be actualized; and to be actualized a vision must be described in words or images enabling you to act upon it.
God wants to stir up your gifts and your talents so you can maximize your potential over a specific period of time.
God is not only the giver of the vision, but He is the enabler of the visionary—and He’s going to enable you and empower you to bring that vision to pass.
Taking the risk of writing a dynamic vision for your life is the first step in becoming a history maker.History will be kind to you because you’re going to write it! #HistoryMakers2016
Here’s to an incredible year! Your best days lay ahead of you! Thank you for letting me be your traveling companion.