HOW TO BE A WORLD CLASS VISIONARY (PART 2)

“Sometimes there’s no evidence that your dream or your vision, or your idea – is a good idea. There’s no evidence. And sometimes there’s no evidence that this is the right time to do it. But the big question is: Where are you looking for evidence? Don’t look in your checkbook to decide whether or not you believe in your dream. Don’t look at the stock market or the news. The only place to look to decide whether or not you believe in your vision and your dream and your idea – is in your own heart”. –Marcia Wieder, CEO, Dream University

[There is no doubt that Vision is one of the greatest values of Life Signatures. Today’s post comes to us through permission from the Chief Visioneering Office at Visionary Business University, Jeffrey Howard.

In 2010, Jeffery launched Visionary Business University of which I was a student, lining up awesome faculty members such as Mary Morrisey, Micheal Gelb, Shawn Duperon, Max Simon, Eric Lofholm among others.

In the very first class, Jeff and Marcia Weider talked about this topic, “12 Ways to Become a Master Visionary in the 21^st Century”. It is from the excerpts of their interview that we will learn some nuggets about vision as well as ‘How to be a World Class Visionary’. This is a continuation from the previous post...enjoy]

Marcia Wieder, CEO and Founder of Dream University

Jeff: So let’s dig in to those twelve ways be a twenty first century visionary. Can you walk us through your process for that?

 (Allow me to step in here and enumerate the 12 points since this is a long discussion)

Marcia: Yeah, so this came out of the three years of soul searching. So we’ll just do the abridged version here, but I would say the first thing is:

1. 1.       You’re a twenty first century visionary if you’re comfortable with uncertainty: I love it. One of the best quotes I ever heard on this came from Tony Robbins, where Tony said that, and I’ll paraphrase because I don’t have the exact words, but it was something like, “you’re level of passion in life is directly correlated to the level of uncertainty you can comfortably live with.” That we really feel so passionate and alive in the face of uncertainty.

1. 2.       The next thing, number two: You are a twenty first century visionary if you have extraordinary faith. You’re able to act on what’s important to you without assurances, promises, or guarantees. So it’s like your ability to walk on faith without having the strategy or even clear next step. I always think about that wonderful Raider’s of the Lost Ark scene where Harrison Ford has to step out across the chasm. He has to step out completely on faith. And he’s looking down and he’s seeing a bottomless pit, but at some level, he’s able to find the place inside of him that has faith. And he steps out and lo and behold…

Jeff: The bridge is there…

1. 3.       I love this next one: A twenty first century visionary knows the secret to enlightenment. So let me tell you what it is. I was at a Pachumama Awayan’s fundraiser luncheon and my dear friend and client Jack Canfield walked in and I said, “Jack, Jack, I discovered the secret to enlightenment.” He leaned in and three people were with him, they all leaned in. I said, “The secret is to relax.”

1. 4.       Number four: You practice getting empty. A twenty first century visionary knows how to empty. This has to do with the exhale again. You empty so that you can actually hear the voice of the divine and/or feel its presence. You might create rituals, or sacred space as a way to invite this in. To live on purpose requires three things. One is that we have a sacred or spiritual practice so that we can hear the quiet deeper wisdom voice beneath the ego. Two is that we know what’s unique and special about us. Three is that we can find a way to be of service with it.

1. 5.       So number five: Twenty first century visionaries are living on purpose because they’re connected in with their essence or soul. They’ve learned how to relax and to let the ego fall away, not fall apart. We need the ego, but one of my favorite questions is, “Is your ego in service to your soul, or is your soul enslaved by your ego?”

1. 6.       Number six: You are aware that miracles happen in their own time, and you are able to wait rather than asserting your will or effort too soon. You trust the process enough to let it unfold. Impatient sometimes, but that’s why going back to relaxing and exhaling is good. It all ties in together.

1. 7.       Number seven: You are a twenty first century visionary if you are receptive and know that give and take is not the same as give and receive and that giving and receiving need to be done in balance. So you practice restraint, allowing space for the space where true creation and original thought happen. So it’s really an interesting thing. Visionaries aren’t often on send mode. Just sort of talking and outputting. They know how to pause. I love that proverbial pause button. They know how to empty. They know how to relax. They know how to be receptive and allow, actually draw out of others, and really wait for the right moment to be really effective and really strategic.

1. 8.       Number eight: You’re a twenty first century visionary if you don’t primarily live as a problem solver, we touched on this already, but more as a creative force. You’re aware that it is more powerful to move toward what you want, than it is to move away from what you don’t want. So just a different energetic, yet both creation and destruction serve. I think in general visionaries are more, I don’t know maybe I’m off on this one, but they’re more, I want to say they’re more open-minded, but in some ways they’re not. In some ways they’re more opinionated. Maybe they’re just more of everything.

1. 9.       Number nine: You have a conscious relationship with the silent witness, the part that can see many points of view, all sides, and new perspectives. You are a big dreamer with great imagination, and have the willingness to traverse new terrain, which of course takes us back to number one, uncertainty.

1. 10.   Number ten: You are collaborative rather than hierarchal. You have the courage, clarity and commitment to share dreams and ideas, empowering others to take ownership. That means, delegating is like the small baby step in this department. Visionaries know how to inspire and enroll others. They know how to empower others. They know how to put the right person on the right seat in the right bus, going the right direction. They know how to say, “No more,” and, “No thank you.” So that the right person can take the lead on something that they’re passionate about.

Jeff: Sure, instill creativity in others and instill responsibilities in others as well, which most of us have probably held close to the vest for a long, long time.

Marcia: Absolutely. But I love when I can find team members who can do something better than me.

Jeff: I totally agree.

1. 11.   OK, number eleven: As a twenty first century visionary, you are crucial to the dream movement’s ultimate dream, which is to make the world a better place. I know that with one highly intentional step the world can and has changed.

1. 12.   And finally – and this is interesting because it’s where we started Jeff – but Number twelve: You are a twenty first century visionary if you have tremendous integrity. Beyond keeping your agreements with yourself and others, you answer to a higher source. And you have a purpose, mission, vision, calling, and dreams in all areas of life. I think that the healthiest visionaries are not just consumed with their work.  Sometimes they are consumed with their mission, but I think that there really is something about creating a ‘dream come true’ life that really is about looking in all different areas and different aspects of your life.

So my commitment to being a twenty first century visionary basically is this…

My purpose is to believe.

My mission is to help others believe in themselves and their dreams.

My vision is to lead a dream movement in order to make the world a better place.

And I would say also, my calling is to help us remember who we are and why we’re here.

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Marcia Wieder, CEO and founder of Dream University and is leading a dream movement. With over 20 years coaching, training, and speaking experience, her inspiring message, style, and wit has touched audiences from 50 to 5,000 at companies like AT&T, Gap, and American Express.

Whether she’s speaking at the Stanford Business School, speaking to executives in

China, or addressing young women at Girl Scout Camp, Marcia’s riveting style deeply

impacts audiences worldwide.

She’s the personal dream coach to Jack Canfield, she stars in Beyond the Secret with Bob Proctor, and she’s a member of the prestigious Transformation Leadership Council, along with John Gray and Marianne Williamson.

As past president of the National Association of Women Business Owners, she was often in the White House, where she met former U.S. Presidents Ronald Regan, Jimmy Carter, and George Bush Sr., and as a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, she urged her readers to “Take the Great Dream Challenge.”

Marcia has appeared several times on Oprah, the Today Show, and in her own PBS TV special has written fourteen books that have been translated into numerous languages.

Her newest is called Dreams are Whispers from the Soul.