Visionary Shrinkage: Using Your Lens to Transform Challenges

A mile is a mile is a mile, right? Technically yes – it’s an objectively measurable distance. However, based on research from Dr. Dennis Proffitt and others, a mile appears shorter (and hills less notable) to female college soccer players than Instagram-focused couch potatoes of the same age. Please note, the research says nothing about the exertion involved in running or walking the mile. It focused specifically on the perception of the distance. It looked shorter in the context of the vision they had for their lives. As aspiring college athletes, a mile represents little more than a warm-up routine before the start of practice. Their BIG vision transformed the size of potential challenges.

What challenges are you currently facing in your own life? What do you see coming up the road and think “uh oh – this is going to be tough”? Challenges are great! We need them to grow, and we discussed how they can spur on our success in this prior episode of the Catalyst 360 podcast. However, is our vision such that we’re giving those challenges too much credit? Challenges shrink or expand based on the vision we have for our lives. If it seems we are facing an onslaught of difficult challenges, maybe it’s a signal that our vision is too small.

“But I don’t have a vision, Brad.” You’re not alone. While many of us play around with goals (the “what”) in January, very few invest the time and energy in creating a clear, personal vision (the “who”) that provides the most powerful turbo boost for our lives. The absence of a vision results in a default perspective. With nothing up ahead on which to focus our eyes, we instead look down, focusing our attention on every available roadblock or potential hindrance along the way. This is true in athletics (sign up for a race, which represents an element of vision, and watch your perspective on fitness pursuits change), academics (clarifying where you’re heading with your degree – the vision – shifts how we absorb information and move through coursework), relationships (a marriage between two people looking to grow – not just get – old together doesn’t get tripped up over dishes), and careers. The apparent size of the challenge we face indicates the relative size of our vision.

So where do we go from here? 3 action steps this week:

1.       Notice the types of difficult challenges you’re facing, making a mental or even written note of 2-3 within a specific area of your life.
2.       Consider why you find yourself categorizing these as difficult. What does this tell you about your current vision (either broadly or in that specific area of your life).
3.       If the clear, personal vision concept is new to you or you’d like a refresher to dial in your own, here’s a step-by-step walk-through of creating your own in this 20 min podcast episode.

No vision? Every challenge highlighted as difficult.

Small (or foggy) vision? Difficulties get magnified in comparison.

Big (and clear) vision? Difficulties become little more than speed bumps along the way to your destination.