Have you ever considered why some things succeed and others fail? Well the answer is in those few words. "What is success, and what is failure?"

To one, success is money, prestige, fame and more resources. To another, success is measured by contentment, peace and wellbeing. To another, failure is loss of the same. However you view success or failure, one thing is assured, it can never be truly evaluated by some one else. It can only be honestly evaluated by your self.

"When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder, a second seems like an hour. That's relativity." -Albert Einstein, on relativity.

Empowering vision is as profound as Einstein's theory on relativity. Pain and passion take their toll on us and building vision will is both pleasurable and at times painful

Some definitions of vision:

a) Seeing the invisible and making it visible

b) An informed bridge from the present to the future

c) Sanctified dreams

d) Foresight with insight, based on hindsight

e) Vision for our lives mission is a clear mental image of a preferable future

f) Vision is based upon an accurate understanding of self and our circumstances.

Imagine what building a house without the appropriate plans and resource consents would be like. The whole process would be fraught with obstacles and frustrations. Many of which could have been avoided, had we taken the necessary precautions of planning within the boundaries and according to a plan.

Few of us would start out building our homes like that, but tragically, many people take this approach when they go through life like that. I have been involved in counselling and coaching people now for over twenty years and I can assure you most of the personal tragedies I encounter in the lives of my clients can be attributed to not taking due care and consideration as to how they live their lives. To some it is excusable, yet for others it is a sad fact of life. It is my considered opinion, people don't make plans to fail, and they simply fail to plan. They take more care in choosing their clothing than they do in choosing the future that they want to live in. Consider this:

The only thing that grows in your garden without planning is a weed! If you want roses or cabbages to grow, there will need to be some serious planning, and some considered activity. Try wishing the weeds away as hard as you want, I can assure you they will not turn into roses. Now take the same thought about your life! Wishful thinking will not turn your life into a life of quality and provision for an individual born outside of such an inheritance. It will require clearly thought out strategies, plans and action. As we move towards an improved quality of life, there are some keys that will ensure your plans will do better than waiting for weeds to turn into roses or investing your time and energy into wishful thinking.

Empowering Vision:

I have worked for the past twenty years advising and assisting people to find their personal and corporate vision. It never ceases to amaze me how many people can meander through life from one situation to another, without taking the time to define their life purpose.

Living life without a defined purpose is like setting out on a journey without the use of a compass or map. It may well provide excitement for the first few days or weeks, but after thirty, forty or fifty years! Whew!

Unfortunately though, how sad it is to treat life as a daily existence. So many people live life that way, and this is living life at its poorest form.

6 Keys to Finding vision and keeping it on track

1. Keep focused on the task at hand

? Write it down in plain understandable language (strategy)

The best way to keep an idea fresh and full of life is to capture it at the point of conception. Many a dream, invention, discovery or idea has been lost to humanity as a result of our inability to remember it. I would suppose I am not unusual when I say some of my greatest ideas and thoughts have come at the most inappropriate moments. Driving the car, out on a jog, swimming or paragliding, yet it is true.

I wouldn't suppose I am unusual when I say that by the time I have found a parking spot, arrived back at the house, got out of the pool or touched down on terra firma, what was an incredible flash of inspiration, evaporated into the ether just as inappropriately as it arrived. Gone forever!

I now make it a habit of walking around with my digital voice recorder, which fits snugly into my palm or onto the dashboard of the car. I have not solved the swimming issue yet but my shirt pocket has come in useful many a time. Simply make a habit of recording your thoughts, and then follow them through to a conclusion. If you cannot use them, then selflessly give someone else the chance to. (We will talk later about the power of a research and development team)

? Many visions bring division

Perhaps the most powerful distraction we are likely to face in the process of fulfilling our preferable future is multiple distractions. When a person's focus has multiple perspectives we would recognize this as being out of focus. If one has experienced a heavy bump whilst playing contact sports, you will be familiar with the sense of blurred vision. It is a standing joke that players getting a jolt during the course of play, are faced with the coach or physiotherapist sticking out one finger and asking the injured player, "how many do you see?" The player responds with "three" and the outcome is "your fine." Of course that is at least double vision, and the outcome is grasping for two rugby balls instead of one!

The outcome is blurred or shares a multiple focus and the result is lack of clarity in vision. We may not sense the jolt in a physical sense, but the same principle applies when we try to spread our focus in too many directions at once. More than one vision is DIVISION. All too often our plans are weakened or fail due to our considering too many visions at once. The skill of a good leader is found in their capacity to keep people focused on the task at hand. The training adage that rings so true is "a little a lot rather than a lot a little" Apply this principle to your vision strategy and you will maintain correct focus.

? Beware of counterfeits.

Don't settle for second best! In the process of establishing our vision, there are many parking spots along the journey. Pressure to achieve and disappointment are all too often the causes for unfulfilled vision. Like you, I have experienced counterfeits. Offers that seemed like they rang true and opportunities that are almost too good to believe. This is where personal values keep us focused on the outcome and not the present day opportunities. It is beyond coincidence that before the big breakthrough arrives, along comes something that could take the place of our dream.

I remember a situation from many years ago that will always remind me of this situation as I am about to settle for second best. Whilst engaged as a minister of a local church, an individual within the congregation told me of his dream for a brand new Mercedes car being provided for him debt free! The particular individual was extensively involved in giving his time free to the "at risk" youth of our local community and a local businessman had noticed this and approached me with his intent to provide him with a brand new car of his choice.

Days earlier, the youth worker told me of this dream, (which had been waiting to be fulfilled for some eight years) and had noticed a car that almost fit this description "on offer" in a local car sales yard. I questioned him "wasn't the dream you had for a brand new car?" "Yes he said but this has only done 8000 miles." "Didn't you say it would come debt free" I asked him, but his response confirmed to me he was already sold on this deal and my input would count for little.

The deal was done! The youth worker bought the car on hire purchase over four years and the businessman never purchased the car for him. To this day the worker is unaware of what could have been his, had he held on to his original dream and didn't try to make it happen by accepting a counterfeit.

? Keep going back to the place you encountered the vision

The place of encounter is a powerful reminder as to what we have experienced. A study of the Hebrew race instructs us of the power of building alters at the place of encountered truth. It reminds us to always keep in mind the purpose for the way we do what we do. Make a habit of recording your encounters along with the emotional experience you experienced at the time. It will serve you well, ten years from now when some of the facts have escaped you.

Journals and personal diaries are a great way of taking captive the innermost thoughts and experiences we have on our journey through life. Many times I have changed my prospective plans and opinions based on the previously determined strategies and plans I have recorded. This does not stop us from adapting our plans and strategies but it simplifies the vision and keeps us living a life in focus.

Tony Mckeown is a personal life coach and director of coaching 4 life New Zealand. He has a passion for empowering people to find their life mission and purpose. He has authored training manuals, motivational articles, numerous e-books and regularly hosts international tele-classes and conferences on vision.

He produces a monthly newsletter "get a life", and provides free downloads from his coaching site: http://www.coaching4life.net.nz