Visionary Mind Shifts^{TM
Written by Michael Skye for the Vision Force Academy}

Warning:  Each Visionary Mind Shift may be easy enough to grasp at a glance, yet each is a puzzle piece in a larger puzzle called the Vision Force Matrix.  The more you integrate this shift with the other shifts, the more the matrix will begin to emerge.  Your understanding of the distinctions and the matrix itself will evolve as you move through the course.  To speed that evolution, do your best to view each word and distinction as something new, a mystery, rather than by relating it to what you already know.

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Note: The next series of distinctions, beginning with this one, reveals the Power of Vision.

Visionary Distinction: 

Dream | Vision

Introduction:

The dreams you see while asleep at night are a metaphor for the kind of thinking that happens when you fantasize while awake.  We often call this "day dreaming" or creative imagination.

The vision you see when you are awake and looking at reality with your eyes is a metaphor for the kind of thinking that happens when you look to your future with your mind's eye.  The inner world (past, present and future) you see is built from your own assumptions or metaphorical constructs.  With this kind of vision, you can "look" down different paths, and "see" what would happen.  

When we speak of dreams and vision here, we're referring to the dreams and vision you see inside your mind while awake.  We all have such dreams and vision; and both are an integral function of human consciousness.

For visionaries, vision is a major source of power and conscious guidance--and it's something they consciously control.  For others, vision is a major source of fear and default guidance--and it's something to which they unconsciously react.

To be a visionary, and thus have a higher level of inner power to change and create the world around you, one must learn to live at the level of vision.  Are you ready?

Orientation:

Dream - What you see when you are imagining a hypothetical scenario.

Vision - What you see when you look to the future without hypothesizing, wishing or imagining.
 

Related Distinctions: (links coming soon)

Imagination vs. Visualization vs. Vision
Vision Statement vs. Vision
 

Example: 

Listen to the 2 examples in the audio that follows.  

Right click to download MP3 file.

(Note: the conversation in this audio is from the beginning of the Visionary Mind program, where we first talk about basic concepts prior to launching an in depth inquiry, followed by powerful, practical experiential learning.)
 

A Key Point: 

Consider that our inner vision guides us as much as, if not more than, our outer vision.  What we see internally gives us our interpretation of the world out there.  Whether we walk down one path in life or another is often determined by what we "see" when we "look" down those different paths--and what we then "feel" as a result.

Based on what we see and feel, our logical, left-brain mind then makes a choice--supported with seemingly rational justifications.  What we often fail to realize is how the context for our choice was already given to us by our vision. 

To the extent that we can take control of our vision--or live at the level of vision--we can have much more power to lead our lives and create what we want in life and with others--as visionaries.

A positionary thinker lives at a level below vision, where his/her inner world is constructed by walls of judgments and conclusions that are reactions to and protections from fear.  

The positionary thinker...

1) can then use his/her position as a substitute for honestly looking within.

2) sees visions that evoke fear, and thus more attachment to and re-enforcement of his/her position

3) the more his/her position is threatened, the more fearful, defensive, irrational and closed he/she becomes.

 

Visionary Advantage: 

A skilled visionary, the kind of person who thrives in an ever-changing environment, operates fluidly and openly with the world around her.  She doesn't cling to any static or prepackaged view of reality, because she operates on the level of vision.  She is a leader, who leads from the power of her own vision. 
 

Visionary Dynamic:

The more you understand the dynamics of vision, the more you can consciously choose to function at the level of vision--beyond positions, beyond reactions, beyond fear.  

The more you practice visionary thinking, the more you naturally operate at the level of vision.

 
Visionary Challenge:

Honestly reflect on your life to see in which areas you are not living powerfully and passionately from a bold vision.  In such areas, dramatic positive change seems impossible, impractical or not worth the effort.  With a vision, dramatic positive change occurs not only as possible, practical and worth incredible effort--but as "all there is to do."  A powerful vision calls you naturally into heroic action.

Discuss this Shift inside our forum boards.
   

Additional Resources:

Download your Visionary Mind! Based directly on the content delivered at our workshops, this new program is a "one-on-one" workshop you can take in the comfort of your own home.

Another testimonial from our workshops... "Wow!  What an extraordinary value...  I’ve participated previously in a lot of self-improvement and personal transformation work.  This workshop provided me with new breakthroughs around what stops me in life...  More than insight, the workshop provided me with useful tools to put my vision into existence today.  I would have paid an additional $1,000 for what I got this weekend." Michelle S., Ph.D. VP of a Fortune 500 Company

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