Vision- is it enough

How many times have you heard that if you dream it, you can receive it, or heard that just setting goals will magically assist you in achieving all you’ve ever wanted?

I have been a firm believer for years in goal setting and have presented numerous speaking engagements on creating what I believed to be a clear vision, however in the last week I have been brought to a new insight. One where vision and goals are not paramount to success, but rather the importance of having clarity of vision and the accompanying goals. Let me explain by way of an incident that occurred while out on a training mountain bike ride.

On entering the Buffelsdrift Reserve we were rode into our first herd for the day. Wildebeests with young calves cantering alongside their mothers. The sun had just risen and the morning light on the surrounding bush was absolutely beautiful. The ride has a fast descent over rather rocky terrain. We were setting ourselves up for the descent when a herd of Zebra appeared a little down the track. From previous experience we knew that they might have foals with them and brought the bikes to a stop, allowing them to cross the track.

As expected there were some foals with one very young one. He could not have been more than one or two days old. On crossing the path quite close to us the foal got himself tangled in the brush. We were unfortunately very close at the time and the foal proceeded to approach us on the mountain bikes. Zebra foals stay very close to their mothers to assist them in imprinting. Newly born zebras undergo a critical period of imprinting during which they must learn who their mother is. Since the young zebra will follow anything that moves, new mothers are very aggressive toward other mares for the first few hours after they give birth. This aggression prevents the foal from accidentally imprinting upon another female.

This young fellow decided that we were going to make fine parents. Even as a wild animal its instinct to stay close to anything that moved can only be described as overwhelming. My riding partner was being nuzzled by a Zebra foal. We tried to lead it back to the other Zebras but it kept on following right up against us. At one point my riding partner, Charl led the foal around a large bush, bolted back and lay down flat in the grass. The foal found him. This was hilarious. This young foal wasn’t going anywhere. It knew it had to stay close and was not going to get separated again.

We managed to lead the foal to a large dirt road where the other Zebras and the mare were barking. I told my partner to accelerate in an attempt to leave the foal behind. Man, you should have seen the look on that foals face. I am sure it suffered psychological damage from being left behind a second time on the same day. Riding past the Zebras with the foal cantering behind did ensure that it joined up with the mare and the herd. A great ending to two very concerned riders and a foal.

Although this experience was amazing, it left me wondering about that warm fuzzy feeling that we get when we think were on the right track. This young foal had drive, commitment, perseverance and a reasonable belief that if the item was moving and bigger than him, that it could only be his mother as she would not allow anyone else near him.

I believe that our visions and goals are often set using similar guidelines. I believe that we need to re-evaluate our personal vision and goals and reduce to writing the characteristics, specifics and attributes that would enable us to not only recognize but also ensure the successful implementation of our desires, passion and intentions.
It may not be enough to only have desires, passion and intentions. Take time to identify the specifics, characteristics and attributes