You may have come across several coaches advocating the power of a defined number. You may have heard them tell you the importance of setting a date with your business objectives. 

It’s important to have a vision for your business, they say but fail to guide the client in the right manner.

For instance, a certain coach aims to make a hundred thousand entrepreneurs successful by the year 2028.

As a result, the coach is now burdened with a number and a deadline. The coach has to guide 100,000 entrepreneurs to reach the top. If he successfully targets 100,000 entrepreneurs toward success in their lives, he has to make sure to coach a minimum of 110,000-115,000 entrepreneurs. So, he has to aim for the stars to land on the moon.

Do you get the irony of it? His vision turns into a deadline like a ticking time bomb that he has to make sure to defuse by the year 2028.

Ultimately, he may feel more like his vision watching him like a fly on the wall.

Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.

~Jack Welch

Indeed, a vision must be driven by passion, but no one ever attains it when driven by numbers. Create a vision, articulate it, be passionate about it, and pursue it relentlessly. However, it is important to take note that a vision must not be treated like a timer.

Transforming a timer vision to a purpose-driven vision

Let’s turn this coach’s vision into a real one to understand the difference between a numbered vision to a purpose-driven vision.

The coach’s purpose is to improve his country’s economy and create a ripple effect for other nations. Much of the country’s economy is driven by weak decision-making, including other factors out of one’s control. However, a country’s economy can improve with the right kind of leadership. Therefore, the year 2028 and the total number of entrepreneurs are removed from the equation.

Now, the coach’s vision is to instill leadership qualities in professionals enriched with deep values and decision-making sensibilities while stepping into leadership positions.

You see, when there is a meaningful purpose, one that is higher than yourself, your vision stands right before you. It calls to you and it flows naturally into your mind. That is the power of doing a simple transformation of the way you drive your vision. 

So, if you have been cluttered with numbers and timelines that are driving your vision, work on evolving it.

Numbers and dates are good for daily tasks and achieving step-wise objectives to achieve your goals. However, hanging a deadline-driven vision around your neck is like numbering your days as a leader. There is no room for flexibility of choices, only a deadline that if you cross might make you feel like you have failed. However, you have not failed but are simply looking at it from the wrong lens. Change your perspective and approach to your vision. 

Your goals will start to iron themselves out, streamlining your journey toward them.

Therefore, by using a purpose-driven vision, may you find meaning in your journey, and ultimately create a unique legacy.