Vision counts!  Successful people usually can recall the year, day, or even the hour when they first grasped their “vision” of what was important to them for their life accomplishment.

Looking at the stories of many such people, we find that most all caught a “vision” that was connected to talents and abilities they already possessed.

This is not surprising since our talents are often the activities of our lives we truly enjoy doing.  They may even be our place of retreat when things get tough!  Because we enjoy using these talents, our brain is experiencing pleasant chemical reactions and it is easier to let creative thoughts flow. We begin to ask, “What if?”  That’s the doorway to new inventions, adventures, and visions!

The reality is that time has become so crowded with tasks, that people often don’t relax to dream dreams of what could be.  So, my first advice to anyone is to find a “comfort zone” where you can lose yourself - oblivious to time and space. Then, allow yourself to think about reaching new heights, to discover new experiences, and then to form a “vision” of your goal.

Once a vision is set or embraced, you must constantly take an inventory of your progress towards that goal. Out of these “checks,” you set daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly goals aimed at your destination vision. 

It is our goal at Lawton Academy to help students through this process.  We are so pleased that many of our students have had such visions and have shared with us their progress toward those “visions.”

One of our best examples was a student who had his own business by 8th grade.  He also took a quote from Mr. Johnson’s class and turned it into a profitable business.  He clearly had “visions” and when one goal was fulfilled, he had a new vision. 

Truly successful people of our time seem to have a series of visions - going from one success to another - sort of like an archipelago of “visions.” I am amazed at how technology has enabled the speed to increase the accomplishments of many things I dreamed of as a child: moving sidewalks, driverless cars, 3D printing of body parts, and now, passengers being taken into space in commercial rocket ships.  So, I say to my students, “Dream big kids!”    Kay