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Is Your Vision of Yourself Big Enough?

Anthony Iannarino
Post by Anthony Iannarino
June 1, 2010

Too many people have a vision of themselves that is simply too small. Their vision is limited by what other people think, by what other people believe, or by their limited exposure to people with bigger visions. Small-visioned people lead quiet lives, conforming to the norms of their families, their friends, their neighborhoods, their workplace, and their little slice of society.

They do what is expected, sometimes dreaming big, but they rarely stretch beyond their comfort zones or take actions that might make them something more. They play it safe, even when it means abandoning their dreams.

By maintaining their small vision, they become something less than they might otherwise be.

By maintaining their small vision, they also deprive the world of their genius and they make the world less than it might otherwise be. They make the rest of our experience here less than it should be.

Dream Big

To have a bigger vision of yourself, you have to dream bigger. You have to give yourself the permission to imagine yourself as being something greater, something way beyond anything you are presently.

Freeing yourself to dream big allows you to create the ideas, to build the plans, and to create the goals necessary to achieve your bigger vision of yourself.

The limit of your imagination is the only real boundary to what you are capable of: dream big.

Don’t Let Their Vision Become Your Vision

Most of the time, our vision of ourselves doesn’t exceed the vision of the people with whom we spend our time. Spending your time with people who have small visions of themselves can be comfortable; they never expect you to be a bigger you, and they never challenge you. That might mean that would have to be bigger themselves, something that frightens them and makes them uncomfortable. And they never want you to challenge them.

Taking control of your vision of yourself means wresting the control from others who are comfortable with the smaller you. Many people around you want to keep you small because they are afraid of losing you. They are afraid you will forget them. But those that truly love you will risk losing you; they will want you to be the best you that you can be.

Find a Group of Like-minded Dreamers

There are people who believe that they themselves are on their way to being bigger. They are on their way to being something more than they are presently, and they are taking the actions necessary to do so.

Find a group of like-minded dreamers who will support your crazy big vision of yourself. These are the people who, unlike the small-visioned people above, will support your ambition. They will not fear losing you. They will expect you to take the actions necessary to be your big self, and they will help hold you accountable. They will expect you to do the same for them.

Forget Comfortable and Stretch Yourself by Taking Action

Being your bigger self requires you to action every day. It is the actions that you take on your dreams that bring your bigger self to life. You have to stretch yourself by taking actions that make you uncomfortable.

Talent alone never beats the combination of ambition and action.

Your real growth comes from moving out of your comfort zone and taking risks. Doing so isn’t easy, and it comes with setbacks, false starts, and failures. It also comes with the little successes that provide the foundation of future successes, the surprising and stunning victories, and the increased capacity to accomplish even more.

Be a giant you.

Conclusion

Inside you is a giant, a bigger and better version of you. Most people accept a vision of themselves that is simply too small by conforming to the smaller visions of those around them. Becoming the best you requires having a bigger vision of who you are and of what you are capable.

Questions

    1. Does reading this make you uncomfortable? Why?

    1. Who do you know that needs to read this and develop a bigger vision of themselves?

    1. What does this have to do with sales?

    1. What does this have to do with your personal success and happiness?

    1. Is your vision of yourself as big as it should be?

    1. Did you stop dreaming big? Why?

  1. Who do you have to be to give yourself permission to dream again?

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Tags:
Mindset 2010
Post by Anthony Iannarino on June 1, 2010

Written and edited by human brains and human hands.

Anthony Iannarino
Anthony Iannarino is a writer, an international speaker, and an entrepreneur. He is the author of four books on the modern sales approach, one book on sales leadership, and his latest book called The Negativity Fast releases on 10.31.23. Anthony posts daily content here at TheSalesBlog.com.
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