Vision and Security

A lot of great ideas have been dreamed up during vacations. It was a late night in Paris, and the challenge to find a taxi that caused Travis to dream up of Uber. There are countless stories students sitting in their dorm room who came up with the next big thing - Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are the most famous examples of this.

Our ability to see the future and dream about the future is greatly increased if we are in a position where we feel secure. Where we do not feel the presence of another thing to worry about. We are in a position to let our mind take the flight of fantasy.

Security allows us to focus better, not get distracted. There is no noise that cannot be ignored and put aside. It is this freedom that results in the most beautiful things getting dreamed up and getting executed.

Often, when running a business, you do not really have the benefit of security and each day can feel like you are walking on the edge. Even Bill Gates had to sell a product he did not even know could be written and then come back and strain himself almost to half death to get it out.

Visionaries are those who see the future and dream of it, despite the insecurity. They do not let their insecurity obstruct them. They have the capability to drown out the noise and focus on the things that are important and keep what isn't important at bay.

Don’t get me wrong, these are not people who ignore problems; they do what needs to be done to solve them. They just don’t dwell on them once they have done what they can.

When Steve Jobs came back to Apple, a company on the verge of bankruptcy, he needed to solve that problem, but he did not dwell on it, his focus was always on the next great Mac.

So what do you focus on each day? The vision of the company or the problems that are pulling you down?