Visioning

My grandmother was a clothing designer. As a kid, I would envision outfits in my mind that I wanted to wear, sketch them, and then give my pictures to my grandmother. She would then take these ‘visions’ and cut patterns out of newspaper (the Philadelphia Inquirer to be exact) and sew entire wardrobes from what I had imagined in my mind. Sure, there were companies that made patterns of other peoples’ designs that you could buy, but that was cheating. Creating your own designs from your imagination was key.

I think about this invitation to imagine and create which I was raised with, and I generalize the skillset of visioning to all aspects of our lives. Imagine your own future, what you want to do for a living, the type of people you would like to spend your time with, and what you want to do with your time…the list of possible visions is endless. Stepping into pre-cut, pre-made ‘patterns’ is cheating, as my grandmother said. We are robbing ourselves of designing a perfect custom-made fit. Design your own way, path, and vision, and then receive my grandmother’s applause!

The old adage of ‘think outside the box’ is moot here. There is no box, so why spend any energy trying to crawl out of our own self-imposed design? It starts with visioning as well as with your end goal in mind— doing a task analysis and then studying the gap. At our ultimate earthly end, what do I want people to remember about how I lived my life and with whom. In our present lives, how far off is our current reality from our vision of what we hoped and wished it to be? If there is a big gap, then it’s time to get busy and take the steps to close it.

I believe that the idea of inventing and reinventing, of choosing to get lost on a totally new path and seeing where it leads you are some of the most important life skills that we need to address along our journey. Starting now, let’s strengthen our creativity muscle, and strengthen our mental elasticity and flexibility. Start making connections between unlike things building a broader mindset. These are unprecedented times. It’s time to think in unprecedented ways. That beings with visioning. Let’s consciously start now

~Fran

Go deeper into Visioning with these amazing books:

1. Your Life’s Purpose: Life Visioning Practices for Activating Your Highest Potential by Michael Beckwith 
2. Vision to Reality: How Short Term Massive Action Equals Long Term Maximum Results by Honoree Corder 
3. Purposeful Vision by Linton Bergsen 
4. Visioneering by Andrew Stanley 
5. Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams by Lucia Capacchione

Let these quotes be an inspiration to you:

1. “If you will it, it will be.” ~ Martin Buber
2. “The greatest danger for most of us is not that we aim too high and we miss it, but that we aim too low and we reach it.” ~ Michelangelo
3. “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” ~ Helen Keller
4. “If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.” ~ Steve Jobs
5. “A vision is not just a picture of what could be; it is an appeal to our better selves, a call to become something more.” ~ Rosabeth Moss Kanter

May 2023

May 1-5, 2023
Leadership Site Visits with Principals. Arlington Public Schools, VA
May 8, 2023
Senior Leadership Team Training. Arlington Public Schools, VA
May 9, 2023
AAIE Board of Trustees Meeting
May 10, 2023
Aspiring Principals Training. Virginia Beach City Public Schools, VA
May 11-12, 2023
Building Teacher Capacity. Arlington Public Schools, VA
May 15, 2023
Planning meetings for the design of school board retreats in Kentucky
May 18, 2023
Executive Coaching. Leadership Team. Arlington, Public Schools, VA
May 23, 2023
AAIE Communication Committee Meeting
May 24, 2023
School Board Retreat Facilitation. Bullet County, Kentucky
May 25-26, 2023
Executive Coaching. Leadership Team. Arlington, Public Schools, VA