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Vision that is shared is cohesive and bonding. A common vision pulls people together toward the same goals and objectives. Influential people have clearly defined visions that are forward-looking and filled with great excitement and anticipation. More than anything else in life, vision'whether it's yours or somebody else's'dictates daily decisions.

'The person who has no imagination has no wings.' ' Muhammad

Vision is a powerful tool in helping others to see the big picture'in terms of both where today fits into the future and where they fit into your plans. When we can define and promote our vision to others, nothing can help a cause more. Your cause could be your product, your service or your idea. As a persuader, you might be telling your prospect how your product will change the way he does business and will increase his profit. As a parent, you might be teaching your child about the future and what it might hold for her if she studies hard at school and stays off drugs. As a manager, you might be helping the company's employees see where suspending pay raises for one year will increase stock prices, thereby enabling them to have more secure jobs next year. No matter your persuasive role, turning your prospects on to your vision is a powerful technique.

Most people don't mind buying into a vision if they know exactly where they fit into it and what they have to do to achieve it. Hence, solid visions must excite and influence others to take action. Vision gives us energy, passion and a reason for living, growing and working hard. When those around you have a sense of your mission and share your vision, you have developed followers who would be willing to sacrifice almost everything for your cause. Vision creates converts and evokes commitment and determination in others, as long as you provide the plan as well as the way and the why.

Creating a sound vision begins with focusing on our destination. You must, therefore, know where you are going. Remember the movie Alice in Wonderland, where Alice runs into a fork in the road and asks the Cheshire cat for advice on which one she should take? The cat asks, 'Where to do want to go?' 'I don't know,' replies Alice. The cat then responds, 'Well then, it doesn't matter.' Stephen Covey said, 'To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you're going so that you better understanding where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.'

Vision is such a powerful force because it keeps us focused on the future. Vision gives a sense of directional purpose to people, most of whom don't currently have a clearly articulated purpose or direction in their lives. All human beings yearn for direction. That's why somebody with a vision is so alluring to us. This tendency is also why so many corporations are developing vision and mission statements. When everyone participates in the process and buys into your vision, you have long-term influential capabilities.

Vision helps to eliminate fear and procrastination and creates courage and persistence. Walt Disney said, 'We can reach all our dreams, we just need the courage to pursue them.' When you create a vision, you must think big. Disney further elaborated, 'Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency.' True vision affects your audience, even when you are not around, because a contagious vision influences our thoughts and imagination twenty-four hours a day.