The Power of a Vision Video
The Power of a Vision: Tom Daley Style
I watched the BBC Coverage of the Olympics last year with great interest. In the midst of all the excitement, I saw an inspirational piece on the diver Tom Daley. At the age of just 18, Tom achieved a bronze medal in the 10 metre diving. Nine years earlier he had literally drawn out his vision: Tom Daley doing a handstand on the 10 metre diving board ready to do a multiple somersault before achieving a near-perfect dive.
Tom Daley’s Vision at age Nine
When Tom began to describe his vision and how focused and determined he had been, I was deeply touched. There are some striking parallels in Tom’s story with each of us who use goals as motivation. See Tom’s vision clip here (the last 10s are the most important):
Determination
His determination over the nine years leading up to the London 2012 Olympics must have been phenomenal and can only have come from within. Tom’s relationship with his father was clearly very strong and this was surely a great support to his vision. The point is, Tom didn’t sit down at the age of nine and think: “Right, I need some goals. Hmm what should I do for a goal? Ah, yes they need to me SMART, so let me go and do some Specific, Measurable..” etc. he knew what he wanted to do. It drove him to train relentlessly for years. To brush off the bullies, to sacrifice the spare time, recreation and usual comforts of growing up for his ‘why’.
Goals
A goal setting expert will tell you that the difference between a vision and a goal is that a goal is time based; a vision is not. But this analysis doesn’t work for me. I feel that a vision is something that comes from within, that is the only way to be truly passionate about an end. Tom didn’t do goal setting; he didn’t have time, he was too busy training!
Goals are great for achieving some short and medium term objectives, such as losing weight or hitting sales targets. I am personally a very target oriented person. Many of the targets set by Utility Warehouse have spurred me on to do more and I have benefited significantly as a result of this: residual income and share options are two examples.
Visions
A vision is a whole different beast. A vision, especially when well communicated will fire up an entire nation for a particular cause. Martin Luther King is a well known example. My visionary has always been ‘Rocky’ and the drive to “keep going no matter what”, see my blog post on my trip to Philadelphia here.
Tom Daley had a powerful vision and on 11th August 2012 he fulfilled it. He won Olympic bronze on home soil and dedicated it to his late father. I can’t imagine you are going to keep your eyes dry watching this:
Create your vision, find your why and follow your passion!
