In simpler terms, to have a vision is to dream or imagine something that you would like to do or to be. For example you can imagine yourself as a successful entrepreneur, say in the next five years. You visualize yourself sharing the same stage at the world’s top investors’ business conference. To execute, on the other hand is to implement or to act upon your vision or your dreams and the desires of your heart, in order to turn them into reality. For example in our case of having the vision to become a leading entrepreneur, this is your dream, complete with a five year timeframe. In order for it to come true, you have to take that first step. In this case, you have to conceive a unique business idea, do the necessary background research, design a business plan, raise the required capital and make it happen.
Hallucinating simply means seeing things that do not actually exist or getting in contact with things that are not true. For example if one day you see a yacht standing where you are used to seeing a house every day, it could be that you are having hallucinations. In the context of the topic in quote, (‘Vision Without Execution Is Just Hallucination’), it is true that just having a goal to achieve in mind or imagining to be some influential personality but not doing anything at all to meet the target or to realize your dream is equivalent to having hallucinations.
One would imagine what was in Henry Ford’s mind when he uttered those words. Seemingly, other personalities, including renowned inventors like Thomas Edison were of the same mind. According to Edison, “ideas alone are not good enough to bear fruit if there is nothing being done about them”. Larry Page, co-founder of Google says “You need to invent things, and you need to get them to people”. Larry Page’s story illustrates that just having an idea in mind alone is not good enough. Page went ahead to experiment with his idea and as we can all see; it is one of the greatest inventions in recent times. As a result, he is one of the wealthiest and most influential people in the world. What if he had not done anything about his idea, would he have succeeded and influenced the modern world as much as he has?
Mark Twain says, “The man with a new idea is a crank – until the idea succeeds”, this means the idea is useless unless it is put into reality. All these quotes from great personalities have an impact in our lives. One would wonder how? For instance, you believe in God, while in bed, you have this dream in your sleep, you see yourself giving a sermon in a wonderful well decorated pulpit in a nice church. You see yourself driving a nice car to attend great religious meetings. When you wake up from your sleep the next morning, you believe to have seen the future of your ministry and your future. Apart from sharing it with your wife and family, you decide to share it with your congregation the next Sunday as one of the first steps to take in order to make your dream come true. After sharing with your congregation, you do not ignore the dream; you start to think about how to get yourself to that level, that status that you saw yourself in your dreams. Suggestions and advice flow in from yourself and your church members, family and friends. At this time, you are not financially stable, so you come up with this fundraiser which makes it possible for you to have your church renovated thus attracting many more followers and church members.
As many suggestions keep streaming in, you purchase musical instruments to boost your praise and worship team and the church services at large. You then go ahead to invite other preachers from other churches to preach the word in your church and share the secrets of their success with your congregation. Within a short period of time, you have a great number of church members than before because they can see change in your ministry, both spiritual and physical. Change does not stop there, the finances of the church are growing, the tithing has gone up because of new church members and so has the offering.
Taking the next step, you decide to put up a bigger church, you construct an orphanage to assist in taking care of the less fortunate, as a way of giving back to the society. Fortunately, you still have enough change to undertake two more projects. One, you buy a church van and two; you get yourself a wonderful car to make it easier in running your ministry.
Before I take another example in the business or corporate industry, it has come to the attention of many business minded individuals that having ideas and not investing in them is a waste of time because it will not yield any fruits. I am a sales and marketing executive who has always wanted to win the company’s sales contest which comes with a gift and or treat for the good effort. This time round, the winner gets to go on a tour aboard a cruise ship. The company announces that any sales executive who will sell the company products of worth two million shillings (2,000, 000) monthly premium will automatically qualify for the tour by the end of the third quarter.
Since this is what I have always wanted, I first and foremost decide to participate. I come up with a plan to prospect and sell two hundred company products. Two hundred products will mean that each product will cost ten thousand shillings (10,000) each as a monthly premium. Now that I have the right plan, I embark on the sales campaign with a positive attitude. I keep in mind that I should work smart, by targeting clients who are likely to buy the products. I also remember to stick to my plan and within the stipulated time.
In my discussion, we find out that in order for anybody to succeed in life, there should be a dream, the desire, the goal and the target. Remember also that once you have that target, that dream to become a successful business person, you should take the necessary steps to make your dream come true. We realise that without doing anything about our ambitions, we will not gain, instead we will stagnate. Just like Henry Ford and other inventors who support his quote, Vision without Execution is like planting corn in a piece of land that is not well cultivated, without fertilizer and sitting back and waiting for a great harvest.