Exceeding the Vision

One of my goals for 2014 is become a professional speaker. To accomplish this goal in 2012 I entered my Toastmasters Club’s Spring International Speech Contest and was successful. I went on to the Area Contest and was also successful. From there I went on to the Division Contest and fell short but was never discouraged.

At the start of summer 2013, I was elected Vice President for Education for City Centre Toastmasters Club for the year 2013/2014 and was also appointed as Area Governor for Toastmasters International, District 86 Toastmasters, Division W, Area 67 in Guelph, Ontario. At the end of 2013, I successfully coordinated and collected over 2,000 pound of non-perishable food items for the Salvation Army of Brampton as part of my High Performance Leadership project. For the 2013/2014 school year, I served as co-chair of Terry Fox Public School’s School Council. In May 2014, I was received the prestigious Distinguished Toastmasters from Toastmasters International for outstanding accomplishment and leadership excellence. On the October 23, 2014, I will be speaking to approximately 300 students at a Peel District School Board’s middle school in in Brampton.

I am on my way to accomplishing my mission. What is your vision? What is your mission? I want you too to accomplish your dreams.

Our dreams are our creative visions for our lives in the future. Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others. You must break out of your current comfort zone and become comfortable with the unfamiliar and the unknown. Our potential for professional growth, development and success is only limited by our capacity to make the impossible possible and creating opportunities. Helen Keller said “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.”

Here are some my simple tips for exceeding your vision:

Have a plan

In everything you do, have a plan. Your plan is like your roadmap. As Ray Lewis said “Don't walk through life just playing football. Don't walk through life just being an athlete. Athletics will fade.” You need to have a plan. Remember vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time and vision with action can change the world. As noted above I recently received the Distinguished Toastmasters award which is symbolic of how well I executed my plan to become a professional speaker.

It is important to note that a plan takes time to implement and execute. My journey in the Toastmasters program started more than fifteen (15) years ago and it is only now that I am reaping the reward. Remember success is about dedication. You may not be where you want to be or do what you want to do when you are on the journey. But you have got to be willing to have vision and foresight that leads you to an incredible end.

Be innovative and Don’t be afraid to take risk

Think outside the box. Do something new. Be innovative. Rekindle your childlike qualities and take some risks. Don’t fail because of inaction but rather because of your determination and courage to try.

Believe in Yourself

The foundation of all success is the awesome power believing in yourself and self-confidence. In February 1964, a 22-year old boxer named Cassius Clay whom we all know today as Muhammad Ali defeated the heavyweight champion Sonny Liston. Before and after the fight Ali said “I am the greatest.” Ali went on to become one of the greatest boxers in history. Ali had the conviction and self-belief to say he was the greatest long this before he knew he was in fact the greatest. Ali later said that he figured that if he said it enough, he would convince the world that he really was the greatest.

Do you belief so strongly in yourself that you can convince the world that you are the greatest? As Henry Ford said “Whether you think that you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right.” You have to believe in yourself. You have to be confident whether you think you can or you think you can’t do something.

Celebrate your successes

When we pause to celebrate small successes it allows us to stay in the moment where our energy and motivation is at its peak. Celebration helps us to build the momentum we need to stay focus and inspire us to wanting to achieve other goals. It allows us to express gratitude and experience as sense of accomplishment and contentment. Celebration builds our self-confidence and self-respect. Celebration allows you to mark your progress and remember your accomplishments. Celebration allows us to self-promote and market ourselves.

You have to have a big vision and take very small steps to get there. You have to be humble as you execute but visionary and gigantic in terms of your aspiration. Exceeding the vision, it's not about aggrandizement but rather about being bold, taking small steps every day, every week, every month, making yourself a little bit better and steadfastly moving towards your goals.

Would you like to exceed your vision?

Mark McKenzie is a leading Subject Matter Expert in financial services regulation and supervision as well as a professional motivational speaker, corporate trainer and youth mentor.  He can be contacted by email mastbmckenzie@gmail.com or by telephone 647-406-4622. Read my blog http://mastbmckenzie.blogspot.ca/ and always write me a comment and share. Follow me on Twitter @mackynacky. Connect with me on www.youtube.com, Google+, Facebook and Linkedin.