Vision is not enough; it must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs. —Vaclav Havel
A couple weeks ago, I wrote about the difference between knowledge and desire. We can have a desire to go somewhere, but run into problems if our knowledge of what we’re seeking, or of how to get there, is inadequate.
But there are problems on the flip side as well. We may have a very clear knowledge of what we want, and know how to get there, but if we never take a step in that direction, we’ll never make it to our desired destination.
Many of have preferences for what that we’d like to “see” happen in the future. This could be called our “vision,” and could encompass our desires for our marriages, families, careers, finances, neighborhoods, and so on. But if we never move towards that vision — if we just stay where we’re at — that picture won’t become a reality.
Why do we hesitate?
So why do we hesitate, especially when we know the direction we should go? A few things come to mind:
Fear of loss — Sometimes we hesitate because we’re afraid we may lose something. A position, our possessions, our reputation. We’re afraid to step out because of what it may cost us. Which is a reasonable concern. But the question should also be, What will we miss out on if we don’t step out? Because if what we miss out on is greater than what we hold onto, have we really avoided a loss?
Fear of failure — If we step up into areas we’ve never been, it’s possible we may fail. But in some ways failure is overrated (or at least over-feared). It’s rarely fatal, and countless “success” stories have been built on a mountain of missteps and “failures” along the way. The question isn’t whether we’ll fail, but what will we learn in the process. Because even if one step seems to end in failure, there may be lessons learned and insights gain from that experience that help us out further on down the road.
Remember, fearing failure doesn’t stop us from failing. Rather it can cause us to fail to take advantage of the opportunities right in front of us.
Fear of the unknown — Most of us like to be in control. Taking steps in directions that are new and beyond us means we may not be able to control what happens. We don’t know exactly what the journey will look like. And for some of us, that’s scary. And so we hesitate, because we don’t know every step along the way. We want to know what we’re getting ourselves into, and rightfully so. But this can also become a preoccupation with knowing everything, and this can in turn lead us to not doing anything.
Yes, an idea of where we’re headed, and some direction on how to get there, is important. But moving forward doesn’t require knowing every single step along the process.
The Next Step
If we know that what we’re pursuing is truly worth the effort, and that any cost in getting there is worth paying, then it comes down to simply knowing the next step in that direction. We may not know what three steps down the road will look like, but if we know what the next one is, that’s enough.