Bridge Vision and Action: Staying on the Path to Success

When working to realize a long-term vision, it can be easy to lose sight of it and get stuck in the day-to-day activities. Time goes by and then we remember that we had a vision that we have neglected or have made only a small amount of progress towards. We need to take care of daily life and obligations. We also need to focus on the immediate actions that move us closer to fulfilling our long-term vision so how can we manage these things without getting lost in any of them?

First, we need to remember that the long-term vision and the short-term goals are connected to each other and that they work together. They are part of the same whole. The short-term goals are needed to stay present and to focus our attention on the actions that we need to take now. The short-term goals are milestones on the road to fulfilling our long-term vision. Our vision is a series of milestones or short-term goals, each with their own set of actions to be executed.

It’s similar to a long road trip where the long-term vision is the destination and the short-term goals are the stops along the way. If we were planning a 4-day road trip across the country, we would plan to stop in multiple cities and towns along the way to eat, to take a break, to sleep, to stretch our legs, etc. For each leg of the trip, we only need to focus on the actions to get to the next city or town on the map. We don’t have to focus all of our attention on the final destination. We may look forward to reaching the final destination and it can keep us going when we encounter challenges such as traffic jams, road construction, detours, and bad weather.

The solution is to create a routine or structure to refocus our attention on the long-term vision to stay connected to why we have embarked on this endeavour and for motivation, as well as stay connected to the immediate actions that need to be taken for the short-term goal. Schedule or assign regular time to review both the long-term vision, the short-term goals, and the actions that need to be executed now. This keeps us connected to the present time, near future, and the vision. This prevents us from getting lost or preoccupied with things that take us off track.