Blog Post #5

I’m not sure I fully understand what I am being asked to write about, but I am writing about my vision as it relates to my entire life, as opposed to just my fraternity. I also think that a vision should be a very general, ideal state of something, and I don't think I could write very much about that.
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A vision is a hard thing for me to develop, partly because the exact meaning of the word “vision” is so hard for me to pin down. I know that a vision is used to determine goals and practices of an individual or group of people, and I know that a vision is distinct from a set of core values, but beyond that, I am not sure exactly where it falls between these 2. I understand it in terms of a group of people, but I don’t think that a vision of a person can exist in the same way that it does for a company or organization.

When someone forms a company or an organization, in almost every case, he or she does so with a very specific purpose in mind: to make money, to solve world hunger, to make scientific advancements in the consumer electronics market, etc. After this purpose is established, it is significantly easier to picture the ideal state of the company or organization 100 years from now. On top of that, if the owner/ founder is satisfied with the state of the company or organization, he or she is able to appoint a new person to be the leader of it. After that they can form a new company or organization with a different purpose and a completely different vision. However, this method of specialization doesn’t really work when applied to individuals.

I personally have core values that govern my behavior in all circumstances, but I don’t operate under one single purpose. My core values and ambitions change frequently enough that it’s a waste of time to try to develop one overall vision. Instead, I have a purpose and a vision for each individual facet of my life. I can get more done if I compartmentalize and focus on one vision at time, rather than trying to do a bunch of stuff at once. It also allows me to evaluate decisions in terms of how they affect each of my individual visions rather than how they affect my overall vision. That allows me to take advantage of many of the opportunities that present themselves to me, while at the same time addressing the impact they will have on each vision.

For example, I make a distinction between my academic, fraternity, and professional visions. Academically, I strive to learn as much as possible in every possible subject, rather than get straight A’s. Fraternally, I strive to make my organization into one that supplements the college education with one that leads men to success in every aspect of their lives. Professionally, I strive to provide my employers and clients with a breadth of experience and skills that no other single person can offer. Recently, I was offered an internship at a very well respected company. In this internship, I would have been learning new skills that are very closely related to my degree, building new business contacts, and developing experience that I could use in any number of positions down the road. This would have been very beneficial in helping me reach my academic and professional visions. However, it also would have been in HUGE conflict with my fraternal goals. Since I have a very limited time to pursue my fraternal vision, and significantly more time to pursue my academic and professional ones, I ultimately decided against the internship, though if I had had a single overarching vision instead of many small ones, it is likely I would have made a different decision. Examples like this are where I think it’s beneficial to have multiple small visions rather than one large one.

I also think it’s important to live a life of balance. Some people have made it their life’s goal to cure cancer, and while I think this is a very noble goal, it is also closing the door on a lot of other opportunities. I probably won’t ever cure cancer, but that will allow me to play a larger role in solving many other societal issues like developing a widespread renewable energy source, improving the living conditions of people all over the world, or protecting the rights of my fellow human beings. I may never be well known for any of the work I do, but I will get a lot done by the time I die.

Now some people might disagree with me and say that they have a single purpose in life and have formed a single vision that they work towards each day. While I think this is certainly admirable, it is also a bit closed minded to say that you have a single vision for your whole life. I know I may be alone in this opinion, but I think it’s very important to constantly reevaluate one’s purpose and ambitions, and to decide whether or not they make sense given everything you have learned since your last evaluation. If not, then perhaps it’s time to set a new direction and develop a different purpose. However, you are much less likely to do this if you let one single purpose govern your entire life.