Begin With the End In Mind is the endowment of imagination and conscience. If you are the programmer, write the program. Decide what you’re going to do with the time, talent, and tools you have to work with: “Within my small circle of influence, I’m going to decide.”
Beginning with the end in mind is the habit of keeping your day to day focus on your whole life instead of on day to day things. What do you want people to say about you after your life is over? What kind of person do you want to have been. What is the legacy you want to leave? Beginning with the end in mind is the process of developing a clear answer to this question. This is your purpose in life. When you have a clear vision of your overall purpose in life, it is easy to solidly say “no” to some things and “yes” to others. It becomes easier to plan your year or this month or week or day. You constantly ask yourself: Does this align with what I ultimately want to do?
Just as you would never build a house without a blueprint, if you want to live a certain kind of life or have a certain kind of relationship or family or corporate culture, then you need to have a plan for how the whole thing is going to be put together and you need to review it often, using it often to say “No” to some things and “Yes” to others. If you want to make a change in your life, one of the first things you have to do is dedicate some time and come to an understanding what you really want, and feel it, write about it, create it in your mind first. The clearer vision you have of where you want to go, the more likely you are of getting there. It has to be created in your mind and your heart first, then you create it in reality.
By doing this, you become a Strategic Thinker. Your choices and decisions are not only expedient from an operational point of view. They also reflect your long-term strategic objectives. As a result the capability and capacity of your business increase steadily, turning your Business Vision into reality.
