Practice visionary thinking

If you ask God, He will give you a vision for your life—one that will enable you to see the end goal, get excited, and move progressively toward it. When parents are exhausted with potty training, poor grades, teenage tantrums, and fender benders, and you remind them that it’s only a temporary season—you are practicing visionary thinking. Visions aren’t limited to pastors, politicians, business tycoons, and presidents—they are for everybody. Visionary thinking gives you a bigger perspective. It’s like enlarging a picture; it expands not only what you can see, but what you believe you are able to do. Visionary thinking calls for three things: (1) Learning. Be sure of what you know and value it—but never settle for it. Form new relationships, read new books, and learn new skills. Become a lifelong learner. (2) Listening. Seek out those who have expertise in areas where you don’t. Partner with people who can do things you can’t. Ask questions that enlarge your understanding and thinking, and then listen carefully and record what you hear. (3) Looking. It’s hard to see the picture while you’re inside the frame. There’s a world outside your own, so you must get outside of yourself and see it through the eyes of others. To meet people’s needs, you must first find out how they think. That calls for humility, getting over your personal agenda, and trying to understand the other person’s point of view. The Bible puts it this way: “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4 NKJV).