COACHING THE COACHES,
PART 19
by Jon Rappoport
Copyright © 2011 by Jon Rappoport
A client wrote me the following note, to describe his progress:
“At first, the biggest and best thing I envisioned doing with my life was actually confined in a tunnel. I didn’t know I was in a tunnel. I thought I was in open space. I was inspired by my vision. But after doing your imagination exercises for a month, and after planning how I would achieve my vision, I saw all sorts of new implications. My plan got much bigger all of a sudden. And then I really was in open space. I wasn’t in the tunnel anymore.”
This is how things take off.
It’s as if, previously, there were holes in our perception, areas we weren’t seeing. But then, once imagination swung into gear, those holes filled in, they came to life.
People often like to cite Apple as an example of a truly creative company. It’s clear that, as Steve Jobs moved forward with new inventions, his imagination spread wider, and he realized, quite quickly, how the future would include innovations springing from what he was already building. There was a multiplying effect. The force of that is virtually unstoppable.
It’s the same with any life plan or vision—IF imagination is a person’s constant companion, instead of a one-time burst that fades away.
To put it another way, which wave are you riding? Is it the one that appeared with your initial vision? Are you focusing so narrowly on it you can’t conceive of anything wider? Or are you riding a wave that gives birth to higher and greater waves that appear as a result of enlivened imagination?
You have an idea for a store. The store will sell copies of ancient artifacts. Once you flesh out the operation and are in business, it occurs to you you can sell other items. Local original art, jewelry, musical instruments, etc. You bring in musicians to do live concerts. Pretty soon, you have a unique store that draws in people from miles away. You have 20 such stores across the country.
That sort of thing.
The multiplying and expansive effect of imagination at work. A larger growing vision.
This is as far away from a single, one-shot “envisioning moment” as a vaguely strumming guitar is from a 50-piece orchestra.
The bigger the vision, the more wider ranging it is, the more power you have.
Jon Rappoport
A former candidate for a US Congressional seat in California, Jon has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years. He has written articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. The author of The Ownership of All Life, Jon has maintained a consulting practice for the past 15 years. He has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, and creativity to audiences around the world.