It was Mark Twain who said, "The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why." Have you found your why? Do you have any idea what you are placed on the earth to do for mankind? Do you have a vision for your life? What kind of life do you envision for yourself? What do you see yourself doing? Are you working on what you see right now? Are you already there or at least getting close? 

If you have no vision for your life and your life's work, you need to get one now. "How do I get a vision?" you might ask. I say, find out what you love, what you are deeply passionate about and what you enjoy doing so much that you would do it free. When all is said and done and the curtains close, what would you want the world to remember about you? What would you like them to say? What words would you like to be described with? Find a notebook, write down what comes to your mind. When you discover the answers to all these questions, you are well on the way to crafting your very own personal vision. Deciding to live one's life without a personal vision is electing to live life frustrated, discouraged, wandering around and headed nowhere.

"The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision." Helen Keller

Vision is fundamental to a life of meaning. It's a mental picture of what you aspire to achieve; the legacy you want to leave behind long after you're gone. Vision is not vague or wishful thinking. It's something so powerful that although futuristic, plays a huge role in orchestrating the present. It directs what you spend time on and what you totally ignore. It is what helps you get the results you want from life. Vision is the thing that aids in establishing a sense of purpose and direction for your life. 

"It is not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something." Winston Churchill

Vision is always a thing of the heart and never the head; something that only you can see until you decide to share it. vision can be so big and compelling that it seems impossible to achieve and could even scare the visionary. We must see with the eyes of the heart before goals can be set using the head. Anything that is to materialize must always be seen twice, first with the eyes of one's heart and then with one's physical eyes. The heart always sets the vision and then the head gets to work creating short-term, mid-term and long-term goals to accomplish what the heart has already seen. 

"Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others." Jonathan Swift

We know we have vision when we are able to visualize and articulate a possible future state for our lives. With vision, we have a reason for being; a bright and clear purpose which spurs us into action. It is the motivating factor that pushes us to try just one more time when we are tempted to throw in the towel and succumb to defeat. It gets us to commit and persist during incredibly stressful times. Vision hones in our focus and advances our leadership skills. It gets us prepared for opportunities that are sure to come and gives us the strength to cope with the challenges of today while laying the foundation necessary for reaping the rewards tomorrow. 

"A strong, clear vision holds the power to transcend your current reality, bypassing the day-to-day challenges that might be keeping you stuck where you are. What is your vision?" Debbie Ford 

The challenge with vision and the reason I believe you see it with the eyes of your heart first is that there is a requirement to create a roadmap, craft a plan and work the plan before anything tangible can be physically seen. This takes a considerable amount of hard work and time because nothing great happens overnight. The road to vision can be bumpy with lots of falls and many a failure before things begin to materialize, the very reason why many vision statements are never worth more than the paper they are written on. It is very easy to write a vision statement. It is much harder to live it out day in, day out. But without it, how do we know where we are going?

"If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there." Lewis Carroll

Here are five reasons why vision is an important ingredient in creating a life that matters:

1) It gives your life meaning and purpose - Vision is what emphasizes the "why" and the reason you do whatever it is you do. It is what directs what you allow to become your daily habits. It is the key to keeping bitterness and disappointment at bay because you are busy working on that which is important to you as all your goals and actions are aligned with a specific destination in mind.

2) It shows you where you need to go - Vision is what gets you prepared for the future because it provides direction. Where there is no vision, there can be no direction. Vision is what stops you from wandering around in wildernesses you have no business being in. 

3) It gives you power - Vision is what gets you up in the morning and the last thing you think about before you go to bed at night. It is what propels you forward and drives the way you perform on everything you set your mind to do. It is the strength that pushes you through the tough times that are sure to come as you work on your goals.

4) It inspires and motivates you - Vision is what allows you to see the end of the beginning. It inspires you to keep working, stretching and moving forward. Even when no one can see what you see, even when it doesn't make sense to anyone else, you are constantly inspired by the picture you see with the eyes of your heart.

5) It keeps you focused and grounded - With sound vision, the need to constantly change the fruit is eliminated, a practice that simply wastes time and drains energy. Your vision keeps your feet firmly on the ground such that you are not easily swayed by the newest and shiniest toy. What you want to do with your life is crystal clear and obstacles seem much easier to overcome. 

We are not here to simply make a living, to just exist. We are here to thrive and to contribute something incredibly unique to the world around us. It is often easy for us to make ourselves small, diminish our value and what we bring to the table but we must never underestimate the power of a personal vision. Making it a reality might just be exactly what the world needs.