New York City, 1931. America was in the depths of the Great Depression and a businessman named Conrad Hilton was staring foreclosure in the face. People weren’t traveling and his hotel chain was suffering the consequences. Hilton was actually borrowing money from a bellhop so that he could eat. That year, 1931, Conrad Hilton came across a photograph of the Waldorf Astoria--the quintessential hotel with 6 kitchens, 200 chefs, 500 waiters, 2,000 rooms, and its own private hospital and railroad.
Hilton said it was “an outrageous time to dream,” but he clipped the photo out of the magazine and wrote across it, “The Greatest of them all.” He placed the photograph under the glass top of his desk. Whenever he moved offices or changed desks, the picture remained under the glass top. He never lost sight of his goal. In October of 1949, eighteen years after clipping the photograph, his dream became reality. Conrad Hilton acquired the Waldorf.
According to psychologists, if an object is removed from a baby’s field of sight that object ceases to exist. They have not developed the capacity known as object permanence. With kids it’s out of sight, out of mind. The same is true with vision. If you want to keep something in mind you better keep it in sight. For eighteen years, Hilton kept his eye on the goal. He had vision permanence.
Stephen Covey says, “To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you’re going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.”
What that means is that you got to fight to keep your vision from getting out of your sight. The battle that you must fight is the battle for a clear vision of the future God has for you – your family, your ministry, your business, your career, your life.
Visioneering is about beginning with the end in mind. Most people see what is. Visioneers see what could be and should be and work backwards. In the words of Hebrews 11:1, faith (vision) is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
We need to become certain of what we hope for. Faith must turn to hope. And the bridge that we must travel on to turn faith to hope is the promises of God. When God gives apromise for the future, vision is birthed.
Everything starts with vision--every business, every church, every invention, every building, every painting was once an idea in someone’s mind. An entrepreneur or missionary or inventor or architect or artist had a vision. And that vision became reality.
When you fight to keep your vision alive, you are fighting the right battles.
