Holding Vision - How to Keep Your Vision Burning Bright, Even in the Darkest Times

Most people spend their entire life stressed without ever giving a single thought as to what it is they really want or what's important to them. See, I'm here to cut through all that noise, connecting you to yourself and the life that you were meant to live. I used to slave away at a corporate job that I hated, but I broke through the social norms and pursued my passion. As a result, I own my own coffee company. I'm espresso sommelier, and I get to travel the world. You too can live a life that you love, but it starts with getting clear about what you want. It starts with a new decision. I'm your host, Donnie Rouse, and you are listening to the podcast One Life. Hi, guys. Donny Rouse here. And today we are going to talk about holding a vision. So what exactly does holding a vision mean? In order for us to have something to move towards, we need a vision. You can say a vision is the same as having an objective or a goal for a particular area of your life or your life as a whole. So holding a vision simply means that there's someone, a support group there who's holding you, is helping you see the bigger picture of what is possible. Because isn't it true sometimes when you're down in the trenches, it's very, very difficult to see one step in front of you? Never. Nevertheless, a year or five years, a decade in front of you because you're. You're busy, you're in. You're in the battle. At times like this, it is extremely important to have someone to remind you as to what you're going for and to see the bigger picture and to give you something to aspire to. So, but before you can actually have someone hold a vision for you, the first thing you got to do is one. You have to have a vision like, so what is the vision for your life? What is the vision for your health? What is the vision for your finances? In the One Life blueprint that I do, this is what we cover. We cover the big picture. We create that big, exciting picture for you to move towards. After you have that vision for your life, the next thing is to enlist your support group. Tell people who will lift you up, who will support you in those goals, what your goals are, right? They can't support you if you don't tell them. And then the opposite, right? So we have, we've. We have. We create our vision. We have our support. Let's support some other people, right? Who are the people closest to you? What are their goals, their vision? And then how can you hold a vision for them? For those of you who know me, I've been doing my coffee company for 13 years. And with my coffee company, I created something called Cold Roman Espresso. This journey has been. The coffee company as a whole has been the. One of the biggest commitments I've ever made in my entire life. Because it's taken 13 years right now. And in those 13 years, I've made leaps. But sometimes when I'm looking too close at the. You know, when I take the 13 years, rather than look at this expansive piece of time, I kind of squish it down and I look at it, I'm like, man, like, what progress did I make? But if I'm being honest with myself, I actually made a lot of progress. And especially in the last few months, I've been getting more momentum. You forget that results compound, that steps. Compound. It was in this time that I. Many times I would literally feel like I wanted to give up like that. You know what? This is just like, too much work. If I were in 13 years back and I thought, well, would I go in this. If I knew what I know now, would I go in this journey? Part of me would say no, but the other side of me said, well, yes, right there. There's been so much growth in terms of what it's requiring me to learn in order to grow this business, as well as to increase my coffee knowledge. But it's also challenged so much of myself. There was this one time I was talking with my friend Lynn, and she. She, for those of you who don't know, and she's Coyote Kitchen. She buys my espresso, and she makes espresso jelly. That is amazing. It's like spreading a cold Roman espresso on a bagel with cream cheese. It's amazing. So she. She would often hold this vision for me. She would tell me how great my. My product was and would paint this very elaborate picture of, you know, literally being national and being on QVC and inspiring me to reach out to these people to get answers. She would remind me of the progress I'm making. And when I would be hard on myself on a phone call, say, I'd be like, oh, you know, I contacted this person, and I just. I wanted. This was a result I wanted. But it didn't work out that way. And she said, good. So now, you know, you have to go. You have to look in a different direction. And she would always give me this guidance, these. These friendly words that would pull me forward. Even when I felt like you know, like, I. I'm at a dead end, and she would, like, you know, throw a rope over the wall, you know, pull me up with. By reminding me of what the vision is holding me to. A bigger vision. Sometimes. A bigger vision that I myself had. Sometimes it feels like I'm literally going day by day where I'm like, oh, my. The next thing. All right, talk to this consultant. Okay. What's the next thing after that? Well, I don't know. Well, let's talk to the consultant first, and we'll figure out the next step. Sometimes I feel like the only thing I know is the next step. Step. Which could be very frustrating. Right. Because we. I think I would agree. You probably want to know. We all want to know what the. Like, where are we going? You know, what is the final destination? Well, we all know what the one destination is, right? Death. That one's a certain one. But where are we going with these different areas of our life? Right. We want to know what that destination is, but it isn't always visible to you. I remember hearing a story about Oprah and Oprah. She was being interviewed, and they asked her about her success. She goes, you know, did you imagine this for your life? She said, there's no freaking way. I don't know if she said freaking, but she's like, there's no way I could have ever imagined this. And she spoke about the journey of just going and doing the next thing and how everything just started to grow. Her success grew, and the brand grew. I mean, I don't think there's a single person in the United States, let alone the world, who doesn't know Oprah. So the same is true for your area of life. Yes. You need to know a general direction. You need to know where that north is. You need to know where to point that compass. And then you have to start taking those steps. And when it gets difficult, you need to have the people who support you, who tell you, remind you of what it is you're capable of, as well as where you're going. I have another friend of mine who I created. And, I mean, I'm always reminded, literally every week when I am serving my espresso, I'm always reminded of people the moment they taste it, like, oh, my God, this is amazing. You're going to be extremely successful. But nevertheless, it holds a lot more weight when it's coming from people who I know, love, and trust. Now let's flip to the opposite side. Who are the people who need you to support them? Because let's admit it, right? Like life. While it feels good to be supported, it also feels great to support other people. I have friends where the light dims quite a bit and then I have to remind them as to what they are currently doing and how much progress and how proud of I am to see just what they've accomplished because they might be so close to it. They don't. They see the steps they're making and they just see that it's not working. Where from a different perspective, like, well, yeah, but look at all the growth. I mean, as a result of doing X, Y and Z. This is all the experience you have. Like, you are literally designing this path forward, but you can't see it. But I see it keep on going. Then all of a sudden they perk up. They're like, oh, you know what? Donnie's right. Yeah, he's right. I just got to keep on going. I keep on going. He believes in me. I can do this. So let's go to, let's go back to the questions. And this is again, we want to know who are we holding? Who's holding our vision? Who are we holding a vision for? So what is a goal or vision you have? And you could be like an overall life category where you told a friend that you wanted to travel the world or maybe you want to just get in shape and have that beach body with six pack abs. Whatever it may be, what is that goal of that vision? Secondly, who is holding that vision for you when things get tough? Who is the person that's supporting you and picking you up and reminding you of why it is you're going towards what you're going for. If you cannot name a person, then likely the problem is that you haven't told anybody, right? You haven't shared these goals. And likely for good reason. We have to be selective as to who we share the goals with. Some people, they love us, they have all the good intentions, but they will poo poo all over your dreams. And the only thing that you're left with after is you smell, right? Because they poo poo on you. But you know, they have all the best intentions. They want you to be secure, right? So they don't want you to reach beyond because they're afraid you might get hurt. They may not want you to change because as a result of you changing now, all of a sudden you're so like, they used to know who Donnie Rouse was, but now they don't even recognize you. So there's uncertainty in their life. So tell the people who you know will love you, love, trust and support because those are the people you will pick up. And then lastly, lean into them, right? So you have your vision. You told the people that will support you and now you're in the trench again, you're like, shit, you know, I was just here one week ago, they picked me up and here I am again. Like, how do I get here? Lean into them, right? Because no, when they know that you're struggling, then they'll lift you back up. This is one of the things that I had a hard time doing. I never would do it. I would, I would be like the, the. I would let other people, then I would lift up the people up, but I would never allow myself to be lifted up. But now I do. And then before we finish, let's go to the opposite side again, let's go to the other side of lines where you are the person holding the vision. Who are your inner circle, like who are your favorite people whom you know they're thinking along the same lines. They don't even have to just who's your inner circle? Could be family, could be friends. You know, it's a little bit different than the other side of the telling the people who love you but would poo poo on your dreams because now you're giving the support as opposed to, you know, as opposed to taking it. So you could still support them. But what is that inner circle name five people next. What are their visions? Where are, what is the thing that they want to move towards? If you don't know, I know a pretty good way to find out. Call them up, ask them, have a conversation and then check in regularly. Say, hey, how's it going with this? And then they might be like, oh my God, you know, I'm having a hard time. And then remind them of who they are. Remind them of what the vision is, what the vision is. Remind them what is possible. You never know whose life you're going to trust just by a few kind words. You can do this with your inner circle and you can do it other with other people who you just believe in. You see the potential in. But the point I'm trying to make is to find people to support you in that vision and to be the support for other people. Do this and you are well on your way. In order to you to go after whatever it is that you want to go after whatever results you want, you need to constantly keep that at the forefront of your mind. One of the reasons why having a vision is so powerful and looking at that vision statement daily, at the very least, weekly. At the very least, monthly. Well, monthly. The more. Here's the thing. The more you look at that vision, the more likely you are to attain it. Why is that? Because 1. By simply seeing the vision and being reminded, all of a sudden, now you have this internal compass that's aligning your actions, right? It's like, all right, I want the beach body. Every day you're looking at a statement that's reminding you of the beach body you want. Now all of a sudden, you see a Hershey chocolate bar. Will use Oreo cookies. Because this is one that I've had to deal with many, many times. My favorite cookie. And it's America's favorite cookie. But Oreos, you know, I would be in the. In the supermarket, going down the. Going down the shelf, I'm like, oh, crap. Oh, my God. Mint Oreos. Ooh, those be so good with peanut butter on them or almond butter. Ooh, the chocolate ones, too. I could just get all three. I'll get the classic mint and chocolate or the. My favorite are all. Honestly, my favorite are the Halloween. There's something about that orange cream inside that just screams artificial goodness. But so I'm walking down. There was many times where I've walked down the aisle and I see these cookies. And then I would ask myself, all right, listen, is this going to move me towards or away from my goals? And by having that vision, by knowing what it was that I was going after, all sudden I'm like, away. Well, then it has no part in my life sometimes. I mean, I'm not always that strict, but when I have. When there's something I'm moving towards, and I have a very, very decisive, you know, when I want to achieve a buy, and then it's literally it's all or nothing, right? It's black and white right now. I mean, I. I do love my Oreo cookies. If anyone listening this wants to send me Oreo cookies, I will gladly take. But, you know, I. I don't. I don't cut myself off from the. Some of the things I enjoy, even though they're not good for me. Everything in moderation. But the point I'm trying to make here is that the more clear and the more you remind yourself of the vision, the less distractions are going to get in your way. And what else does this do? Well, inadvertently, it allows us to measure our progress, right? Because every time you look at that vision, every time you're asking the question, what you're saying, is am I moving closer or am I moving away? And there's this measuring that's going on. And that measuring is what is going to move you towards your goals. Because if you're not measuring it, you're not going to improve it. And all I want you guys, the biggest takeaway is to look at where it is you're going, know what it is that you're moving towards and just align the actions by keeping that vision in the forefront. That is all I got for you guys today. Hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, please hit that subscribe button. If there's someone that you want to support or someone you know needs to support or or maybe you just want, you know, someone to support you, send this episode, send the link to five people, hit that subscribe button so you don't miss a single episode. And if you have any questions or comment, you could leave them in the comments or send it to me via my website@www.donnyrouse.com. again, d o n n y r a u s.com thank you guys so much for tuning in. Remember, you only get one life. Live it. God bless and I will see you again soon.