How to Have a Visionary Mindset

When I was a young person, I didn’t seem like the type who would make much of his life. I struggled in school, and for a long time, I didn’t really know which way to go in life. Then, something changed radically. After having felt hopeless for a long time, I threw my whole self into deep mind-body training, hoping to find some answers. Fortunately, these answers did come to me, and I suddenly felt a definite meaning and purpose for my life.

After that experience, I set about teaching others what I had learned, in hopes of bringing hope and healing to others. Since I didn’t have any money to open a training center, I simply went to a local park and began to teach a single student. Soon, other people gathered in the park, and then finally the first training center in Korea was opened. From there, other centers were opened in Korea, and then eventually centers began to pop up all over the world.

How does something like this happen? Is it just magic or some special blessing from the gods? No, it is just a matter of mindset, a way of seeing the world and a way of approaching your goals in life. It’s something you, too, can have, if you are willing to dream boldly and to imagine a better world. Here’s how you can develop a visionary mindset for yourself:

1. Have a big dream. You cannot be a visionary if your dreams are ordinary. You must choose a dream that thrills you even to think about. At the same time, it will likely be something that scares you a little bit, requiring you to grow beyond your current limitations. It should not be something that you want because of the fame or status it brings, but rather for the way it resonates with your soul. When you hit upon this dream, you will know.
2. Be of service to others. Visionaries do not think of accomplishing goals because they want something for themselves. They have grown beyond wanting accolades, awards, and prestige. Rather, they want to do something that changes the course of humanity for the better. A dream of the ego soon withers, like a plant that has no water. But a dream that gives service to humanity grows and grows, gaining momentum as it heals and awakens others to their own higher selves.
3. Be determined to keep going no matter what. When you are seeking to complete a vision, there will be times when you face obstacles so large that any ordinary person would just give up. If you are a visionary, though, you will not give up. Instead, you will grow even more determined to see your journey through to the end. These are the tests of the visionary. A visionary, like a hero, does not give up. Instead, he or she sees all the troubles of this world as insignificant compared to the timeless, eternal world that lies at the foundation of the vision.
4. Follow the flow of energy. Visionaries believe in their dream so much that they know the universe itself is on their side. So, a visionary is willing to trust energy and follow its flow toward completion. An ordinary dream, on the other hand, becomes stuck in the mud if it doesn’t go according to a preconceived plan. A vision, however, can flow like water around a stone in a stream, always finding a way to move forward toward its destination.
5. Use the journey to grow your soul. Although as a visionary you are continually in service to all of humanity, you are also of great service to your own soul. This is true because a vision gives endless opportunities for growth of the soul; that’s why it must be hard. Remembering this benefit will be like a light on a dark path whenever you forget where you are going and why you have chosen to go there. Even if you momentarily forget the path and the people you are working for, you will never forget your own soul, since it is always there to shine in the darkness.

I believe that everyone is a visionary at heart. For some, it is so deeply buried that they probably will not discover it in this lifetime. If you are reading this, however, living a visionary life is a distinct possibility for you. It is a sign that you have grown to the point of wanting to transcend ordinary existence to achieve something greater, something more permanent than the accomplishments of this world and of your personal ego. The only question is “Are you ready?” If you are, I invite you to begin your journey by taking a small step toward something bigger and more important than you ever dreamed you could.