Create a Compelling Bamboo Vision

This time of the year (January) is often associated with setting new goals and resolutions for the coming year. But what about five, ten, or twenty years from now? Most giant timber bamboo takes five years to grow 90 feet in 60 days. So like timber bamboo, we must create a vision for what we want our bamboo to look like long term.

Creating a vision is nothing new. Many successful Bamboo Farmers go through this exercise–and it works! The entire purpose of creating a vision is to establish where you are headed. You wouldn’t buy a plane ticket without first establishing a destination, would you?

“The entire purpose of creating a vision is to establish where you are headed.”
— Greg Bell

I loved the response by the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland. 

Alice: “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” 

The Cheshire Cat: “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.” 

Alice: “I don't much care where.” 

The Cheshire Cat: “Then it doesn't much matter which way you go.”

So if you don’t care much about where you are going, then you can stop reading here. 

Your vision shines a light on the direction you want to go and where you’ll end up. It helps you avoid distractions along the way, too. 

The bottom line is that your vision for yourself will determine your future. I challenge you to envision a fantastic, positive future for yourself. Here are a few steps to help you get started:

  1. Carve out quiet time for yourself and ask the following questions:

    • Who do you want to be?

    • What do you want to do?

    • What do you want to have?

  2. Read or reread Chapter 2- “Create a Vivid Vision” in Water The Bamboo

  3. Create a vision board (just Google “vision board” to find some ideas and examples)

  4. Place that vision board in several places you will see often

  5. Ignore the naysayers

If you think about all the stuff around you, like the device you’re reading this post on, that device never existed before. Someone had a vision for it, put it to paper, and eventually created it in its physical form. That’s what a vision can do for your life. 

Keep watering.

This post is based on a podcast episode by Greg Bell. 

Listen below for the full episode: