Being a visionary is equally wonderful and difficult. While there’s a lot of joy and fulfillment in it, there can also be a lot of uncertainty, late nights, and new ideas to chase that come with it. And being a professional poet comes with having a vision for what you can do. Developing that vision? That’s a whole other ball game.

Luckily, we were able to sit down with visionary consultant, Dr. Shakina Rawlings (@SDRawlings).

Let’s see what she has to say about your vision, what kills vision, finding balance, and things you should keep in mind.

Vision starts with you

"The vision starts with the visionary. A lot of times we have these ideas of what we want to do, but the issue is the visionary,” says Dr. Shakina. The visionary is you. The vision is what you want to do. And there’s usually something in the way that keeps you from making your vision happen.

Dr. Shakina explains it well, “From insecurities to pride, it all points to the visionary. We are in our own way. We are sometimes the reason why we don’t get to the next level.”

And 2020 didn’t help any. We were all suddenly given much more free time when the world shut down, and we had no events or places to go to. However, the pandemic caused a lot of challenges and is a traumatic experience to be going through.

On top of all else, Dr. Shakina noticed vision was affected too, "COVID destroyed a lot of people's vision. It destroyed their esteem and motivation and focus. It threw it off."

You might be thinking, that’s understandable and all, but what do I do about it? It starts with you. Your mindset. Your approach. It’s a never-ending process, but you need to remember that you have something to offer the world.

Dr. Shakina says it beautifully: "There are people that are assigned to our voices and gifts. So if we never operate in who we were called to be, they may never be blessed by what we have to offer. … And sometimes you just gotta do it scared."

4 things that kill vision

According to Dr. Shakina, there are many things that can make it difficult for us to pursue our vision. Specifically, there are four common factors keeping us from our visions.

1. Procrastination and lack of work ethic

Procrastination is a major vision killer. Being lazy and not having a strong work ethic will keep you from living your vision. It’s about discipline and not making excuses that hold you back.

Dr. Shakina says, “The thing about visionaries is we’re up late at night or spending a whole Saturday in the office grinding. … But we’re procrastinators to the point of still expecting good quality even though you threw it together. If you want this to sustain you eventually, you’ve gotta know how to balance this before you get to the full time of doing what you want to do.”

Tip: Reevaluate the downtime you have and how you spend it. While mental downtime is necessary for clarity, spending too much downtime watching excess TV or scrolling through social media for too long is free time that you have to work on your vision. Evaluate your time and find the balance you need to make it happen.

2. Not applying what you learn at your day job or using your day job to fund your vision

If you’ve got a day job, a 9-to-5, then you’re inevitably learning the ins and outs of running a business and leading or being on a team. There are good and bad lessons everywhere in any job on any given day. Use that to your advantage.

Plus, your 9-to-5 is what’s paying your bills and hopefully giving you some expendable income. That can be what funds your vision. Your day job could be considered your biggest investor in your vision, because the income you get from them provides you enough security to build the foundation to what you want to do.

Take it from Dr. Shakina: “You can work your 9-to-5 and still do what you need to do. That can be what funds what you want to do until what you want to do is sustainable. A lot of people think it's too much work to work my 9-5 and work on their purpose too. But there's a lot of fulfillment in your purpose."

Tip: It’s a lot of work, but if it’s truly your purpose and vision, it’s worth the grind. So take a moment to recognize the security your day job provides in order to let you be a creator and visionary in the off-hours. Then use that.

3. Not networking well

The saying goes, “It’s all about who you know.” And that couldn’t be more true. If it weren’t for networking, I wouldn’t be writing this blog for you to read and certain guests wouldn’t be brought onto the Poet Life Podcast. It’s about meeting mutual connections as well as introducing yourself to new people in the industry.

Dr. Shakina explains, "That networking piece is huge. I didn't grow up with the best situation at all. It's about your own determination and your own vision. What you want to see for your own life. You do have to connect yourself with people in the arenas that you want. If you wanna do poetry you gotta connect yourself with poets, successful ones at that. Social media is everyone's friend right now. You have to be bold enough to step out there and hope for the best. Nothing beats a failure but a try."

Tip: Reach out to people of all levels in the industry and the areas you’re interested in. The worst that can happen is they don’t respond. But imagine the best that could happen.

4. Insecurity, comparison, emotional health

Look, we all have insecurities. We all, at one time or another, have fallen victim to comparing ourselves to others who appear to be “more” than ourselves. And all of that hinders our emotional health. Mental health matters and has a massive impact on our lives, including our vision. The ongoing process that needs to happen is actively changing our mindset around our worth and abilities.

Dr. Shakina knows this all too well and has great insight into how to overcome insecurities.

"When you find yourself in a place where you start comparing yourself. You have to check yourself. Why am I doing that? Where's that coming from? What's happening? Why am I comparing myself to my girl or my boy? There's something on the inside of me that I need to deal with. That means you're too focused on them.”

She continues, “Refocus and focus on you. That's when insecurities come in and all that stuff plays a part. One of the things about comparison is we have to be careful because we don’t know what they went through to get where they are. We don't know about the nights they had to cry or the sacrifices they had to make or the investments they had to make or all that stuff. You're comparing their now to your beginning.”

Tip: Recognize when you’re comparing yourself and ask yourself why. Take the time to remember you’re living on different timelines.

Things to think about when working on your vision

For some final thoughts, I want to leave you with a few nuggets from Dr. Shakina to think about as you get to work on your vision.

"We will miss opportunities by being underdeveloped. Do the work so this thing will live. It takes time. Your vision will not be executed overnight. It takes time."
"Nobody can tell you what your vision is. But my responsibility is to help you see the manifestation of the vision."
"One of the ways to be a successful visionary is to invest in yourself."
"Do some digging into yourself. Figure out what's stopping you, what's getting in the way. Just get it done. Get it out there, do what you gotta do. Set some goals. Be your own self-motivator. Some of us are sitting on our wealth, the next levels, the new beginnings, open doors. I challenge you to do the work so you can get to where you need to be."

You won’t regret listening to this full episode with Dr. Shakina Rawlings. There’s so much more quality advice that she gives in conversation with Poet Life Podcast for developing you as the visionary in order for you to develop your vision.

Equipped with various gifts and abilities Dr. Shakina Dunbar Rawlings established S. D. Rawlings Enterprise with a focus on ministry, consulting, coaching, merchandise, and her non-profit organization Jireh’s Place; which seeks to provide young ladies ages 10-23 with the necessary tools for successful living. Dr. Rawlings served as adjunct professor at Marymount University in Arlington, VA from 2018-2020 and has worked in Operations Management for over 10 years. Learn more about Dr. Shakina at sdrawlings.com and follow her on social media @SDRawlings.

Developing the Vision & the Visionary