What Happens When There Is No Bright Light?

[Editors Note: I’m guilty of this next topic. So, before it starts to sound like a sermon, I want you to know that I struggle with this very issue.]Last week, a neighbor came over and was lamenting that his daughter was having trouble getting in to the college of her choice. He said, “All her friends got in, but her letter hasn’t come yet.” Next, I asked him the question that showed me the real problem. “What does she want to study?”
“Well,” he said, “she really doesn’t know yet. She just wants to go to XX University.” What? Doesn’t know yet? No inclination of what juices her?

So she’s upset that she can’t spend $160,000 of your money going somewhere where all her friends are going.

Makes no sense. Yet it happens everyday. In fact it happens in another phase of adolescence – when there is temptation to take the wrong path (drugs/alcohol/deviant behavior).

I’m going to give it a name – and an explanation why it happens to all of us – adults, too. There is NO BRIGHT LIGHT.

The concept of NO BRIGHT LIGHT means there is no long term vision for what one wants their life to look like/feel like. When you have no long range goal – or vision – you get quite distracted by life’s choices. And when you make a wrong choice, it can screw you up (especially in the case of a young person in a tempting world).

A BRIGHT LIGHT is a vision for the future – a way you’d like your life to be – a place you’d like to live – a cause/profession that brings meaning to your days.

In business (sales), a BRIGHT LIGHT is what you’d like your customer base to look like. What you’d like your income to look like. What you’d like to accomplish in your business.

Brian Tracy talks about this when he says 80% of companies he sees have no long range vision. How can you get the troops behind a goal if it’s not clearly defined? You can’t. And when you’re tempted to sell to someone that doesn’t quite match what you expect your client vision to look like, then ask yourself why you’re doing it.