Visions - revisited

It was Friday night after a crazy week. The kids were finally asleep and I had just finished working on a blog post.

Time to call it a day.

But the scraping noise outside reminded me that Pekka was still, at 11 pm, finishing the terries seaming, and the sound made me think of an old blog post written back in 2014. 

This post was not about a concrete step in our never-ending renovation saga. Nor did it describe an interesting restoration project. And it was not teamwork, but written by Minna alone.

Instead, it was about respect for those who are truly visionary. For those who are passionate and determined to chase their vision without (too many) compromises. It was about the holy triage of Vision, Strategy and Implementation, and what I had learned during Project Olive Green.

After two years, I still stand behind my words. 

First, it is true what is said about realism: it is the worst enemy of creating an appealing vision. It is not easy to let one’s mind wonder unrestricted. With any project, one should imagine having pockets as deeps as a millionaire’s and a mind as powerful as Neo’s, who could modify the matrix at will. Anything less will result in settling with a suboptimal outcome. So, get obsessed with your dream first, and after you are too committed to give up, just find a way to make it happen.

Second, it is not a single strategy that can lead to a successful end result. Strategies should be adaptable. It is fine NOT to have all the answers when reluctantly crouched at the starting line. And NOT every single corner needs to be polished and fine-tuned before the kick off. A general outline is often more than sufficient. Thus, no need to be perfect. No need to have all the answers. They will come.

Finally, successful implementation is really about three basic things: confidence, patience and extremely hard work. Very few of us do have the pockets of a millionaire. Expectations in terms of time are nearly always unrealistic. And even fewer are ready to commit to the countless hours of work. So always, always add at least 25% to your budget and time needed, and you might get close to what is really required. 

But most of all, one should have no fear. Fear for aiming too high, fear for facing problems or fustration, or most of all, fear of failure. Fear, that sneaks in so well disguised that a mind lacks a fair chance fight back. Forget the fear. Crazy and unrealistic is the way to go. That is, if you want to make extraordinary things happen.

And perhaps, most importantly: know yourself. I am not one of those fearless, visionary people. Quite the contrary. But I am extremely lucky to share my life with someone who is. So each day, I'm learning something new about chasing a vision. Sometimes I get instantly inspired. Sometimes I think he's simply gone mad. But one way or another, it is always a step forward. A step closer to our shared vision.

And by the way, the terrace seaming is completed.

All photos by Nani Härkönen (http://naniannette.fi)