Be a Big Picture Person

You are casting votes towards your big picture.

“Big picture dreams broken down into smaller, more manageable parts unveil the steps that lead you to where you wan to go.”

— Richie Norton

It is true that Right Now is all we've got, and we should make the most of Right Now, however, our lives shouldn't be run anyhow, like there is never a big picture.

Tomorrow isn't promised, truly. Our lives simply consist of this present moment, and in fact, tomorrow, or the next hour is an illusion, since it's just another 'present moment' that is not yet here. However, it doesn't mean that we should completely throw caution to the wind and forget that there is a Big picture.

Even while you live like right now is all you've got, because it truly is, you should also live with the big picture in your heart, live in accordance to the ideal person you want to become.

It is like the Stockdale Paradox. The Stockdale Paradox is one of being brutally honest with yourself, and at the same time, being painfully hopeful of a turnaround. According to Jim Collins in Good to Great, the Stockdale Paradox states that you should "retain absolute faith that you can and will prevail at the end, regardless of the difficulties. And at the same time, confront the most brutal facts of your present reality, whatever they might be."

You can live that same way, living like right now is all you've got, and also living with the big picture in mind, with an absolute faith that you will get to that tomorrow, that future.

"To live with the big picture in mind? What does that even mean?"

Let's take it from the simplest of things.

You must have heard the saying, "the way you make your bed is the way you lie on it, at night." If you are a big picture person, whenever you wake up in the morning, you are going to prepare your bed, because you have the big picture in your mind; coming back late at night to meet a very well made bed. Laying your bed might not matter in that minute, but in about seventeen hours or less, it will, and at that time, you would have taken great care of your night life, giving you less to do before you sleep.

If you are a big picture person, everything you do right now will have a clear hint of what you want your life to look like in a few hours, a few days, a few months, or many years to come. Big picture people understands that everything they do in their present moment casts a vote for or against the their big picture.

If you are a big picture person, everything you do right now will have a clear indication of what you want your life to look like in months or years to come.

This week, I am imploring you to start being a big picture person. Yes, amid the frenzy of this age, amid the popular 'You Only Live Once' tagline to self destruction, the temptation to live your best life in the moment, enjoy yourself without thinking about the future consequences, we tend to completely forget that, even though now is all there is in the world of real consciousness, now isn't all there is! There is the paradox!

So we really have to live life with this balance, living in the moment, and living with our big picture in mind. You can live in the moment, in the now, while still living in line with the big picture.

Your big picture is your ideal self. What you want to make of your own life, your career, your family, what you want your friends, children, grandchildren, society to remember you by and thank you for, that which you want to be, as a memory, in the hearts of people even after you are no longer here.

You can be a person of the now, and a big picture person. All you need to do is ensure your actions of right now casts a vote for the person you want to become in your heart.

When you have this big picture in your mind, you will live your life with chiseled care. You will understand that the actions, words and decisions you make right now, sets the tone for your life in the next hour, or even the next decade.

A person with the big picture in mind will tailor the way he treats others, the things he tweets or posts on social media, the things he says to himself and people around him, the way he spends his money, the things he invests his time and present moment in, towards that big picture.

If you want that banging body, if a flat tummy or great, firm hips is what you see as your body's big picture, you know the kind of votes you should be casting. You start saying no to junk food, start working out frequently, have a plan! This is how you spend your present moment casting votes for your big picture.

I'll drop the pen here, and I'm going to read this over again, because it seems like I'm also largely talking to myself.

Bear in mind, though, whatever it is you do right now is a vote for or against your big picture.

To Your Growth,

Abiola Okunsanya,

Handzinspired.