Gayle Hardie is a dreamer from Australia who helps organizations identify and reach their aspirations. Here’s what Gayle, a Senior Member of the Enneagram in Business Network, has to say to inspire us to be aspirational:

A significant vision is to ensure the sustainability and viability of our world through our work with individuals, organisations and communities.

It is aspirational, for at this stage in my life, I can’t quite imagine that I will have an impact on the whole planet or everyone on it.  However, through engaging and enabling those I work with in this vision, I can indirectly influence many more, and it will someday become reality – probably long after I am gone.

What do you aspire to achieve?  What is it that guides your journey?  What matters to you?

It is sometimes difficult to step up above the many facets of every day life to take a deep breath and a very long look at what is possible.  I experience moments of doubt when what I aspire to seems “so grand” that it is beyond my reach.  Others may tell me that my Vision is totally unachievable and will never be realized.

However, I have learned that by paying attention to my Vision, by maintaining my intention, keeping a focus on why it is important to achieve it, and stepping up to lead by example and “live it,” I know that what I aspire to presents itself in reality each day.

Based on Gayle’s insight above, I’ve added this blog to help people of each Enneagram style become more truly visionary.

Enneagram One
To have a vision and implement it means to have few constrictions, few pre-determined rules, and a deep belief in possibilities for yourself, others, and the greater world. If you just let yourself dream really big without reservation, even for a while, what would you most aspire to be and to accomplish? Allow yourself to move beyond your own judgments and opinions into the world of total possibility.

Enneagram Two
So you may be very, very good at helping other people identify and implement their visions, but what about yours? What is it that you yourself aspire to? What do you really care about? Where does your passion lie? Do you deserve to get what you want from your life or is this constantly compromised because you believe that to follow your dream is selfish and not altruistic enough? Think about what you have always wanted to do, apart from others. What is your deepest dream?

Enneagram Three
Do you know what you really want, aside from what you think is expected of you? Are you willing to pursue a vision that comes from deep inside you, even if this direction is not met with social approval or does not fall within societal guidelines about what successful people should do? Go inside, find who you are and what you really want, then follow your path.

Enneagram Four
Ask yourself whether or not you believe in yourself enough to also believe that you can manifest your vision into reality. Explore what you believe in, find the words that really communicate this possibility to others, and don’t be deterred if they don’t understand. Take constructive feedback as ideas, not criticisms, and try to digest positive feedback, enjoying that others do understand and support your ideas. Finally, remember that you are not your vision, that you are a person with a vision. This will help you to not take suggestions or even critiques personally.

Enneagram Five
When you dream of a possibility, recognize that you are not alone. Communicate your ideas to others, get feedback, revise and explore, and then move forward. It is in the nature of visions that one can never have all the information or anticipate all the possibilities. Enjoy the risk and uncertainty.

Enneagram Six
Can you let yourself dream big without fear of being disappointed? Can you allow yourself to hope without concern that some obstacle will occur to prevent what you most want from happening? Look to yourself for the vision, trusting yourself without a need for external validation or authoritative confirmation. Find a vision in which you move toward something rather than one that has you and others preventing something.

Enneagram Seven
Thinking of creative possibilities is an important aspect of a vision, but it is not a vision that you or others can easily follow. A possibility that is not elaborated on is like a skeleton without muscle. Too many possibilities can confuse others as to which path to follow. Romancing a vision that is not grounded in a practical way of achieving it is like falling in love with the idea of a person rather than the person her- or himself! Pick a vision that you really believe in and stick with it.

Enneagram Eight
You may think of yourself as a visionary because you think big and in a very strategic way. You are driven by vision, although such an embodied one that others may not really understand it. Do you even fully understand it? Where are the details? What does it mean we should do? What is the meaning and impact of this vision? When you become more precise and find the words to go with what you instinctually know, your vision will enlist more and more people who can help to accomplish this with less and less need for you to be managing all the details (which you don’t really like to do, anyway!).

Enneagram Nine
To live a vision is to think big and to be big, and for Nines, the challenge is to dream bigger and to be as big as you actually are. This means being comfortable tapping into your largest aspirations and ambitions and giving them the attention they deserve with you as an advocate. Yes, some others may disagree with you, so you’ll need to get more comfortable with the tension that this creates. Yes, some may not take your vision as seriously as you do yourself, but that goes with the territory of having vision. You’ll need to first find out what matters most to you, then decide that you matter just as much. However, you’ll need to talk about it and assert yourself. Aren’t you and the vision both worth it? Can you let yourself know what you really do want rather than what you don’t want? Dream big!