At one of our Boot Camps for world changers in 2004, a young Turkish man realized he stood for social justice. He would go on to describe it as far more than an intellectual insight–it was a deeply emotional, physical and spiritual realization for him. Through his being, he felt called to stand for social justice, and a vision was born.

Within months after that event, he founded 20/20 MultiMedia and began sharing his vision for giving a voice to conscious hip hop artists, who could use their medium for positive change. A few years later, a feature-length documentary starring some of the biggest names in hip hop is about to be released internationally–it’s a visionary film with a powerful message and a call for hip hop artists to stand and own their power to bring about positive change.

This man’s name is Emjed Hammas, his company is 20/20 MultiMedia, and his film is Business As Usual: The Exploitation of Hip Hop. Check out his web site here: www.2020multimedia.net The trailer for the documentary can be found under ‘Projects.’

Positive revolutionaries, authors, musicians, change agents, educators, artists, activists, entrepreneurs, parents, students, CEOs–those who attend Boot Camp tend to become so deeply connected to their values, that they take a stand for what matters most. And a vision is born–a vision, which calls them into heroic action, a vision which demands their personal evolution. They become shaped by their stand and their vision, and their relationships, companies and communities are transformed.

The world needs visionaries now. VisionForce, through our One Million Visionaries campaign, is searching for the most impassioned, conscious agents of change we can find to attend our upcoming “boot camp for world changers” in Austin, TX, July 18-22. Those who are ready to face everything and avoid nothing to stand for humanity for 5 days should apply.

Scholarships are available through our portal on Zaadz.

Many visionary Zaadzsters showed up to our March 2007 Vision Force Boot Camp for visionary change agents to kick start our One Million Visionaries campaign!  Pictured above are some of the crew.  (notice the Zaadz Tees being sported by Keith, Mary and Ronin. 

Other Zaadzsters pictured are Deborah, Joseph, Jordan, Shawn, Audrey, Carl, Brandi, Michael, John, Jim, Tom, Koray, Margalo, OT, myself, and… who am I missing?

Zaadzsters in attendance not pictured include Michael, …

For more photos from this Boot Camp, go here.

As people who care so deeply and are committed to so much, it’s easy to try to force change in ourselves and others. The high standards we place upon ourselves are often at the expense of compassion for ourselves and others. And without compassion, we and others tend not to evolve consciously. We can force behavior from ourselves and others in the short-run, but consider that the fastest way to achieve lasting positive change or conscious evolution in ourselves as individuals and groups is actually by slowing down–at least slowing down enough to honor the whole being, the whole system.

Many of today’s methods for parenting, educating and governing are based on models which seem to equate human consciousness with animal consciousness–as if we as humans are little more than smart animals. With such an assumption, authoritarian guidance seems quite appropriate. Punish the behavior you don’t want, reward the behavior you do want, educate the person to know which ideas are “the right” ones, and which ideas are “the wrong” ones. Such training happens at the expense of the trainee’s ability to think independently, honestly and creatively. Those trainees who conform may behave in a way that the authority deems right or responsible, but it’s usually at the expense of the trainees’ ability to make conscious, responsible choices on one’s own.

In these uncertain times of accelerating change, the notion that we can create truly happy individuals or a just society by training children to be our version of what is “good” is a very dangerous one. Such positionary goodness limits our children’s degree of moral courage, compassion and vision as adults. What their survival and happiness requires going forward and what the world needs now is visionary children who are responsible for the future of the world–not visionless followers who are responsible for obeying whoever the leader happens to be.

I invite you to slow down today and invest some of your time in an inquiry worthy of your life and your children’s lives:

Trained Goodness vs. Natural Greatness pt 1
Trained Goodness vs. Natural Greatness pt 2
Goodness vs. Greatness

So many of us are so eager to learn the next tip or trick for happiness, success or leadership skill, that we fail to create lasting change, develop real mastery or much conscious evolution.

1- We’ve witnessed the success of our project in Uganda with young visionary, Clovis Ategeka, who has been changing the world, largely due to his ability to access the internet, and thus Vision Force, Zaadz, etc.

2 – The school we visited in Ngong Kenya has no internet access, and it has been difficult to follow up with the students there, who were so inspired by the Vision Force work, and wanted to continue to develop themselves as visionaries and entrepreneurs. The plan they created when we were there was to start an internet cafe there on campus, and since then they’ve received several new computers… but still have no internet access.

3 – Morris Thuku, a Kenyan visionary, who started an institute of technology for street kids in a small village outside of Nairobe has a vision to raise youth and communities throughout Africa from poverty by training them in computer repair, maintenance, etc. Most all African homes do not have computers yet, so his students are positioning themselves for wealth… but Morris lacks the kind of funding that has come so easily to Clovis through his access to a global community.

Clovis has a vision of spreading Vision Cafes throughout Africa, as a way of connecting people to the global community and all of the resources and opportunities that come with it. The internet creates opportunities to raise funding, make money, save money, get educated, find business partners, collaborate with a global community, etc. But the beauty of this vision doesn’t stop with the advantages of internet access. Clovis sees these cafes as a way to educate and train people to be visionaries, leaders and entrepreneurs. Both the tribal and colonial culture contexts are very authoritarian and lacking in entrepreneurial and visionary concepts and conversations.

Clovis sees his Vision Cafes bringing everything the internet has to offer, as well as everything the west has to offer regarding entrepreneurship and advanced ways of thinking as a conscious being and visionary.

The bottleneck is internet access. In East Africa it’s outrageously expensive, and so at first glance it does not seem feasible to spread these Vision Cafes throughout Africa. But there is a bigger vision here, that once seen could easily inspire many organizations and individuals to invest their time and resources in the cause. Clovis, through his Vision Cafe in Kampala, is not merely providing jobs and adding value to the community. He is in essence, “creating creators.” It is one thing to fish, it’s another to teach someone how to fish–and quite another thing to teach someone how to be a visionary entrepreneur and create a business… or better yet, teach someone how to be a visionary entrepreneur who teaches others how to do the same. That’s what Clovis is up to. He wants to train others to train others, and thus open up all of Africa to unimaginable opportunity.

Democracy and capitalism are very new in many parts of Africa, and still only a dream in others. In Kenya, when I visited last year, I could feel an energy in the air… people were actively engaged in politics, not resigned and cynical as so many of us seem to be in the West. Kenya only gained freedom from Britain about 40 years ago through a violent revolution. Everything is still new, everything is possible. And the youth… so many told me they were going to be president one day. Yet, the colonial and tribal cultures there silence the youth in many respects. There seemed to be a consensus among Kenyans 40 and under that they’d never be listened to until they were at least 45 years old. This, even though so many Kenyans are known for their oratory skills (so many we met spoke like Senator Obama, whose father was Kenyan–or even more eloquently). The youth we met were incredibly bright, incredibly spirited, well-spoken and authentic. The only things that seemed to be missing for these young leaders to have the power to bring their visions into reality was 1) lack of access to technology, and 2) lack of entrepreneurial/visionary contexts.

Enter Clovis and his Vision Cafes, where he not only connects the youth to the world wibe web, but he liberates them from the conditioning which keeps them silent. The Vision Force concepts and work are incredibly powerful in this regard. Vision Force technology was not created from within the context of existing structures, and thus does not teach people how to be successful within the system. No, it encourages and empowers independent, creative thought, entrepreneurial thought. It’s most powerful for those willing to step outside the existing structures and create something new. It’s very liberating and refreshing for many who’ve grown up inside the heavily authoritarian cultural contexts in Africa. Perhaps this is why some come from 6 hours away to attend Clovis’ Vision Force workshops. Clovis is not just bringing hope, he’s bringing vision and everything that comes with it.

Kampala is ready. Kenya is ready. Could these Vision Cafes be an idea whose time has come?

How will we find the funds and resources to bring these internet learning centers into existence? Well, just ask Clovis, who through investing himself in the Vision Force 101 program, has been able to articulate his stand and his vision in such a way that he’s inspiring people from around the world to collaborate with him. One man, Michael Blomsterberg, and fellow Zaadzster (member of the Zaadz community), was so inspired that he has organized a trip for 12 to Kampala this summer, and plans to bring 10-20 computers for Clovis’ Vision Cafe. Other Zaadzsters and friends of Michael’s have joined in, and are doing what they can to support Clovis and his vision.

We at Vision Force along with generous Zaadz members have just recently raised $3,400 to get Clovis’ Vision Cafe wired with high-speed internet access. Some 80+ people from around the world were inspired to contribute. Others have purchased and sent Visionary Mind packages to Clovis. And the story goes on…

Vision Cafes throughout the 3rd world… supporting One Million Visionaries just like Clovis… can we really change the world? Do we even have a glimpse of how quickly we could create a world that really works for everyone? Organizations and individuals alike are already stepping forward to join forces in manifesting this vision. It’s not a Vision Force thing. It’s much bigger than that. It’s simply time.

We wish to acknowledge and thank every single person and organization that has chosen to stand with and for Clovis and all our African visionary friends. This is just the beginning! Together we really can create a future where all people are honored as creative, conscious beings… a world where we’re free inside and outside to live powerfully, and where it’s just natural to do so… a world where our best efforts go to collaborate creating a world that works for all, rather than fighting to enforce our individual views on others…

The search for the next 30 will begin soon. Stay tuned…

Yet there is a fundamental faculty of human consciousness that we could call vision, which all of us posses and can develop. It is possible for each of us to function at the level of vision, creating what seems to others to be impossible. Thus, I say that we as human beings are visionaries, even though in the early 21st century we as individuals tend not to operate as such. I see the day in the not too distant future when all children are raised to develop their visionary capacities.

Such a future at first thought might seem frightening to some, for there are many examples of charismatic leaders and visionaries throughout history who have caused great harm and destruction. Giving all children the power to operate powerfully and independently from their own vision might seem like a dangerous and even grossly irresponsible proposition, but not once one understands more about vision.

Adolf Hitler is an extreme example of the kind of “visionary” we’d fear. A Hitler is quite dangerous among masses of less than visionary people, yet quite impotent among the visionaries of the future. A person with a visionary mind is not inclined to substitute another’s vision for their own and does not hold blind faith as a value. Further, the visionaries of tomorrow are much more evolved than most of the visionaries of yesterday (as enlighten as many of them were), for example, tomorrow’s visionaries are not positionaries, as Hitler was. Tomorrow’s visionaries are much more powerful than the even the Hitlers of yesterday, and their power arises from their expanded consciousness, which brings with it far more compassion and love than even many of the most saintly persons of yesterday. The powerful visionaries of tomorrow are Gandhis and Yunuses, not Hitlers.

So consider that what defined a visionary in past centuries will be far different from what defines a visionary in the years to come. In simple terms, tomorrow’s visionaries will have greater power to look within, to consciously face themselves and evolve across the full spectrum of human potentials, in ways even many of the best thinkers throughout history seldom had the opportunity to do.

Also consider, that while some people are born with great talent for creative thinking or logic, being a powerful visionary is attainable for virtually anyone (excluding those with serious intellectual or psychological challenges). Most individuals can multiply their conscious power by simply removing the conditioned barriers to their vision (or consciousness) and learning visionary thinking methods.

So what is vision? When I refer to vision, I mean something distinctly different from dreams, fantasies, visualization, imagination or paradigms. There has been a lot of buzz about paradigms in business and leadership circles, and how powerful it can be to shift one’s paradigm; and while a paradigm is one’s worldview, viewpoint or metaphorical perspective of reality–it is not vision. Think of vision as what you see in your mind’s eye as you navigate your paradigm from moment to moment. That simplistic description may be useful, but there’s a lot more to be said about vision than that description allows for.

Vision is an ever-present, dynamic and evolving function of human consciousness. When many people today think of improving themselves, they speak of changing or removing their limiting beliefs, self-talk or mental images. The techniques which one finds in the field of “self-help” today say a lot about how little we know of human consciousness. Further, that human beings still act so irrationally on personal, interpersonal, societal and intersocietal levels says much more about our assumptions of how human consciousness functions than it does about human consciousness itself. So many of us today assume that we as human beings are far more limited, irrational and even self-destructive by nature than we actually are, and such assumptions make it possible for us to tolerate and even expect less than visionary thinking, speaking and behavior from ourselves and each other.

The work we do at the Vision Force Boot Camp is, many participants feel, nothing short of revolutionary. In the words of one recent graduate, “My fundamental assumptions and beliefs about what is possible for myself, humanity, and the future of the planet were completely shattered–in the best and most inspiring way possible.” It’s almost unavoidable. While I have not yet written a treatise on the work we do at Vision Force, it is simply not enough to grasp something like this intellectually, if what one seeks is an expansion of one’s consciousness, an experience of greater vision and hands-on training in methods to think, speak and live at the level of vision. Further, while many of us have genius intellects, when it comes to facing our selves, or looking within, we fall far short. Thus, it has been much easier thus far to create an event, where people look within for four days straight while exploring our concepts and methods, than to write a formal, systematic analysis of the model of consciousness, which underlies the methods taught at the boot camp–at least in a way that most people could grasp given our collective conditioned propensity to not fully face our selves.

Are human beings really visionary by nature? Can we each live as visionaries? Is it really possible for us to create a radically different and positive future for our children than the one we’re headed towards now? Is there much more you can really do as one person to bring about such change in the world?

Right now, you have your own answers to such questions, and while I can tell you what I see, I’d rather have you see what you can see after putting the vision force methods to work for yourself. Our “boot camp” is the best way to do this. As intimidating as the name may sound to some, it’s intended to have people understand that it is not going to be a seminar or conference, where you just walk away with more information without ever venturing courageously inward to question your assumptions. The boot camp is a rigorous inner journey, where you face your self, perhaps like never before–and in a way that naturally calls you to stand for what matters most. As you do, you begin to experience an inner alignment, much like the spine straightening that happens through yoga practice, and you find your vision and consciousness is profoundly expanded–giving you access to levels of courage and compassion that you never had before.

Unlike the name might imply, the boot camp is a fun and some would say “spiritual” journey, where each individual is honored, regardless of background or belief. In fact you could say the work we do is belief-neutral, or to use a software analogy, our “software” will run on virtually any “belief platform.” For some, an event like this seems like dangerous territory, as there are many questionable events teaching people things about life. To be clear, with the Vision Force methods, there is nothing you need to believe or join, and absolutely no one to follow. We think you’ll agree that this is cutting-edge human development work that holds great promise for humanity and our collective future. So come and play!

And if you think you’re not ready, sink your teeth into our delicious Visionary Mind home study program.

Both men in this video refer several times to a feeling they are feeling, yet they have no name for it. You might be tempted to call it pride, happiness, love or some combination of these, but those are only approximations to describe this distinct human emotion. In the video, you can see how it has recently become a guiding force in both of these men’s lives. They feel it as a reward for their recent choices, and are then pulled emotionally to continue those choices.

There is a distinct human emotion that we as yet have no name for in the English language, and often relate to as a spiritual feeling. It’s essentially a force of consciousness, which can have us feel pulled to naturally rise above fear and pain to honor our highest values more deeply and more often, and to expand what we currently identify as our values to include everything that forwards and benefits life. The Visionary Mind program explains this emotion in detail and how to have your consciousness be pulled forward and expanded by it, rather than experience the typical shrinking of consciousness in reaction to fear, guilt, shame, overwhelm, frustration, etc. Unlike many of our emotions, this emotion opens or expands consciousness, because it requires consciousness in order to be experienced. The more we open our selves and commit ourselves more authentically and deeply to being responsible for creating a world that really works for all, the more this feeling is available and naturally present.

At Vision Force we refer to this feeling as honor (distinct from current definitions of honor, and distinct from happiness, love, joy, pride, etc.). The more one recognizes this feeling, the more one can naturally be guided by it.

Growing up, most of us have been conditioned by the structures, systems, authorities and peer groups in our lives to be guided by other emotions. What this means is that our consciousness has been conditioned to relate to ourselves and our choices in a way that circumvents the natural experience of honor as a guiding emotion. It has us relating to life from a position, rather than a stand. We’ve begun to distinguish stand from position in many of these blog posts and in the free Visionary Mind Shifts course we offer here, yet it’s not enough to grasp it consceptually. Until it is integrated emotionally into our consciousness and self-guidance processes, we will continue to operate from within the walls of positions, which keep us arrogantly blind to our own blindness.

What does it mean to expand your consciousness? How can you come to see what you cannot see now? How can you open up to a whole new realm of compassion, courage and vision? Those willing to undertake the quest to discover such things and relentlessly engage in the process of consciously evolving their consciousness… are the ones who will lift humanity beyond it’s current limitations and create a world that really works for everyone. If you believe you’re up for the challenge, learn more.

“In 1974, I found it difficult to teach elegant theories of economics in the university classroom, in the backdrop of a terrible famine in Bangladesh. Suddenly, I felt the emptiness of those theories in the face of crushing hunger and poverty. I wanted to do something immediate to help people around me, even if it was just one human being, to get through another day with a little more ease.”

Thus begins the story of Mohammad Yunus, the 2006 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. In his Nobel lecture (watch the video and read the transcript here), he tells his story of how he came to found Grameen Bank and pioneer micro-lending to the poor.

The prevailing assumption of bankers and capitalists at that time was that the poor were not a good credit risk. Over the last 30 years, the Grameen (meaning “village”) Bank has given out loans totalling $6 Billion (US) to 7 million poor people, and the repayment rate has been 99%. Yunus proudly asserts that Grameen Bank routinely makes a profit, is self-reliant and has not accepted donor money since 1995. And, according to an internal survey of borrowers, 58 per cent have crossed the poverty line.

These results have say something about who we are as human beings, and what is possible for humanity going forward. Mohammad Unus sees a future where poverty only exists in museums! The path to get there lies, he sees, in questioning our assumptions about who we are as human beings and using free market principles to help the poor lift themselves from poverty.

“I am in favor of strengthening the freedom of the market. At the same time, I am very unhappy about the conceptual restrictions imposed on the players in the market. This originates from the assumption that entrepreneurs are one-dimensional human beings, who are dedicated to one mission in their business lives − to maximize profit.”

“…Human beings are a wonderful creation embodied with limitless human qualities and capabilities. Our theoretical constructs should make room for the blossoming of those qualities, not assume them away.”

“…By defining “entrepreneur” in a broader way we can change the character of capitalism radically, and solve many of the unresolved social and economic problems within the scope of the free market.”

In his speech, Mohammad Yunus introduces the concept of a “social business,” as a free market solution to end poverty, and as a vehicle for young revolutionaries to change the world.

“Young people all around the world, particularly in rich countries, will find the concept of social business very appealing since it will give them a challenge to make a difference by using their creative talent. Many young people today feel frustrated because they cannot see any worthy challenge, which excites them, within the present capitalist world. Socialism gave them a dream to fight for. Young people dream about creating a perfect world of their own.”

The FLOW Movement being started right here in Austin, Texas is forming an idealogical framework to provide a global context for tomorrow’s young revolutionaries. Michael Strong, Co-Founder of FLOW, sees how these new ideas about human potential, entrepreneurship and free markets can ignite a spark in University students, giving them a viable way to literally change the world for the better.

Mohammad Yunus says that we have poverty, because we accept it as part of the human condition. Once we raise our standards and refuse to accept it, we will easily find creative solutions to eliminate it altogether. The human mind has incredible power to solve problems, but only the problems that we refuse to accept.

“We create the world in accordance with our mindset. We need to invent ways to change our perspective continually and reconfigure our mindset quickly as new knowledge emerges. We can reconfigure our world if we can reconfigure our mindset.”

Of course, this is what we are up to here at VisionForce.com. The visionary mind of the future is one that evolves continually in ways that empower the individual to stand for more, see more as possible and create more. Our free Visionary Mind Shifts course by email is an introduction to this kind of evolutionary consciousness.

Our Visionary Mind home study program takes you much deeper, having you question the biggest assumptions about human beings, which keep us limited; and having you experience your “inner calling” to stand for a better world–your call to “greatness.” You can dive more fully into your visionary mind, and accelerate your evolution with this program by purchasing your hard copy here.

And if you’re already deep in the game of world-changing and conscious evolution, or if you are committed to living as Mohammad Yunus has lived, we want you to attend this event and be one of the 30 to step forward this spring and create a future that really works for everyone. The revolution starts now!

“In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.” – Eric Hoffer

The Visionary Mind is not just a continually learning mind, but a mind not organized around psychological positions. Anyone can continually learn within the walls of their positions. The Nazi, the Roman Catholic, the Jew, the Environmentalist, the Rush Limbaugh Dittohead, the Marxist, the Dove, the Hawk, the Randian and the Patriot can all be continual learners, whose learning merely fortifies their existing positions. What marks the visionary mind is the quality of continual evolution, more than just continual learning.

And in these times of drastic change, it is the continually learning and evolving visionaries who shall not just inherit the future, they shall create it.

No matter your values, your beliefs, your cause or your level of learnedness, if your strength comes from your position, you will become less and less powerful to create the kind of life and world that will further your highest values and everyone else’s. It is your commitment and ability to evolve beyond your well-fortified positions and live from a dynamic stand that will empower you to create the kind of future that will really work for you and for all of us.

What we are talking about here is a complete yet subtle paradigm shift, one that we begin to explore in our free Visionary Mind Shifts course by email. It’s a paradigm shift, which is further rooted and explored with our Visionary Mind home study program, and deeply experienced inside of our 4-day intensives.

Here at Vision Force, and inside of Visionary Mind Shifts, we make the distinction between a position and a stand.  If you’re still struggling to grasp this distinction, think of it this way… underneath every position is a stand.

Consider that every single person, even your enemies who you think you understand, are heroic human beings standing for their values.  Now, you may totally disagree with how they are going about standing for their values, and you probably judge them for it.  Your position is that they are wrong, immoral, evil, selfish or (insert your label here).  From this position, you cannot see them as human beings, and they cannot see you.  To protect themselves from your judgments, they form and protect judgments of their own–they form and maintain their own position, from which they cannot see you.

It doesn’t matter how smart you are, your power to create the best results is severely limited, because you lack the kind of vision that could make all the difference.

The key in us being able to move forward individually with powerful vision AND in us being able to co-create with the other side lies in our ability to so clearly see the others’ stand that we are deeply moved by it.  As we are moved and come from this place, the other side feels seen and then can open up to see us as well.  From this place “miracles” can happen, where previously compromise was the best alternative.

It’s a subtle yet incredibly powerful distinction and understanding it is not what makes the difference.  Successfully applying it makes the difference.  You must experience what it is like to first see the positions you didn’t even realize you had, then break through them and then experience the kind of vision that happens as a result.  That level of visionary training is not going to be found in leadership workshops, self-help programs, wealth mindset courses or any such thing.

You will find this revolutionary training is powerfully provided at Vision Force’s iStand Experience, otherwise known as the Vision Force Boot Camp.

At this very moment, Vision Force is searching for 30 to “be the ones” to walk a new path and lead the way for humanity.  If you think this might be you, apply here:

Here’s the link to the blog and audio. Overy 100,000 people have commented on this man’s stand. Many of his peers call him a traitor and a coward. Others think he’s anything but that. (leave your comments below)

It’s easy to take a position on this young man’s decision, and that’s one of the fundamental problems with the world we live in. Actually, the problem lies within our methods of thinking, our consciousness. Yesterday’s consciousness is insufficient for the world we face today with all of it’s accelerating change, globalization, the advancement of technology, etc.

Someone thinking with yesterday’s consciousness, the “positionary mind of the past,” rushes to judgment without much honest inquiry. Rather than look to understand the person or organization they judge, they simply attack. It’s usually in defense of a position they formed long ago.

This is a very emotional issue, especially for those who chose to stand for their country by risking their lives by fighting at war–even if they objected to the war. To be inspired by this man’s stand, it’s assumed they’d have to turn on their own stand. They are proud of the stand they took to fight, and feel that those who stand for their country by not fighting are invalidating or dishonoring them.

Some soldiers, in going to war, might judge those who don’t as cowardly. This affords them more pride and confidence in their decision, but the judgment itself is what devolves their stand into a position.

In our eagerness to stand for something, we too easily form a righteous position, from which we can no longer think honestly about the situation.

Isn’t honesty the quality of not refusing to look at or think about something, when forming one’s thoughts, words or opinions? Yet, when we form our thoughts and opinions with yesterday’s positionary thinking, those very opinions become walls beyond which we cannot see. Beyond the walls of our position, we can not see the humanity, the courage, the stand taken by “the other side.” And then we treat and speak to them as less than human.

Is it any wonder the world is in such a state of crisis?

What we’re lacking is a new form of consciousness. A visionary consciousness, the likes of which have been rare throughout history. Gandhi is a great example of someone with a visionary consciousness. What we’ll need going forward, however, and what I see is fast approaching, is a much more sophisticated and developed visionary consciousness–higher level thinking methods that facilitate visionary thinking and make it much easier and more common place.

Eventually, evolution to a new kind of thinking will occur. Indeed, it must if we are to survive and thrive in this world.

Some are courageously undertaking the quest to evolve their consciousness even now, and are seeking out training for living as a visionary. Of course, that’s why VisionForce exists–to facilitate this conscious evolution of consciousness.

And right now, we’re looking for 30. We’re looking for those willing to live their lives standing for humanity, including men and women who are standing for peace and freedom even now in Iraq–at war.

If you are willing to live your life as a visionary, as someone who stands, as a hero for mankind, we’re looking for you. We need parents, teachers, entrepreneurs, lawyers, politicians, activists, artists–we need you. Are you willing?

A dream, like a dangling carrot in front of a donkey, can be enough to have a visionless person keep moving forward, obeying orders and following the system from one moment to the next.

But what if the systems we’re following are not working?  And what if the leaders we’re following have little vision?

Shall we just keep dreaming and being “good,” comforming to the prevailing systems?

Shall we just keep dreaming and being “good,” while blaming the system’s failure on those who are not being “good” and conforming, assuming that we just need to give our non-conforming children ( or students, citizens, employees, etc.) more Ritalin or more punishment?

Shall we just keep “dreaming” and conforming to the system, while blaming the “leaders” for not fixing the system?

Shall we each just keep pretending we have “the answer,” know “the truth” of a situation or see “the solution?”  Everyone has an opinion (and in a free system everyone has a voice), but few with an opinion have vision.

Democracy for visionless people of different blind faiths is a formula for civil war and destruction.  For a free society to function now and in the future, it needs free thinkers, not blind followers.

Consider that it is no longer enough for us to tolerate each others’ faiths.  Instead it is time for each of us to rise to the level of vision.  Every person of faith can rise to the level of vision, and at the level of vision a person of faith only becomes more virtuous, conscious, humane, tolerant, peaceful, prosperous and integrous at the level of vision.

Without vision, the good person of faith in a free society can only tolerate others and compromise with them.  Those who object to compromise on principle or in faith, resort to forming a self-righteous position with respect to others.

“If only everyone would see things my way and comform to the solutions I can clearly see would work.”  Such is the thinking of a person, who lacking vision, must cling self-righteously to his position (conclusions about what is true, what is right and what to do).

The world needs more than good followers with dreams and more than tolerant people with faith, we need each person to rise to the level of vision–to be great leaders of themselves, who think freely, honestly and openly, and who easily co-create with others.
Goodness has long been interpreted as that behavior which fits within the “good” or prevailing system or that which follows the “great” visionary leader of the time.  But what happens when the systems are failing and our leaders lack the vision to revolutionize those systems?  Is goodness good enough?
Radical change and evolution is the way of the future, and surviving in that future is going to require that we all shift our thinking and evolve from conforming to become “good,” “responsible” citizens, parents, children, employees, etc., to evolving to become great visionary leaders.  Each of us?  Each of us.

Every mother can be a visionary mother.  Every teacher can be a visionary teacher.  Every person can function at the level of vision, develop their natural visionary mind and live a visionary life.
This shift from dreams to vision, from goodness to greatness, is a shift in consciousness.  It’s time for each of us to make the shift, and for those who are ready to leap–apply to attend this event.