The moment something becomes actionable is closely linked to one’s ability to visualize what is, how it should be, and how it can be done.

Becoming aware of a situation and its details makes possibilities visible. It enables us to move out of a sense of overwhelm. That is a sense within which little is visible with something that cannot be comprehended. The growing visibility enables more details to become apparent, and our ability to know where change can start becomes more accessible. We then start to see the details of a change we can influence. It happens as our existing experience becomes accessible again or through experiments that may help us gain a better understanding of the situation.

The sharper and more detailed our imagination of what should be becomes, the easier it is for us to know the difference with the current situation. It’s a difference that becomes a guideline for us, one that allows us to imagine the direction and map of the change one is looking for. It doesn’t necessarily mean that one can imagine all the steps one must take. It’s much more that our imagination of what should be helps us know what the next step is once we’ve done a step. Interestingly, while walking, the map and direction become clearer too.

In the process, the ability to visualize the action itself serves us differently. It creates the circumstances allowing us to execute the action with confidence while remaining open to its outcome. It is as if we’d know that the outcome in general will be safe and the possibility of failing less relevant

We may not always be able to visualize all three of them. That’s fine. It becomes an indicator of our anxiety to act. Some of that anxiety will always remain present. But whenever it becomes overwhelming, we can be assured that we’ve more work to do to see what it is that can be actionable for us. By asking ourselves what it is we can’t visualize well enough and how we can make it more visible to us we’ll enter something actionable.

It’s usually an invitation to take a smaller step and to observe how it brings us closer to what should be.

PS. This reflection was triggered by the book “The PATH to Strategic Impact” by Dr. Michael Gerharz. Note that the A of PATH means “actionable.”