The Book of Five Rings, written by master Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi in the 1600s, has long been used by the Japanese as a reference book for succeeding in business, in addition to its value as a textbook for warfare and personal combat. In one of the passages of his “Book of Water,” he states that if, during the fight, you limit yourself to thinking only of how to parry, hit, catch, strike, or block the enemy’s sword, then you’re never going to win the duel. If you want to win, it’s important to keep the ultimate goal in mind.

This principle is just as applicable to attaining your financial goals as it is to winning fights. If you get lost in the little details, then you may end up getting distracted from your ultimate goal of attaining financial success. While you work out, and work on, the steps you need to take on your way to gaining your financial goals, it’s important to keep those goals in mind.

Vision, however, is not just about seeing where you want to be. You also need to be able to actually see yourself there, where you want to be when your goals are all met. In harnessing the experience you’ve gained from working on your goals, and scaling your work to the impact you want to attain, you need to gain the self-confidence, and appreciation for your own self-worth, that will allow you to put yourself there, at the goal you’ve been striving towards.

As part of determining the impact that you want, you’ve already determined that the goal you’ve set for yourself is achievable. Because it is achievable, it’s important to remember that it can be done. Without that vision of you, there, at the end, goal accomplished, you will never be able to motivate yourself to do the small things that, day in and day out, are what will ultimately help you toward the attainment of your financial goals.