How To Create Your Vision Statement

A Personal Vision or a Vision Statement is life goals you have that are obtainable, achievable, and measurable. If you do not have a personal vision statement, you can begin writing one for your life. What your vision statement is meant to do is help you stay focused on what you want your life to look like. By telling yourself that you want something, you are more likely to be motivated and committed to achieving that goal.

How do you want to see your career and your life in the future? Where would you like to be? Difficult questions to answer but they can become clearer if you start by having a vision for your future. What skills do you need to learn?  how to develop? The only way you will know what you need to learn to grow your career and life is by having a vision and a plan. Once you have that, then you could decide on the best approach.

Personal visions can be pretty vague, and that is ok, as we need also the ability to steer on the way as we develop further in life. However, to get you started in formulating your vision you could consider some of the following questions: What are you most passionate about? What do you value most? What is most important to you? What brings you joy? What motivates you? What brings you peace? What are you willing to do to create your ideal life? We can't answer all of these questions, but we can come closer.

Benefits of creating a Vision Statement 

It's essential to see yourself in the world. It is essential to have a purpose to work towards and something to believe in. It might not be easy to reach your purpose and you will most likely face difficulties, but that will be ok, you then have to come back to that vision statement to figure out why. When you take time to reflect on the vision you have for yourself, you can better assess your progress. As you continue to develop towards your vision, your personal image will grow stronger, establishing your own identity, and become more self-aware of actions, plans, and goals.

Your personal vision statement is different from a life purpose statement because it helps define your goals, rather than your values. Your vision statement might be one sentence long, something like "I want to make a positive difference in people's lives." See your vision as "your guiding star", and make sure you build it based on your personal motivation and strengths. In this way, you maximize the chances of success and have a steep development curve. So it is essential that you get motivated to reach the destination because it is attractive enough and meaningful to you. Another aspect of why motivation is so important in a vision is that it is the strong motivation that can keep you going despite the obstacles that you will face. And it is the willingness to reflect and make a good plan that can help you predict and be ready to face upcoming difficulties easier. Once you need further inspiration along the way you can always look for support as well as what others have done in a similar situation.

To summarize a vision can help you make decisions based on your morals and beliefs, thus making your decisions easier and faster. In a time of increasing technological advancement, we can accomplish more and more efficiently as we have also described in Change & Learning. Without a personal vision statement, it becomes difficult to determine what you want to accomplish and what you want to learn. So a personal vision statement is important because it will help you better understand who you are as a person and what you want to achieve.

The vision is a beacon to which you have given power, but without a sense of ownership and accountability, it is less than a beacon. The vision reflects the realities of what you want to achieve, the choices you are making, and the steps you are taking towards your vision. Without vision, goals are just words on paper, words that have no value without actions. Be that beacon of light. Use the vision to steer your ship. Don’t just write down a vision, write down, and follow through on a plan.