What is a vision?
A vision provides a picture of a desired future, it goes beyond being a statement, rather; it is an elaborate story that provides a sense of direction and a strong personal connection to the future.
Visions are intended to reveal aspirations, inspire, and create commitment so that individuals take action toward achieving a more desirable future.
Although visions are more common in the corporate world, having your personal vision will inspire and motivate you to reach the life you dream about. To be able to commit to fulfilling the action required to achieve your goals, you need to believe in a desired state (brighter future).
If not, you are more likely to give up once you face hurdles. This is why millions of people have vision boards, to visualize their desired state which encourages them not to give up on dreams.
The purpose of a vision statement
- It creates a sensible and appealing picture of the future
- Guides how you make decisions using the vision as a life compass.
- You can quickly identify the areas of your life that need to change and formulate clear and realistic goals
- If you have a good vision people will believe in what you want to achieve and support your journey
Creating a compelling vision statement
“If a vision can’t be explained in five minutes it has failed the test of being communicable”
– John Kotter
Your vision statement or as I prefer narrative should be future-oriented, exciting, bold, impactful, and inspiring while being realistic and achievable. The future must be more captivating than the present. Your vision must tick the following:
- It has to be meaningful, ethical, and inspiring.
- Made based on the foundation of passion, experience, knowledge, and courage.
- Must excite you enough to be enthusiastic and devoted action.
- It has to be feasible, focused, flexible and communicable – everyone should be able to see it too!
- Ideally, inspire others to want the same achievements in their life
Exercise for creating a vision
How will you create the ultimate vision? You will have to consider your personal aspirations and ideals based on interest and passion for something. You will also need the information to imagine what the future might look like and lastly use insight from your knowledge and experience.
Step 1: Getting Informed
- Reflect on your personal beliefs, aspirations, and hopes.
- Identify your personal heroes and what it was about them that you admire.
- What future challenges do you anticipate? This could be at a personal level or about your business. Think about how successful handling of these challenges would look like.
- What kind of impact would you like to have in the lives of those around you, the communities served, or the industry you operate in.
- Consider the key trends and developments in the external environment that might shape your aspirations. These are usually economic, social, political, and technological factors.
Key Questions to answer when creating your vision
- What is happening in my external environment that may impact my life/ my business?
- What are other individuals/ businesses with similar aspirations doing to prepare themselves for the future?
- What are the core values and beliefs for how business should be conducted that will not be compromised?
- What is the time frame for fulfilling my vision? Setting a time frame will help you gather relevant information and determine feasibility.
Step 2: Place yourself in the future and capture it
Imagine yourself 3 years into the future, you have won an award as one of the most successful people in the world doing what you do best. You are being interviewed on the news. From this futuristic journey
Key Questions to answer when creating your vision
- What is your reputation? What are you known for best?
- What do your competitors/ colleagues/ friends respect and envy most about you?
- If you run a business, how and where are employees performing work and serving customers?
- What is your family/ friends/ customer’s experience?
- What major contributions have been made to the communities you operate in/live?
- What are employees saying to their closest friends and family about you or the business?
- What new ideas, businesses or ventures are you looking into?
Step 3: Creating the vision statement narrative
The vision should be written in narrative form and describe the situations, the actors, the actions being taken, and the consequences of those actions.
For example you could write your vision as , ‘Planting my State’s flag at the top of Mount Everest and taking pictures with my fellow climbers’.
If you own a business as an Airbnb partner for instance, you would say “our guests are our extended family, they make the house a home” or something less cheesy while highlighting those aspects.
If you work with a team the vision should include behavioral examples of the key messages or themes rather than by stating them explicitly.
For example, instead of writing ‘’the future will be characterized by teamwork and collaboration’’, the vision will describe these principles in action. “The team comes together frequently and informally to exchange and explore ideas for how to address emerging business issues. As soon as individual assignments are completed, everyone checks where they might lend a hand or support to another.”
Your vision has to be engaging with real possibilities for the future, rather than being intellectual and impersonal.
Key Questions to answer when creating your vision
- What behavior will I display?
- How am I/ my team interacting with people?
- How are services being provided?
- What is the mood of the workplace?
- What are those around me/ employees, and customers experiencing and feeling?
Step 4: Share your vision
Share your vision for refinement with people that will give you constructive criticism.
Key Questions to ask your audience when refining your vision
- What specific images or feelings came to mind as you heard or read it?
- What key messages does it convey to you?
- What needs further clarification, explanation, or elaboration?
- What, if anything, is missing from it that you believe is important to include?
This is a method you can undertake to create your vision but it doesn’t end there, your next step is determining what you need to do to turn vision into action and make it a reality!