What is a Vision? Have you put much thought into why businesses have visions? Many years ago (I don’t even remember when or how), I discovered the beauty of creating a Personal Vision for myself. I think I must have stolen the best of all I’ve heard or learned about visions because it is working for me.
Since my discovery, I now always have a roadmap in my life for where I am headed. When someone has asked me, “How are you?” rather than the perfunctory and uninteresting habit of voicing, “I’m fine,” I have had the ability to answer from the many different challenges that I am facing in my life as I move towards my vision.
Your Vision creates a future that pulls you forward from the present.
Hence, this is one reason why businesses have created 3-5 year visions, so that their stockholders, employees and lenders know the business has something at stake and is worth investing in.
A Personal Vision can be created for a shorter time period of 1-3 years. Questions I will ask you include: What do you see possible for yourself in 1-3 years? Who would you like people to “speak you to be” in 1-3 years? In other words, who are they saying you are? Are you willing to create your own future, or are you only going to allow yourself to drift into whatever takes you wherever it takes you? I call that “surviving.” I’m sure you have seen many people surviving in their lives. They wake up to the day with no purpose, no future, nothing to have them jump out of bed and hit the floor running; only a life of “waiting to see” what will happen. Yawn! BORing and fruitless.
Do you think Babe Ruth had a Personal Vision? From the http://www.baseball-almanac.com/:
“In 1927, Babe Ruth set the first truly long-term single season home run standard. However, his first Major League home run record was established during the 1919 season when he connected a then unbelievable twenty-nine (29) times with the Boston Red Sox. The 1919 plateau was considered at the time an "unreachable mark" until the following year when the Bambino smashed his own record by going deep fifty-four (54) times—then beat that record just one year later when he went deep fifty-nine (59) times. A few seasons passed and the 1920 record seemed safe until 1927, when the Sultan of Swat blasted sixty (60) long balls (details below) in just one-hundred fifty-five (155) games.”
It’s also worthy to note that Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times; however, that is subject matter for another Laser Coaching Tip!
Creating a Personal Vision takes thought. To “think” as in consciously using your thought processes. Digging into your values, your beliefs, what gives you pleasure, what gives you pause in your life; real unadulterated and rewarding thought.
Exercise:
Begin with one word descriptions of what people will say about you in 1-3 years. For instance, one of mine is “contribution.” Another is “joyful.” Another is “integrity.”
Fill up one full page of one word descriptions by writing down anything that inspires you. Next, pick and choose the words that “call” to you the most and circle them. Finally, put them together in a short sentence. Now I say short because you want to create a vision that you will remember, one that if someone were to say, “Hi, how are you? What are you up to these days?” you will be able to answer immediately.
You will be able to answer from your Personal Vision, from what you have created in your future that is pulling you forward from right now, and right now, and right now, and finally, right now.
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