The Value Of Vision

WHAT IS VISION?

Vision refers to a clear and inspiring mental image of the future that you desire to achieve. In this article, it represents your long-term aspirations and dreams you want to reach in various areas of your life.

WHY IS VISION IMPORTANT?

An example may help to explain why vision is important. If we use the example of two individuals who are trying to get ahead in the workplace. One with a vision of what they want, one with no vision.

Having a strong vision can significantly impact your life path and ensures you're working towards a desirable future. Individuals who take time to develop a vision, and actively align their goals and actions with that vision, tend to be more driven, proactive, and satisfied with their outcomes in life. Their consistent efforts and focus towards that goal often leads to increased success and advancement within their careers, relationships and life satisfaction.

Conversely, individuals without a vision may find it challenging to progress at the same rate and are more likely to get lost in their motivations. They are also more likely to be swayed by other's needs of them without a strong compass to guide their own actions. 

The 5 Step Process To Develop A Vision For Yourself

STEP 1 - SEGMENT THE AREAS OF YOUR LIFE YOU WANT TO IMPROVE

Firstly, it's helpful to define the segments of your life you're creating a vision for. This helps us differentiate key areas we can create a unique direction for, instead of feeling overwhelmed with trying to create a vision for life as a whole. The latter is much harder and can feel overwhelming to do all at once. 

For example, some areas you might want to think about are: 

The above is only an example which might be apporpriate for ambitious and goal focussed individuals. However, please figure out which segments of your life you want to create a vision for. Whatever the vision, it's easier to break things down into smaller and more manageable chunks which you can work on individually.

STEP 2 -  VISUALISE YOUR 'HEAVEN AND HELL'

Visualizing your ideal life is a process that involves creating a clear and detailed mental image of the life you desire. It begins by taking time for introspection and self-reflection to identify your ideal life (your heaven) and your nightmare life (your hell). This process helps you gain clarity on what truly matters to you and what you want to prioritize.

By creating a vivid mental picture of your ideal life, you can set meaningful goals and make decisions aligned with your vision. By understanding your hell, you know what behaviours and situations you want to avoid. You'll also be aware of where you could end up without concious action towards your 'heaven'. Combining the two means you're working towards a more fulfilling and purposeful life you'll be happy with.

Below we have 3 tools which can help you create your vision and define your heaven and hell:

Tips for this process:

The purpose of this is to let your imagination run free and not have any inhibitions. Try not to think 'this isn't realistic' or 'I don't deserve this' which might limit what you truly desire and can work towards. This process is for you only. You don't have to share this with anyone if you don't want to.

Be aware these concepts of 'heaven' and 'hell' are very unique to you. Everyone has their own desires and aspirations which don't often match up from one person to the next. Because it feels very obvious and desirable for you, it might not be for anyone else. Don't feel like you're being generic, boring or have judgement on yourself for your choices. This is about finding what is truly desirable and motivating for your life - not anyone else.

This process can be done individually, or you can use the same process to create a 'team vision'. For example with your family or partner.

STEP 3 -  GET INTROSPECTIVE

Often coming up with your 'heaven' and 'hell' off the top of your head can be a daunting task. Some critical questions can help uncover your subconscious mind and help you progress things step by step.

Below we have gathered a selection of critical questions which might be helpful at uncovering your desires. Feel free to ask your own questions or Google some more to get things going.

STEP 4 -  CREATE A VISION BOARD

Now you have spent time asking critical questions, you should have a better idea for your vision. The next step is to gather these loose threads and form a cohesive reference point for your ideas.

A vision board allows you to translate these ideas into a visual representation of what you want. The process involves gathering images, words, and symbols that represent your aspirations, goals, and desires. Arrange these visuals on a board or digital document creating a visual representation of your desired life.

These visuals are just a physical representation of where you want to arrive, however, it’s important to note associating these objects and ‘things’ is to ground the exercise. The main point is to have a meaningful direction which motivates you and gives you a feeling of excitement for the future to progress towards. If that means including statements which resonate, religious parables, a link to a song or words, that’s totally fine too.

Below are a few examples of this:

Your life will go through many phases and what resonated with you at one time won’t always be what motivates you now. So this is just an exercise to get you to think through your life and gain some traction towards a better future. This shouldn’t cause stress or feel like it’s putting pressure on yourself to achieve any of this. This is just a thought process which can be stopped or started at any time. Your answers don’t need to be perfect and this process shouldn’t get to the point where it’s overwhelming. The point is to put a stake in the ground to work towards.

By regularly looking at your vision board, you reinforce your intentions and keep your goals in focus. This process allows you to clarify your aspirations, harness the power of visualisation, and inspire conscious actions towards creating the life you truly want.

STEP 5 -  CREATE A MISSION STATEMENT (OPTIONAL)

Now we have your core values, passions and goals. We can distill this into a concise and meaningful statement that encapsulates your purpose and guides your decision-making towards your desirable future. Also known as a mission statement. For example:

"I want to live a life of freedom, fun and adventure"

"Today I will fulfil my duty to my family and try my hardest"

Once you have your mission statement, you can integrate it into a daily journaling or gratitude practice. Begin each day by revisiting your mission statement and aligning your actions with your purpose each day. This practice helps you stay focused, cultivate a sense of meaning and fulfillment, and make choices that align with the life you aspire to live.

CONCLUSIONS

Developing a Vision is important because it helps individuals focus their efforts toward a meaningful and fulfilling life for themselves. Those with a vision are often focussed towards a desirable outcome, whereas, those without a vision can find themselves drifting without purpose.

In order to develop a Vision for yourself, it helps to identify the key areas of your life you would like to work on. This breaks things down into manageable chunks.

Then take time for self-reflection to identify your ideal outcome (your heaven) and your nightmare outcome (your hell). By creating a vivid mental picture of your ideal life, you can set meaningful goals and make decisions aligned with your vision. By understanding your hell, you know what behaviours and situations you want to avoid. Combining the two means you're working towards a more fulfilling and purposeful life you'll be happy with.

There are several tools at your disposal to help uncover your subconscious mind and figure out your desires. For example, the 'perfect day' exercise, the 'who do you want to be' exercise and asking yourself introspective questions.

Once we have an idea of where we want to go, we can construct a reference point to follow. This reference point can be a vision board or a mission statement. We can circle back to this reference point frequently to keep on track and make sure we're living a life aligned with our true desires.

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