This past Saturday, I hosted the second group coaching call for the "What's Next Program: How to Thrive in Uncertain Times"! This time, we talked about creating a vision.
It was so amazing to see everyone participating and showing up to do the work and sharing their most important life dreams.
To recap, last week was all about our mindset: creating awareness and shifting it! This week, we focused on our dreams and aspirations. The idea here is to reconnect us with our WHY, our deeper purpose, or our life vision in these uncertain times. When there is a storm outside, we all need something to anchor us, to give us roots so that we don't get lost in the storm and lose ourselves. By solidifying our life vision, we are adding weight to that anchor.
Even if there was no pandemic and life was as "normal" as it used to be, having a vision is still extremely important. But before I get too far, let's talk a little about what is a "vision" in the first place.
Here are two different definitions, one for an individual and one for an organization.
“A vision is a multifaceted mental image that personally defines and inspires us to take action to bring that image to life…A powerful vision is compelling, exciting, and magnetic, constantly inspiring us to do our best to bring it to fruition.” (Co-Active Coaching)
“A vision statement is the anchor point of any strategic plan. It outlines what an organization would like to ultimately achieve and gives purpose to the existence of the organization.” (https://www.executestrategy.net/)
Have you ever seen a successful company without a vision statement? Pick a company that you have or are planning to invest in, and now think about them not having a vision statement. For me, the thoughts and questions that come to mind are : "Where are they going? What is their purpose? How can I trust them with my money if I don't even know where they are going?"
So why don't we think like that about ourselves? What would happen if we were to sit down and put time and effort, the same way you would if you were on the board of Apple or Google, in developing or clarifying our very own "personal vision statements"? Where am I going? What is my purpose?
Time for a hike!
Ok, so maybe some of you read a previous post of mine and noticed I for some reason really enjoy talking about mountains, even though I am not much of a hiker haha! I just love how magnificent they are and am in awe of their inspirational power... I guess you can say that I like to go on mental hikes! So, here is an image for you to consider.
Imagine you are on an expedition to climb a mountain. You want to reach the top but it’s a cloudy and foggy day. You know the summit is up there, but because of the fog, you can’t see it and don’t know if you are going in the right direction. You are not sure if you are going up, down, left or right. You might even start to get exhausted because you don't really have a sense of how much progress you've made since you can't see the top and so can't gauge where you are. You might even give up thinking that you are just going in circles.
Here's the thing, having a vision is like removing the fog and the clouds from that hike. The more clear, detailed and vivid that vision is, the more clearly you can see the top of that mountain. Suddenly, you can see your destination with clarity and your sense of direction solidifies. You know exactly where you are going and know that every step you take, you take it with confidence knowing that it is leading you to that vision. Even if you fall or stumble, you are able to get up, look up to the summit and adjust course. A powerful vision pulls you! This is why vision is so important.
Let's talk for a minute about goals. There is an interesting distinction to be made between our goals and our vision. Standalone goals—those set without an overarching vision holding them together, are a set of desired outcomes, usually to be accomplished in the short-term. In contrast, a life vision, is the long-term “meta-goal” of your life. A vision is based on your desire to find purpose in life. It is based on your personal core values.
To make things happen you need both. Without vision, goals are standing alone, disconnected, making it a little too easy to let go of them, and to forget them. And so, it might lead to us to say things like: "So what if I don’t do xyz?" In contrast, without actionable goals that stem from our vision, our vision on it’s own will probably stay a dream. But when we have a framework in which we set goals that stem from a specific vision, our dialogue changes to “I am setting goal xyz because it is a stepping stone to my vision abc.”
The beauty of the word "vision"
Up to now, I have been using the word “vision” loosely to refer to “Life Vision”, the big “WHY”, or as I like to call it “THE BIG ONE!”
Vision is actually a stretchy, malleable and flexible word. You can create a meta-vision, i.e. the BIG ONE, and also you can use vision to visualize what success looks like when it comes to the specific goals you are setting right now in the short-term. Here is what I mean, if someone comes in to talk to me with a specific topic that they want to discuss, say for example wanting a promotion, the first step is to understand what makes this topic so deeply meaningful. By further exploring the meaning and significance of the topic, we are slowly building a connection to the bigger picture, life vision, or their big why. As the conversation develops, the concept of vision of success is introduced. Here we want to know what does success look like once X time has passed, in relation to the specific topic or goal discussed in the conversation. By using visualization techniques, we are creating a powerful vision of success for that specific topic or goal. Again, the purpose of doing this is to create a pull.
What makes a vision powerful?
Details! When visualizing the future, the more details you use, the more powerful the vision. Essentially you are trying to create a "future moment" in your memory. Consider the following. What if I asked you to think of one of your best, most vivid, happiest memories for which you have no photos or videos. You might remember what you were wearing, eating, or doing. You might remember what it smelled like, and who you were with. And more importantly, you probably are smiling right now because you remember how it felt! Take a minute to realize that there is no physical evidence of that moment, but you are still 100% convinced it happened, right? What makes you so certain it did occur if there is no way for you to prove it right now?
Well, the answer is that the details you remember make it so vivid that it feels as real and tangible as the present moment. And that is the whole idea behind creating a powerful and vivid vision. We are taking those same elements that make a past memory so believable and using them to create a clear image of our life in the future. The more you practice visualizing this future and the more details you add to it, the more real it feels. And suddenly, it becomes as real as something in the past, and as real as today. But don't stop there, now that you feel confident that this future exists, you have to figure out how to get there!
And that brings me to what we will do next week: We will be looking at how to turn the dream into actionable and attainable steps. The trick is to take this beautiful, amazing dream of yours and break it down into bite-sized goals and actions that you can act on in the present!
(Image credit: https://unsplash.com/@bubo)
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