It is clear that having goals help us achieve success at some level. What I think is just as important, if not more important, is knowing why it is really important to us and what we really want.
I want to expand on this a bit further by exploring how we create a vision for ourselves that inspires, motivates and challenges us to reach exciting new heights. It definitely is easier said than done; giving us the time and space to dream big and put action around it.
A vision is about setting a direction of where we want to go and what we want the future to look like because we do our best every day to get there.
It influences our own attitude and beliefs of what is possible that in turn influence our behavior, giving us a performance outcome. If we have a clear understanding of our vision, it’s easier to make decisions each day that takes us one step closer to reaching it. Therefore, our personal visions should be emotive, engaging and forward focused. They have the ability to create momentum of growing anticipation about the future, where change is embraced as a step closer to that very compelling picture of what’s coming next. The excitement about the future outmaneuvers any hesitation about the unknown – change is recognized as a desired necessity and therefore welcomed.
There are few different ways to go about creating your own personal vision that can tap into your creative side, yes, we all have a creative side if we allow ourselves to go there. This should be a fun and exhilarating process for us as well as maybe a little uncomfortable. However, if we’re not in the habit of practicing this skill it can be good to get support from someone. Creating a vision/story board can be a good option; painting a picture of what could the desired outcome looks, sounds and feels like. What could be a meaningful change for you? This gives you something visual to refer back to as an anchor and reminder.
Another could be creating a Big Hairy Audacious Goal or BHAG
This is taking your goals to the next level. It’s really thinking long-term, making it clear, compelling and easy to grasp. Connecting it to your core values and your purpose elevates the goal itself. A BHAG should fall well outside your comfort zone. Nonetheless, you should have reason to believe you can pull it off, even if you require heroic effort and perhaps even a little luck. It’s the sort of goal that makes you take a sharp inhale because it’s equal amounts of scary and exciting. If you achieve it there will be no feeling that could come close to how you would feel in that moment.
Ultimately though, whichever process you chose lead with inspiration and courage. Be obsessed with future possibility of what could be and don’t hold back, there is no ceiling. Start a love affair with change instead of being fearful of it. Our vision should be our dreams, we then make those dreams a reality by breaking it down and setting the right goals and tasks to get there. A topic for another time perhaps….
Please feel free to reach out with any questions or if you would like further 1:1 support.
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