Do You Have A Personal Vision?
Do You Know Where You Are Going?
VISION: definition: the act or power of sight.
When you do anything, it is always better to have an idea or general understanding/direction of where you are going. This is from the small things: directions to drive to the grocery store, to the big things: what you want to accomplish in your life, and everything in between.
The success of a business can usually be determined by the overriding vision of the organization and the translation of this into bite-sized steps and procedures for the people working there. It isn’t enough just to communicate the direction of the company to the employees but to live and breathe it. To OVER communicate the dream.
If every single day you go into work and you see the vision posted proudly and beautifully in the front entry of reception and it reads, “To inspire humanity – both in the air and on the ground,” it would be easy to misinterpret where this company wanted to go. This is the vision statement for jetBlue. This is an airline company that is heavily invested in community partnerships such as reading, environmental programs, and so many others. This is in addition to their core business of flying people where they want to go. But what do they want to accomplish? What is their ultimate goal?
Every single one of us has this exact same issue in our own personal lives. We have some idea of what we want to accomplish in our lives and what that roadmap looks like. For some it is to go to university, get a job, maybe get married and raise a family, retire and spend time traveling and enjoying hobbies or helping out with grandkids.
This is a very common life path that people I work with see themselves on. Then, usually between 35 and 45 years of age people take a breather and figure out that they understand the basic direction, but they feel stuck. Like something is missing.
People usually find that over time they lose their general direction. This is either because they have just gotten lost in the details of the day to day and need to take a step back and re-determine where they want to go, or, they don’t actually want to go where they originally thought they did.
I say “re-determine” as you will do this over and over throughout your lifetime.
When it comes to direction, one of the biggest differences there is between companies and people is that well-run companies re-determine their course/ direction on a regular basis. Most often, people do not. Or they will, but not in all areas of their lives. They will focus only on finances. Or only on a relationship.
Another difference is that companies will say it over and over again to remind everyone and re-focus efforts, constantly.
I believe taking time to evaluate where you are personally and what you have compared to where you want to be is important. As an individual and for your own life you should make a point of doing this at a minimum annually. Just like you file your taxes.
Where are you with your career? Money goals? Family and relationships? Health? Education? What did you accomplish and what didn’t you? Why or why not?
As Yogi Berra says, “You’ve got to be careful if you don’t know where you are going, because you might not get there.”
This is the reminder that I use for myself all of the time. You need to know what you are working so hard to create in your life and understand how that links together with where you ultimately want to be. Technically you want to know who is steering the ship and where it is going. Waking up every morning and “winging it” may not be the best approach.
We make plans. We follow them, or we change them as our vision for ourselves changes.
So, where are you going? Are you building your life the way you want? Are the actions you are taking going to get you there? Have you reviewed that vision to make sure that it is still in line with what you really want to accomplish? Do you repeat this to yourself every day?
If you are struggling with determining what direction you want to go in, start with one step. Determine what your “Top 5 Lifetime Outcomes” are. This is your personal vision. At the end of your life, what do you want to have accomplished? Write those down. Post them on your fridge or on your bathroom mirror. Look at them every day. Get your partner to do it, too. Are they inline? How have they changed over the years?
Love your vision. Take action from it. Remind yourself regularly.
Be in control of where you are going.
Angela Wigand, CPA
CEO & Life Coach
MindLogix Inc., www.mindlogix.ca
