Posted by Do you have a vision? A compelling statement that inspires you and provides you with direction in life?
I urge you sit down with pen and paper and to capture your vision for your life. A vision that articulates what you most want to achieve. More than that, I want you to break down your vision into mission statements for the different roles in your life. I think it can be difficult to identify a single sentence that captures everything you want. To remedy this, you can identify a key mission statement for each of the roles in your life.
Another important aspect of developing your vision is creating goals that will bring your vision to fruition and identifying tasks that will help you to accomplish those goals.
Identifying Your Roles
For example, I break down my vision into the following roles, and I have created a mission statement for each of these roles:
- Continuous learner.
- Self-directed leader.
- Author.
- Toastmasters Club and District Officer.
- Project Manager.
As a continuous learner, my mission is to be an avid reader who continues to learn how to be a more effective leader and manager. To actively practice and hone my software development skills. And to actively learn how to be a project manager.
As a self-directed leader, my mission is to be an active person who exercises every day and who eats to live, not lives to eat. To be a caring member of my family and to always treat people with respect. To be a person who sets and achieves goals. And to set and achieve daily, weekly, and monthly objectives so I can achieve my goals and fulfill my responsibilities.
As an author my mission is to write compelling blog articles every week that teach people how to be more effective and organized in their lives. And to write books that teach people to be self-directed leaders and to teach them how to be more effective and organized in their lives.
As a Toastmasters club and district officer my mission is to be a servant who takes on leadership roles to provide support and direction to other people. To support and encourage my fellow club and district members to help them to be better communicators and leaders. And to be an active member of my Toastmasters club and district and to teach my fellow Toastmasters to be self-directed leaders.
As a project manager my mission is to effectively manage multiple projects that deliver the results that my clients desire.
What about you? What roles do you see in your life? Remember, this is your vision so you can identify roles you have in your life now, and roles you want to take on in the future.
For me, I am a currently software developer, but my vision includes becoming a project manager. This is why I include being a project manager as part of my vision. You can do the same with whatever roles you want to take on in your life and your career.
Remember, your vision is about what you want to achieve in life, so you don’t have to settle for where you currently are. You can create a vision that is a picture of where you want to be in the future.
Transforming Vision Into Reality
Once you have your vision and the mission statements for each of the roles in your life, you need to take steps to transform your vision into reality. This is where you create goals that will bring your vision to fruition and where you identify tasks that will help you accomplish those goals.
For example, my vision includes being a project manager. I currently work as a software developer, so I need to take steps to transition to a career in project management. To do this, I set a goal to earn project management certifications. I also took the necessary steps to get there. Since setting this goal I have earned both the CAPM and CSM certifications.
Another vision I have is to be a Toastmasters club and district officer every year. To achieve this, I set the goal to be elected as Division I Director this year. To achieve this goal, one of the tasks I set for this goal was to nominate myself for this position. I followed through on this task, and I was elected as Division I Director for the July 2024 to June 2025 Toastmasters term, which means I completed my goal and furthered my vision of serving as a leader for my Toastmasters district every year.
You can do this for yourself. Think carefully about your vision and brainstorm what you could do to bring your vision to fruition. Write down the goals and tasks you identify through this process. Then perform those tasks to complete your goals and bring your vision to life.
Conclusion
A vision for your life should be a compelling image that inspires you. To truly capture your vision, break it down into mission statements for each of the roles you identify in your life. Remember that you can identify roles that you have in your current life, and roles that you want to transition into. This is your vision, so make it compelling by identifying the roles you most want to embrace in your life.
And you can do more. Once you have your roles and your mission statement for each role, set goals that will lead you to achieving your vision. And identify tasks that will help you to achieve those goals. As you work to accomplish those tasks, you will complete your goals, and this will bring you closer to achieving your vision.
Don’t wait. Start doing this today and regularly review your vision, roles, and your mission statement for each role. And actively set goals and complete tasks that will accomplish those goals and bring your vision to life. Do this, and you will get more results in your life. Who knows, they may even bring your vision to fruition.