Becoming The Person You Were Meant To Be – Part 3: Establish Your Personal Vision

The next step in this journey to greater success and fulfillment is to establish your personal vision. A personal vision is grounded in the present and includes every significant aspect of your life, who you are, and what you desire in your life.

Build A Personal Vision That Plays To Your Strengths

A great place to begin this is to start with a deep understanding of your own natural talents, abilities and preferences. There are several tools to do this, but one I really like is called Strengths Finder 2.0. It will give you a clear idea of your top 5 strengths and the kinds of activities you will undertake with mastery.  Building a vision that plays to your strengths will drive greater enjoyment and fulfillment.  Anytime that you are working against your strengths, you will find it feels like really hard work. Your innate talents do not change with training, experience or education, but are intrinsic characteristics of who you are. Therefore, knowing what your talents are is vital to creating a robust and meaningful personal vision.

Other Elements For Your Personal Vision

• Your Skills and Experience: What expertise, knowledge and wisdom have you gained in your life? What specific skills have you acquired? Which ones do you want to continue to use?
• Your Interests and Passions: What gives you energy and ignites your passions? What needs in the world are you compelled to meet? What activities or causes create “flow” or a state where you lose track of time?
• Your Communication and Interpersonal Style: How do you prefer to interact with people? Are you introverted or extroverted?  Do you prefer to deal with data or feelings? Are you future-oriented in your interactions or more grounded in the here and now? MBTI, DISC, MAPP and other assessments can help you define this if you don’t already know.
• Your Values: What are the values that drive you? Can you name your top five? Some you might consider:  hard work, spirituality/closeness to God, honesty, fairness, adventure, fun, accomplishment, service to others, family, wealth, mastery, unity, questioning, organization, acceptance, faith, exploration, healing, appreciation, respect… etc. Take the time to identify your most important values. It’s worth the effort to make sure your vision honors those values.  (See #2!)
• Your Goals: What you want to accomplish in life, how you see the purpose of your journey and where it is headed.
• Your personal history: What messages have you incorporated from your childhood and early development? What did your family, teachers and other mentors tell you about your role in life and what you might accomplish? How do you wish to keep these messages or free yourself from them?
• Your stage in life: Finally, where you are in your life will determine what you will include in your vision. Be clear about how this stage of your life is unfolding. In other words, look at what decisions are facing you and how your vision can address this.

Writing Your Vision Statement

Start by just writing what feels right at the moment. Then, revisit it and edit frequently until you have a vision statement that inspires you to take action to realize that vision. Most importantly, begin living like it has already happened.

You will want to post your vision statement in a place where you will see it daily. Make time to read through it at least once a week. If it starts to feel stale, or your vision of the future begins to shift, just rewrite it. It’s yours, and it needs to serve to inspire you, so change it until it does that for you. You may even want to include images that help you feel the joy in your vision, inspiring quotes, or record it with music that uplifts and inspires you.

In conclusion, your personal vision can be a valuable guidepost. It can harness the power of your innate strengths and other key elements when aligned with your values and goals, to inspire action and lead to greater fulfillment. 

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