(ThyBlackMan.com) A personal vision statement is a self-produced guide for your life that serves as a written creed as you navigate the demands of your physical environment. Why do you need a personal vision statement? As you move through life, it is helpful to reference a statement of what you believe to be your purpose and how you will go about accomplishing it.
Before you write a personal vision statement, you must reflect and contemplate on what values you most cherish. Some questions you might want to answer are:
What are the things you most enjoy doing? What has to happen each day of your life in order for you to be fulfilled? What are your three most important goals for your life? If you never have to work another day in your life, what would you spend your time doing? What are your strengths? What have you left undone in your life that you’d like to complete?
These are just some of the questions you should attempt to answer before you sit down to compose your vision statement. Once you have reflected on the answers to those (and other) questions, consider the following attributes of composing a personal vision statement.
Write:
Write your vision on paper; write your dreams down. When you write your goals, ideas, aspirations and dreams on paper, you are more likely to achieve them, notes Brian Tracy, the eminent life strategist and author. Keep in mind, when you begin writing, other questions will begin to register in your consciousness. Don’t be overwhelmed. Most of all, do not attempt to write your vision statement in one setting. Make it point to write, then take a break. Or, even better, write a paragraph, and then totally change your environment – such as relocating from your living room table to outside in a serene setting.
Write in the First Person:
When you write in the first person, you are drawing out the ‘I’ of your infinite possibilities. This is all about YOU! This is about your dreams, your goals – you are the star of this show! Dream big in the first person; no dream is ever too big to at first write and then to pursue.
Write as if you are writing a letter to your future self; imagine having already accomplished your goals. First-person writing is a ‘drawing out’ as well as a ‘calling forth’; it is charting your aspirations and giving your dream its legs and feet.
Write and Rewrite:
When you write, don’t just stop there; a lot of people write a goal or dream but then quit or walk away. In other words, they don’t ‘edit’ or rewrite. When you were in high school or college, rarely did you turn in the first draft of a paper or research project. In most cases, you had to write a few drafts. Take the same approach with your vision – write a few drafts!
This brings clarity to your dream or goal. Write notes. Revisit them often. “Write the vision. Make it plain”. It’s important because, as you write and rewrite, your vision continues to expand; your dreams get bigger.
Here is a draft of my personal vision statement that you can use as a template for your own:
My personal vision is to reach the apex of my profession as an Executive Coach so that I may fulfill my mission to empower and push others toward their greatness as I open to my own unfolding and progressively move toward perfect health, financial freedom and love and relationship. I will accomplish my vision by nurturing my body, mind and spirit; by constantly improving my business and organizational skill-sets; by remaining true to my core principles and by constructively engaging with others who may assist me in the accomplishment of my dreams.
Write the vision!
Staff Writer; W. Eric Croomes
This talented brother is a holistic lifestyle exercise expert and founder and executive coach of Infinite Strategies LLC, a multi-level coaching firm that develops and executes strategies for fitness training, youth achievement and lifestyle management. Eric is an author, fitness professional, holistic life coach and motivational speaker.
In October 2015, Eric released Life’s A Gym: Seven Fitness Principles to Get the Best of Both, which shows readers how to use exercise to attract a feeling of wellness, success and freedom (Infinite Strategies Coaching LLC, 2015) – http://www.infinitestrategiescoaching.com.