Envisioning a personal Vision Statement

What is a Vision Statement?

Your Values Statement looks at your past.

Your Mission Statement addresses your present life.

Your Vision Statement will address what you wish to do/have/be in the future. 

      It is often convenient to group your visionary entities, your specific vision for your future, into short-term (less than one year), mid-term (1 to 5 years), and long-term (up to

10 years) time periods.

     There is also an interesting and compelling category that addresses the dreams and desires to complete “before you die.”    

    Since the basic premise of Optimize Your Life! is that in order for you to optimize your life, you must take charge of it through planning and action, the question is raised:

“What future would you like to create?”

Visioning

    The process you have been using has been one of collecting, categorizing, and defining data about you and your life’s journey to date. The process has been one of convergence; that is, of narrowing and focusing.

    The process of visioning, however, is one of divergence; that is, one of expanding one’s personal database, while looking to the future. Visioning is the powerful force that can help guide your life’s journey into the future.

Visioning in personal strategic planning is:

·        focused on you first, then on your relationship with your world

·        an expedition from your past and present into your future

·        a journey from the known into the unknown, from the tangible to the mystical

·        a trip beyond the limits of numbers, assets, etc., but still rooted in reality

·        an extension of your Mission Statement: your body/mind/soul as well as your competencies, resources, and purposes in life

·        sensitive to your Values Statement: your core, internal, and external values

·        a process that uses tools such as imagery, symbols, and stories

·        a technique that employs “thinking outside the box”

·        metaphorically, the top of the mountain you are now climbing

·        your opportunity to dream the impossible dream

·        the ultimate chance to “let it all hang out”

·        your time to take charge of your destiny and create a better tomorrow

·        your private excursion into your future: share it with others cautiously

·        a bit scary and mysterious, but will energize, inspire, and motivate you into action

·        the prelude to the definition and selection of specific and focused goals 

·        a process that focuses on your passion for life

The process of successful visioning employs a wide range of mental techniques from simple daydreaming to formal brainstorming, free association, and mind mapping. While mental games may be fun, mind-expanding, and creative, the visioning process must eventually be reduced to writing, for writing is concrete. Writing is not subject to the whims and distortions of human memory and machinations.

On Having or Being

    In his 1976 book entitled To Have or Be, psychoanalyst Erich Fromm reflects on his life and previous writings as he questions society’s values and makes some predictions. He focuses on two modes of existence of  modern mankind.

    The “having mode” is dedicated to material possessions and the necessary aggressiveness (including war) to gain those possessions. He notes that the success of an industrial society, based either on capitalism or communism, relies on increased production of material goods and the commitment by the population to purchase more and more.

    The “being mode” is characterized by love, caring, and regard for humanity. He calls for a simple pattern of living wherein one is satisfied with some, but not excessive, possessions. Herein, a “Being” life focuses on giving, sharing, and sacrifice.

    The ultimate visioning exercise is to re-organize the results of your visioning into the categories that address what you want to “have, do and be.” This process moves one from the tangible aspects of life (having and doing) to the mystical (simply being). It may be a worthwhile exercise for you.

A Look at Desires

    Although this book is based on the driving power of values in all our lives (Chapter 3), there is another approach to addressing the factors that motivate you—namely, desires. As you have seen in our visioning process, your dreams and desires must be in concert with your values for successful strategic planning.

    Psychologist Steven Reiss, Ph.D., recently published a book entitled Who Am I? The 16 Desires That Motivate Our Actions and Define Our Personalities (see Bibliography). He reviewed the literature regarding the theories of motivation and collected more than 400 goals that reflect what important motivators in the lives of humans are, and pared them down to sixteen basic desires. In his book, Dr. Reiss discusses the sixteen desires in detail and addressed their specific applications to individuals and their relationships. In his chapter entitled Values-Based Happiness, he noted that even if a well-selected goal is not completed, the act alone can make a life meaningful and satisfying.

      The next Newsletter will address The Visioning Process and the creation of yourVision Statement

“It is preoccupation with possessions, more than

anything else, that prevents us from living

freely and nobly.”

—Bertrand Russell

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Join us as we create the next adapation/edition of

Optmize Your Life!

which will be entitled

Take Charge of Your Life, or someone else will!

Your input and wisdom will be greatly appreciated.