If you'd rather not achieve your goals, best not write a personal vision
Posted on December 19, 2014 by Carolyn Dean, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.
But if you do want your dreams to become reality, definitely write a vision statement for your life, being brave enough to say what you honestly want.
When I was a politician, one of the first things we did at the beginning of the council term was to carefully craft a ‘vision statement’ for the city – that inspiring sentence that captures the very essence of who we want to become.
Our vision was cleverly moulded by taking key phrases and concepts contributed by each councillor. When the final version was unveiled we had created a future city to be proud of, one with vibrant activities, abundant jobs, and wonderful outdoor spaces. And my personal favourite (possibly because it was mine), a city that was ‘soul-inspiring’.
To be honest, I was surprised that one made the cut. Councils are generally renowned for neither heart nor soul, but there it was in black and white, we were going to be soul-inspiring. I felt like Luke Skywalker and the Force was running strong in my family.
A few weeks later we met again to formally adopt our vision. It was all going swimmingly until one buttoned-up wee chappy piped up and said that ‘from a communications point of view’ we might not want to include the term ‘soul-inspiring’. No other explanation was given. Widespread hurumphing followed, it was put to the vote and the majority agreed, we did not want to be a soul-inspiring city after all. Gulp. The Empire had struck back.
As a result, we did not become particularly soulful or inspirational after that, and therein lies the rub dear enlightened reader! If you don’t have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?
If you truly want something, take the time to define it and then write a vision statement for your own life, being brave enough to say what you honestly want, not just what you think it’s okay to want. Read your statement often, and any time you have a decision to make, check that the outcome will be in alignment with your vision.
Oh, and never, ever let the stuffy, stick-in-the-mud, old boys’ clubs of the world tell you to take the soul-inspiring part out.
