Create Your Personal Vision Statement

Do You Have a Personal Vision Statement for Your Life and Business?

When you create a personal vision statement you are more clear about your goals, dreams, and intentions for your life and your business. This will make all the difference in the level of success and personal growth you will be able to achieve in both your life and business experience.

What is a Personal Vision Statement?

Vision statements are tools used by businesses and other organizations to convey their mission, values, and goals succinctly to employees, shareholders, and other parties.

The goal of a vision statement is to help the people involved in decision-making to make decisions that align with it and the overall purpose of the group. They have proven to be valuable tools that help a company reach its goals without forgetting its values or purpose.

A personal vision statement is nearly identical to one used for a business but is directed towards a single individual and his or her life. It encompasses one’s values, goals, and purpose in life. Sometimes it also includes a statement of the lifetime impact you wish to have on the world.

The overwhelming majority of research on organizational business statements shows that they are effective in helping keep an organization on track and aligned with its values. Less research has been done on personal vision statements, but so far it looks like they have the same effect on individuals when created and used properly.

Personal vision statements can encompass both personal and professional goals. They also tend to include a list of some deeply held personal values. They tend to be short, only a few sentences long, and can be either kept private or made public.

Some of the most successful and famous people in the world have or had personal vision statements. Sir Richard Branson, Maya Angelou, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Amanda Steinberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Mahatma Gandhi are just a few examples. Each of these people used or use their personal vision statements to guide their lives.

You don’t have to be famous, a hero, or a CEO to create and use your own personal vision statement. Many people do it. Millions of people around the world in every walk of life from students to farmers to artists have a vision statement they use in their daily lives.

It takes some work to create your own personal vision statement, but it’s not hard to do and you don’t need any special help or expertise. All you need is commitment and a willingness to do the work to craft it. After it’s finished, all you need is a determination to use it to guide your life.

The remainder of this special series is going to be devoted to exploring the benefits of personal vision statements and teaching you how to construct yours.

Your Vision Statement… Examples

Personal vision statements are just that – personal. No two are the same and many might not even be recognizable as examples of the same thing. Some will focus more on personal issues and others more on career or spiritual issues.

The one thing they all have in common is a deep focus on creating a life of purpose for the people who hold them. Most people don’t share their personal vision statements with anyone, or only with a few trusted people such as a spouse or advisor. Others make them public.

With that said, here are some examples of personal vision statements that people have been willing to share, both those of famous people and those of ordinary people.

“To be a teacher. And to be known for inspiring my students to be more than they thought they could be.” -Oprah Winfrey

“To have fun in my journey through life and learn from my mistakes.” -Richard Branson

“My purpose in life is to dedicate myself solely to God and the performance of good works in His image. I want to heal the broken, feed the hungry, and bring justice out of injustice. May my every decision reflect these goals.” -Catholic Priest (anonymous)

“To serve as a leader, live a balanced life, and apply ethical principles to make a significant difference.” -Denise Morrison

“My vision is to create a company that will balance my three core principles of people, planet, and profit and leave behind a lasting legacy.” -Startup founder (anonymous)

“I shall not fear anyone on Earth. I shall fear only God. I shall not bear ill will toward anyone. I shall not submit to injustice from anyone. I shall conquer untruth by truth. And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering.” -Mahatma Gandhi

“My vision is to have as much fun as I can in life and make as many people smile as possible.” -Stand-up Comedian (anonymous)

“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” -Maya Angelou

Keep these examples close at hand as you go through the next several steps of creating your own vision statement. Refer to them when you need inspiration. Your personal vision statement might be shorter or longer than these and more or less detailed. It’s up to you. It’s your personal vision statement, after all! I use a planner to record all of my ideas and you may benefit from doing this as well.

Connect Your Vision Statement with Your Goals

The first step as you create your personal vision statement is going to be writing down your goals for your life. What do you want? Do you want to start a multi-million-dollar company? Do you want to become an astronaut? An artist? A stay-at-home parent?

You need to create this list before you go any further. Start by brainstorming. Get a sheet of paper and a pen (not a computer) and write down every single thing you’d like to do in your life. Don’t hold back and don’t censor yourself. Write down everything that comes to mind.

If you have a hard time doing this at once, that’s okay. Take some time with it. Carry the list around with you for a few days and add to it whenever something crosses your mind. Keep going until you feel like it is completed.

Again, don’t worry about what anyone else’s list would look like. Everyone is different and unique. Every person has different goals. Your list of lifetime goals will be different from every person you know, even if you have an identical twin. That’s normal and to be expected.

Next, go down this list and think through every item you wrote down. Is this something that you want in your heart of hearts? Or is it something you think you want? Or that you think you should want? Mark these latter items off at once.

What’s left is a list of things you do want to achieve in your life. Which ones do you most want to accomplish? Some of them are going to exert a stronger pull on you than others. Put a star beside these.

After you’ve done that, go back through the list and consider the compatibility of all of your goals. You’re probably going to find that some of them are contradictory or at least can’t be accomplished together. You’re not going to become a famous actor and an astronaut at the same time, for example, but we can always dream!

This is the hard part. It’s time to choose. You’re going to have to make some painful choices here -which goals do you want most? Which are you willing to sacrifice in order to get to the others? Mark off the ones that don’t make the cut. It will hurt, but you have to do it.

When you’re done, copy the surviving goals down onto a clean sheet of paper. This is the beginning of your vision statement.

Creating Your Personal Vision Statement… Bringing It All Together

You’re almost finished. You’ve reached the final and most difficult step -combining everything into a coherent statement. If you’ve done the first three steps thoughtfully and honestly, you should be able to come up with a moving and motivational personal vision statement for yourself.

Get out a new sheet of paper. Write down all the things you’ve already come up with that need to be included in your vision statement. That is, write down your most important goals, any strengths or skills you want to include, and your personal values. These together form the nexus of your vision statement.

You’ll create drafts of your vision statement by playing around with words. Start a sentence with any of the following phrases and write until you have incorporated everything you want to include. Your vision statement may be anywhere from one sentence to a short paragraph long.

Vision Statement Opening Words

“I am…”

“I want…”

“My purpose/mission/vision is…”

“My life will show…”

“To…”

“I will…”

“I won’t…”

Don’t just try one set of these opening words. Try several. Play around with them. Come up with four or five draft vision statements. Use active, first-person verbs in all of them. That means you should write as “I [verb]” as much as you can.

Take some time with this, at least as much as you spent combined on the first three steps. Make multiple drafts of vision statements that all start with the same opening words. Add things in and take out other things. Use synonyms and antonyms.

Try different lengths, sentence structures, pacing, and tones. Make drafts that sound as different as possible while still expressing the same core set of beliefs.

How will you know when you’re finished? If you’re extraordinarily lucky or a talented wordsmith, you might be able to come up with the perfect vision statement just from these drafts. If not, keep working on drafts until you get tired of it or frustrated.

Set the task aside for a day or two, then come back and read your drafts again. Circle things that you really like. Mark out things you don’t. The bits and pieces that you like are going to form the core of your final draft.

Start making another set of drafts and this time use only the phrases you’ve circled from your first drafts. Then repeat the process until you’ve formed a personal vision statement that suits you. You’ll know when you’re finished.

I’m bestselling USA Today and Wall Street Journal author Connie Ragen Green. My goal is to help at least a thousand people to reach six-figures and beyond with an online business. Come along with me, if you will and let us discover how we may further connect to achieve all of your dreams and goals. When you create your vision statement to build your reputation and credibility will most definitely make a difference.