Why people fail at realising their life vision - 5 tips to create a great life vision and make it a reality

"Vision without action is just a dream, action without vision just passes the time, and vision with action can change the world."?Nelson Mandela

If you don’t have a clear life vision, it’s likely that you are just passing time as per Mandela quote above.?Or worse, you are aimless and susceptible to being led by others agenda’s. Deep down?this will cause you to feel unsettled, restless or?anxious right through to chaotic or at crisis point.

If you haven’t created a life vision yet, there are a number of causes for this.?Often we are simply pre-occupied with the here and now, and the everyday demands in life that pull us left, right, up or down.??

Sometimes it is because we know that once we write it, we’ll need to make a promise to ourselves to act, to put in effort, and to make changes that might be hard and get us out of our comfort zones – even if our comfort zones lack fulfilment!?Related to this, is that maybe we have tried before and failed, so we have less faith to try again.

For some of us we get caught up in wanting it to be perfect, or are overwhelmed by comparing to others’ – note to self: we don’t need to be the next Nelson Mandela, and we don’t have to change the world…just change our own worlds if we want to.?Quite often it is simply because we don’t know how to write one and where to start.?

Below are 5 vital tips?on how to write a great life vision and actually bring it to life.

But first let’s clarify on a common misunderstanding that can confuse us when setting out to write our vision.???Too often we see Vision and Mission (or Purpose) mixed up.?Or Vision and Goals mixed up. To simplify the differences here:

• Our purpose or mission in life is our WHY. Our ‘Why’ we get out of bed everyday.?An intrinsic driver to serve, with personal meaning.?(read more about your why here)
• Our Vision is WHAT our world looks like we are successfully bringing to life our WHY.
• Strategies, Goals and Actions are the HOW we get there. The intentional choices we make, and the milestones and actions steps along the way.

?With this in mind, let’s go through the key factors in creating a great life vision.?And you guessed it, yes it starts with why (thanks Simon Sinek!).

?1. Knowing your Why.?

It is possible to create a WHAT and HOW of a life vision, however with the absence of intrinsic drivers (your WHY) the progress is less sustainable and the achievements of the vision are less likely.??Having the why provides clarity and enduring motivation to start, and keep going when faced with challenges or set backs. It builds resilience into your vision.?

?2. From the inside out.

It is your vision.?So don’t mimic someone else’s vision because it sounds good, or you think you ‘should’ be doing what they do.?It must feel right for you, and balance aspiration and inspiration with achievability.?When you visualise what it looks like when you achieve it and are living it, it will feel good from the inside out.?Block out the extrinsic drivers (the ‘shoulds’, ‘coulds’, and the comparisons to others), and go within yourself and listen to your hearts desires.?Make note of how it feels to be there.?Make it personal and write it in your words.?Own it!??

3. Break it down into life buckets.

Our lives have many parts or buckets that drive our fulfilment.?It is actually easier to visualise our ideal life when focusing on specific areas.?Starting at the macro does not get into the detail you need to attach and connect to your life vision.?So, start by visualising the WHAT for the different buckets in your life eg. Partner/Spouse, Family/kids, Career, Finances, Friends, Interests, Health & Wellbeing to name a few.?

Write different visions for the different life buckets.?This is not only easier but more tangible and more actionable.?If at the end of this you feel compelled to write a summary vision, that’s great – but think of it as the cherry on top, and not the cake you have just baked.??A hot tip on writing your visions is to ask yourself for each bucket – ‘What does good look like’ and ‘What does good feel like’.

?4. Action moves it forward.

In business circles there is a quote that says ‘Execution eats strategy for lunch’, advocating that without execution or action, a plan is nothing.?More pointedly for life vision work, ‘The difference between dreamers and creators is action’?(Brendon Burchard).

Once you have created your Vision, the only thing that is going to move you towards it is action.?However we too often fail to start or see through our plan.?While visualisation is important to connect with your visions, staring at a vision board or statement alone isn’t going to get you any closer to your ideal life unless you act.?

Whether you are a perfectionist, a procrastinator or distracted by other demands, the simple message is just start.?Action leads to further clarity, it builds momentum, and it can build belief.?Sometimes action can also see us meet obstacles, which is normal – to best navigate these see point 1 above.

To get started you need to list out intentions and actions for each of the visions.?Again, to keep it simple think about the things you will ‘do more of’, and ‘do less of’.?Then set time bound goals and actions that you can work on over the short term eg the next week / month / 3 months.??Breaking things down into smaller, near term actions will build momentum and belief.?

?5. Keep touching your Vision.

Lastly it’s important to keep your vision and plan alive by regularly touching it.?Have it visible and nearby.?Regularly review your progress, visualise and reconnect with the vision outcomes, reflect on its impact and adjust your actions if need be.?Keep touching it, have patience and trust and belief it will come.?Keep going.?

?With a clear?why?you can create enduring life visions for each of the parts of your life, ready for you to realise with a healthy dose of action, patience and belief.

Reach out to us to find out more about how to create your life vision?at?[email protected]

Cheers, Ben.