Creating Your Vision
You’ve done the work and clarified who you are and what you want out of life.
The next essential step is to create a vision; a bridge between having a dream for your future and taking action to making that dream come true.
When urban planners create a master plan for a city or neighborhood, they consider everything – transportation, schools shopping, recreation, housing, utilities and more. In fact, master plans are sometimes called comprehensive plans because they must consider every aspect of life for the people in the area.
To be truly comprehensive, everything must be in balance and alignment.
The transportation network has to be in line with the population’s needs, the water supply has to be adequate for the projected housing, and so on. The plan also has to be flexible, allowing for changes that will inevitably have to be made.
Like urban planners, you need to break up your master plan into smaller pieces, staying adaptable, ready to change while keeping your sights set on your ultimate destination.
It’s a lifelong project, so you won’t be able to foresee all of the pieces before you start. That’s okay.
It’s much better to choose a direction and get started, learning as you go and making adjustments rather than moving about aimlessly.
We often select a path that we believe will help us realize our dream and proceed to work our tail off on that path. We cross items off our to-do list and feel a sense of accomplishment by measure of the fact that we are busy. We forget to connect this work to a deeper sense of purpose; an understanding of what the dream really represented in the first place.
The missing component, the vital bridge between dream and action is a higher reason for doing what you do. That higher reason is your vision. That’s true for any current project and for your life overall. Only by being conscious of your master plan will you be able to align your day-to-day efforts with your heart’s greatest truths. And that will lead you to true satisfaction and success.
Objectives, Goals, Plans
To make your vision a reality, break it into objectives, goals and plans.
Start with your master plan.
Set objectives for medium term and goals for the short-term.
Create detailed schedules and lists to manage your day-to-day activities.
This type of planning applies to many types of project or enterprise. Any time you have a dream and want to make it a reality, you start with a vision and then from that, set your objectives, goals and schedules.
Life Time has incorporated this approach into our leadership training, breaking it down this way:
Define the vision, along with strategic objectives and goals.
Develop a detailed plan.
Build your team.
Work for precise and comprehensive alignment.
Execute with diligence and passion.
Stay flexible, but true to your idea.
There are differences between your brainchild for a new business or project and the masterplan for your life.
A new project is easier to break down into specific, measurable objectives and goals, but the process is the same. Here’s an example:
Your objective is to find a career where you can give something of value to the world.
Set the goal to get the training you need.
Make the detailed plan help you get that training.
Build your “team,” the people who share your life, who will support you.
Evaluate on a regular basis to make sure your objectives and goals are moving along.
Work passionately and relentlessly to implement your plans.
Remain flexible and be ready to change plans while staying on track. In other words, you need your autopilot on.
Realizing your vision is a life-long process.
Just like the autopilot, you will find yourself constantly making changes and corrections.
Just remember you are moving towards creating a better life for yourself, one that will give you true satisfaction and purpose.
If you keep that in mind, then setting your objectives, goals and plans becomes an energizing process filled with infinite promise and possibility.
