Start Thriving: How to Create a Vision That Sticks

Do you ever feel a little lost when you think about the future? Or perhaps life feels a little bit like going through the motions, and you don’t have a clear direction. Sometimes your routine can get a little mundane: wake up, work, care for the family, run errands, rinse and repeat.

Maybe you’ve heard about the importance of a “personal vision” but weren’t sure what it really means or how to get started. Maybe it even sounds a little fluffy to you especially if you’ve already tried crafting one for the life of your dreams. I’m sure some of us have even made vision boards and looked at it every day at the start of a new year. Then about half way through the year, we forgot about it. By the time the year ended, we didn’t even remember what was on the board. Any of this sound familiar?

I’ve gotten stuck here many times. I’ve made vision boards, wrote grand dreams and desires in journals, and even told friends about all of the amazing things I was going to do. All of that to lose steam and have gotten no closer to what I said. It’s normal and possible to reignite your dreams for all that you want to achieve and live a life filled with more of what you love. I know this because I’m living it right now, and I firmly believe anyone can do it. 

I’ll share how to shape a personal vision for your life, simple steps to make it real, and how to keep your vision alive. Sound good?

Let’s dive in.

What is Vision, Really?

Let’s start by talking about what this really is. Vision is a big picture destination – the North Star orienting your life’s journey. It’s the thing that guides the decisions you make to help you reach the life you’re currently daydreaming about. 

Having clarity about the end destination allows you to be more decisive about what you do. Each decision will take you further or closer to this destination. If this seems really overwhelming, keep it simple for now. Not everything has to be figured out all at once (even though it might feel like it). Start with where you want to go in one area of your life, and the details will come later. You don’t need to decide what your life might look like and simultaneously figure out how to get there. Let’s worry about the how a little later.

The most important thing to do now is to start. 

Your vision shouldn’t drastically change course every time you think about it. This is not about having a vision to go to your favorite restaurant when you’re hungry. No, this is about the gap between now and years into the future. This is rooted in your values and beliefs. Action from a place with these core pieces keeps your vision alive. 

It will help you discover clarity and purpose. It does not need to be super specific, but it certainly can be. It answers:

• Where do I want to be in life in 5, 10, 15 years?
• Who do I want to become along this journey towards that destination?
• How will I impact others along the way?

Create a Vision for Your Entire Life

Here’s a common myth: Vision is about one aspect of your life.

Not true! It shapes every area of your life. Your relationships, career, business, personal growth, family, and the list goes on.

It guides the founder and influencer that you want to be as much as it guides the parent you want to be. The partner, friend, and community member too.

Vision helps you to continue to grow and live the life of your dreams. What got you to where you are might not take you to where you want to go, but you can become who you need to be in order to get where you are going. You must know where you are going so you can determine who you must become along the way.

You can have vision for specific categories of your life. A tool to help get your mind warmed up is practicing visualization (or daydreaming, as some call it) as you read through the following categories. Envision that you are living your ideal life right now in each of these areas:

• Finances / Assets
• Career / Business
• Relationships
• Health
• Personal
• Hobbies / Interests
• Education
• Spirituality

Practicing this technique often can help remind you and recenter you on what you want to accomplish.

Don’t Check Boxes That Aren’t Yours

As you begin to think about your vision – your North Star – in these areas, I encourage you to dig deep. Move beyond what you think someone else wants for you or what you think you should write down. Be honest because you’re the one that will need to live it out. 

I know so many people who have followed a prescribed path within life. That path looked like go to grade school, then go to college, get a grown up job after that, find a partner, get married, buy a house, have kids, and live happily ever after. That’s really wonderful, and there is nothing wrong with that. This might not be everyone’s checklist! Someone might have a different checklist for their dreams and goals. Having a clear vision will help you uncover which checklist is yours.

Why am I talking about checklists? Because part of why some of us feel bored and unfulfilled in life is because we are checking the boxes on someone else’s list.

Knowing your destination will help allow you to see and create the checklist that is best fit for your life. It will propel both your personal and professional life, but you have to be intentional about defining this for yourself. 

I love the metaphor of using a GPS. When you plug in your destination to the GPS, it shows you all of the possible routes to get to where you want to go. However, it can’t show you those possibilities unless you give it a destination. 

This is true in life too. You cannot go anywhere if you don’t have a destination in mind.

Get clear on where you are going first, and figure out the details of how you will get there, later. 

Questions to Start Crafting Your Vision

Don’t wait for the perfect moment to create the life you want. Hot take: there is no perfect moment. If you’ve ever been injured, had a bad breakup, or lost a job, you know that there is never a good time for many things.

So it seems like now is a great time to start this exercise! If you could live your dream tomorrow, why would you defer choosing what dream you could live? Decide now.   

If you feel like you’ve gone too far down one path and living a life beyond redemption, you’re too this or that, let me stop you right there. The only thing you need to do is to try. If you have made it this far in this post, you are hungry for something. There is something here for you – I dare you to give it a try.

Grab a journal and ask yourself the following questions. If it’s overwhelming to look at all of the categories, just pick one. It’s okay if you can’t be really specific right now. Starting this will bring you closer to defining your destination. 

Home

• What does your home look like?
• Where are you living?
• Do you own or rent?

Financial

• How much do you make annually?
• What kind of assets/investments do you have?
• How much are you saving?

Career

• What are you doing?
• How much do you work?
• Who are you working with?

Recreation

• What do you do in your free time?
• What hobbies do you have?
• Where are you going on vacation? How often?

Health

• What are you doing to stay healthy?
• What are you eating? 
• What do you do to stay active?

Relationships

• What is your relationship with your family like?
• How often do you see friends?
• What type of romantic relationship are you in?

Personal Development

• How are you improving yourself as a person?
• How are you nourishing your mind, body, and soul?
• What kind of goals are you working towards?

Community

• What kind of communities are you part of?
• What is your role in your community?
• How are you helping others?

Give yourself permission to dream so big that it scares you. This is your life. Live it like you mean it! 

Life Detours and Staying Determined

Expect twists, turns, and traffic on the journey ahead. It may take more time than you hope to achieve your vision. Things may turn out a little differently than you want or expect, but I encourage you to remain open to that. Sometimes, things turn out for our better, but we can’t experience that if we don’t allow it. Remember the GPS example? Sometimes when you are actively en route, you get an update that a better route is available. You can’t see that if you never start moving towards the destination.

Self-doubt and external circumstances will try to knock you off course. Stand firm when this happens. (We’ll talk about your ‘why’ in another post to help you here).

Your route may change, but your destination remains the same. 

Live Your Best Life

After reading this, decide what you will do each day and each week to get closer to the vision you’ve outlined. If it’s helpful, summarize everything you wrote above into a personal vision statement. Put that vision statement in a visible place to be reminded each day of what you want out of life.

Remember that there are many components that make up your personal life vision. It can extend far beyond a single area, and if you want, you really can change the world, and more specifically, your world. 

Don’t forget that each decision you make will bring you closer, or further, away from your destination. Set goals to keep track of your progress and make adjustments as necessary along the way. 

What you dream about can become a reality. Small actions create momentum. Build this momentum each day and your vision will unfold.

The journey begins now – enjoy the ride!