4 minutes
Picture your ideal future, then decide how you'll get there.
Credit unions that have a vision of where they want to go and can align the entire organization around that vision create momentum towards their goals. Just like it's important to create a vision in an organization, if you want to make positive changes in your life, creating a vision for each area of your life can be a powerful way to get clarity around what you want.
One of the main reasons why most people don't get what they want is that they haven't decided what they want. A vision is a mental picture of a preferred future.
As you prepare to make this a great year, first take a look back on the past year to set yourself up for continued success. Following are some questions to contemplate.
- What were my biggest achievements, both personal and professional, in the past year? This sets you in a positive frame of mind and creates energy around progress and accomplishments from the year.
- What were my biggest learnings in the past year?
Once you have reflected on your accomplishments and learnings, turn your attention to the new year.
Imagine it is December 2017. What would you like your life to be like, both professionally and personally, one year from now? Close your eyes and let your mind wander about your ideal life one year from now. If you find it challenging to visualize your ideal life, take one area at a time. Following is a list of the seven most important areas of life with a few starter questions to get you thinking. This is about what you want, so let your mind visualize what would be ideal for you. Take one area at a time, close your eyes and visualize for a few minutes, then open your eyes and write down your vision.
Financial: What is your ideal annual income and monthly cash flow? How much money do you have in savings? What other financial goals would you like to achieve in the next year?
Job/Career: Where are you working? What are you doing? Did you receive a promotion that you have been working toward? Are there other job achievements you want to accomplish?
Recreation: How do you spend your free time? Are there hobbies you are pursuing? Is there a family trip you want to take? What do you do for fun?
Physical health: Do you exercise and eat healthy food? Are you disease free or pain free? Are you taking a class at a local gym? Exercising outside? Drinking more water? How does your body feel? Are you flexible and full of energy?
Relationships: What are your relationships like with the important people in your life? What kinds of things do you do together? Are your relationships loving and supportive?
Personal: Are there areas you want to develop in? Are you going back to school, taking a cooking class, or learning a new language? Are you traveling to other countries? Running a marathon? Meditating regularly?
Service /Community: Are you volunteering in your community or involved in other work that makes a difference? Who are you helping?
Based on what you visualized, what are three to five goals you would like to focus on for the next year? Is there a specific area of your life you would like to improve?
Once you have determined the most important goals you want to set for the new year, the next step is to create specific actions and timelines. One of the main reasons why many people don't make traction on their goals is that they are too vague. Goals should be specific enough to create clarity so you know exactly how to take action. There is a difference between an intention and an effective goal.
Intention: Improve engagement on my department team.
Goal: I will meet with each of my employees and ask them how they like to be recognized by February 15, 2017.
Once you have taken the time to visualize your ideal life one year from now and created your most important goals, spend time each day visualizing your goals as completed. This will keep you energized about your goals so that you can stay connected to them and create momentum toward achieving them.
Now I'd love to hear from you:
What is the vision you have for one area of your life, one year from now? Share your vision in the comments section below.
Laurie Maddalena, MBA, CPCC, PHR, is a certified executive coach, leadership consultant and founder of Envision Excellence, LLC in the Washington, D.C., area. Her mission is to create exceptional cultures by teaching leaders how to be exceptional. Maddalena facilitates management and executive training programs and team-building sessions and speaks at leadership events. Prior to starting her business, she was an HR executive at a $450 million credit union. Contact her at 240.605.7940 or lmaddalena@envisionexcellence.net.
