Formulating a vision or ambition is one of the essential tasks of any entrepreneur. It is a must, whatever the cultures, contexts, and groups concerned.
Working on the vision of what you want your life to be is one of the most beneficial tasks for entrepreneurs. Also
It allows you to move from a logic of inaction, self-sabotage, loss of energy to effective and self-motivated action. It is simple to develop your vision. So simple that you often wonder why you didn’t think about it before. Because by determining your identity, your roles, and your values, you have begun to express your vision of life.
Your vision
The aspiration you are striving for, is something that must be revealed when you really enter adulthood. Your vision does not depend on who you are today, your finances, your career. It exists outside of contingencies.
But defining it is not necessarily very easy. In the beginning, we’re groping; then we refine, we redefine. Our identity, our responsibilities, and our values are there to help us define it more precisely.
But we must make a distinction between the vision, the objective, and the strategy:
- Vision and objective: an objective is purely numerical, whereas a vision is primarily addressed to a human collective. It is above objectives since it is supposed to give them meaning.
- Vision and strategy: a strategy responds to a specific rational issue. The vision does not have this constraint; it must be emotional; it can be symbolic, etc.
The spheres of our life and your vision, your values
To create a powerful and motivating vision of one’s future life, it is necessary to know yourself, the values and talents that define you, based on your own knowledge and intuition.
Recognizing your personal values is one of the most critical decisions of self-awareness. This recognition makes a remarkable difference in the way you choose to live. Living according to your values, brings intense satisfaction.
We are one, and we are many at the same time. We also have several spheres in our lives, spheres that do not have the same importance over time.
These six areas of application are:
- spiritual/personal life
- physical health
- relations
- leisure and recreation
- professional activity
- finances
Now let’s move to what is considered the most crucial part of this article:
11 useful ways to set your vision
Defining one’s vision is not necessarily very easy. In the beginning, you feel your way, then you refine and redefine. Our identity, our responsibilities, and our values are there to help us define it more precisely.
This 11 point list is there to help you:
- understand what a vision is
- how it works
- how easy it is to access it
- And how you can build on it to take action.
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Pay close attention to trends in society, business, and your daily life.
A vision is turned towards the future. However, it also affects the present. It is about what is happening today.
In fact, I would even say that the clearest and most exciting visions are those of the present moment. That’s what happens quite simply when you identify a trend or an event from which you extrapolate…
If you notice that society is moving in a certain direction, and if you consider that the factors underlying that movement are likely to continue, then it’s quite easy for you to go from there. We build extrapolations supported by data.
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Meet different types of visionaries
It’s one thing to have a vision. It is another to be a visionary. A visionary can usually see many things and have access to a variety of visions, not just one. When you spend time with people like this, their gifts and ability to extrapolate enhance your abilities and, therefore, your vision.
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Identify a current that is emerging and, by extrapolation, transform it into a vision.
What is the current trend in your field of work or life in general? Microcomputers have been a major trend for a long time. The same goes for the Internet and all these new developments.
- What about direct sales to private individuals?
- How is the underlying trend here?
- What about education?
Once you have selected an area and identified a trend, ask yourself: if this trend continues over the next 50 years, what will happen to this:
- Industry
- This situation
- Product
- Market
- Population?
For example, the Internet’s heavy trends in the USA say that more than 80 percent of dwellings are connected to the network.
Just like today, more than 84 percent of the USA’s houses are equipped with mobile phones.
What is the vision that emerges most around this phenomenon and the people who experience it?
- The end of ignorance?
- Creativity?
- New ways of learning?
The funny thing about this process is that the vision does not need to be precise. A vision is neither a prediction nor a promise. It is simply what you plan, based on what you observe.
Once the choice is made, you should always make sure your vision is emotionally charged. Emotions change our internal state and our results.
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Make sure you really feel it.
Something very powerful is emotions. The quality of our emotions directly determines the quality of our life. What makes us human are our emotions. And they give us great strength. Take a human being, and take away his emotions; he won’t achieve any results. Emotions can multiply our abilities tenfold.
A mother can lift a car if her child is stuck underneath it, all because she doesn’t feel the same emotions as she usually does (ask a mother you know to lift a car and see if she can normally do it).
But that’s not all: when you’re scared, you run much faster. Emotions change our internal state and our results. They can put us in high energy, in low energy. In positive or negative energy.
If you really want your vision to impact your life, it must be emotionally charged. Otherwise, you’ve only done 10% of the work. Yes, 10% not more, I’m not exaggerating. If it is emotionally charged, it will train you to move forward. It will provide you with a permanent focus.
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Don’t chase a vision.
It’s very trendy today to have a vision, as people increasingly consider this idea to be important. And it is. But the best vision is the one that appears as a discovery while you are quietly leaving your life or busy at work, without having to work hard to find it.
You can’t decide that you are going to find a vision. However, you can spot interesting things around you, and from there, build a vision by extrapolation.
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Drop the big ideas about the ultimate meaning of life, Mission, or purpose.
We can maintain the belief that our life has a fixed, engraved meaning that we are supposed to discover. Or we can tell ourselves that we are on earth to accomplish a specific mission, etc., we agree it has a certain importance.
The problem is that this belief is a reflection of our current vision of the world, of our current personal level of evolution.
But the most important thing today is to be evolving, which means constantly enriching and broadening our vision of the world. And when my vision of the world is richer, can I be sure that, from this new level, I will give the same meaning to my life as I gave it before?
So we also see the trap contained in the notion of Mission: it risks freezing in a current level and preventing one from continuing to evolve. In fact, one may wonder whether this idea of discovering a life mission answers anything other than the psychological need to control our lives and our environment to avoid the unknown.
It is time to change that old way of seen things. The most important thing today is to be evolving, which means constantly enriching and broadening our vision of the world
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Have goals that help you keep a clear vision and an open mind.
Successful people in all fields use Goal-setting techniques. By setting clear and precise goals, you can measure your progress and continuously motivate yourself to move towards your vision of your ideal working life. You will be able to see progress in what might otherwise seem like a long and unnecessary chore. By setting your goals and taking action to achieve them, you will increase your self-confidence.
However, it is fun to get involved in projects that will accelerate the realization of this vision; this is what happens when Microsoft releases its new operating systems, with applications that are all new reasons to have a computer at work and home.
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Be inspired rather than enslaved by your vision.
This is a sensitive point. As far as vision is concerned, wanting to draw energy from it is not a good thing, unlike in other areas, because the energy or power you have over your life may depend on it and its good fulfillment. Rather, it seems best to reduce the stress of vision by enjoying the pleasure you can take in contributing to it and just being inspired by it from time to time. Hence, the importance of emotions!
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Let your vision evolve according to your personal development and your awareness of things.
In the beginning, you can focus on your vision on time per month, or even less. Because, sometimes, we are absorbed by our professional life that we don’t really have time and the inspiration to work on our vision.
You can track your progress by recording everything (journal, papers, computer) and the points you are working on.
When you seriously work on your vision, you don’t need to refer to it too often because everything will be so clear to you. Your vision will guide your actions and projects.
The projects or ideas that come to mind have already been filtered through the clarity of this vision. Sometimes, you won’t have any ideas that are not directly related to the realization of this vision.
As a result, you will be free to be hesitant, to be yourself, to enjoy, to learn, and to develop, without having to constantly check where your vision stands.
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Do not confuse personal identity with vision.
There is YOU, and there is your VISION. When your vision becomes a cause, you start to base your life, self-esteem, success, or identity on its progress and success. And this is not a good thing because the vision has become a need and will generate confusion. so beware!
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Let your vision evolve naturally.
In other words, don’t be obsessed with it, especially if it’s the only one you have. Let it evolve and grow. It needs it. Treat her as a friend, not as your reason for being. Don’t put pressure to create your vision, take time to evolve it.