The most consistently remarkable results in business I’ve observed has been when a management team comes together and creates a five year vision for their company.
They write down in detail what they want their company to look like in five years. They even write their vision in the past tense pretending it has already occurred.
It has fascinated me to see how this rather easy exercise automatically drives the actions of the people involved.
I’ve even witnessed how one of the most successful executives I’ve ever worked with has taken this process and created a way where individuals can create a vision for themselves as individuals. He calls it: creating a vision for “The Business of You.”
Young people starting out in life eat that opportunity up.
I’m convinced there are deep psychological principles of human behavior at work that respond positively to creating a vision of yourself or your company or your organization in the future.
The key to it is reading the vision statement every month and making small tweaks to it as you move in the desired destination. As a management consultant that was what I was most involved in: helping companies create a five year vision statement and following up to make sure they constantly reviewed their vision statement, making adjustments when appropriate. The results were magic. It kept me very busy for almost four decades.
So, if I had just one wish I would want for my children, my grandchildren, and my close friends it would be to make sure they create a vision for themselves. It’s probably the only activity available to a person to control and create one’s own destiny. How could I not want that for those closest to me.
I’ve observed that this process is the most significant and powerful tool a human possesses to bend the future in their direction. There’s enormous satisfaction when you arrive at the end point of your vision. You know exactly what you wanted to accomplish in life and you did it. Not only that, but you know how you did it. And the greatest of all is that there are no regrets. .there will be no “if I had only done this earlier in life.”
There is no greater feeling of freedom than knowing you created your destiny by writing it down as a guiding vision and seeing it come to life before your very eyes.
Now the question is, have I personally created a vision for myself that has been achieved in this manner. Yes, I’m now on my sixth set of vision statements. My last vision statement included becoming a full time writer. I’ve accomplished that. It’s been the most satisfying activity I’ve ever engaged in. I’m going on seventy five. You would think there is nothing left for me to accomplish. Not so.
I will share more about how to do this in future essays.
I Am Calmed By The Soft Haze Along The Coast And In The Valley Below.