Vision and goals give us directions and they guide our lives, whether you are aware of it or not.
Behind every action there is always a goal, something that we want to achieve with that action that we take or a behavior that we have. Most of the behaviors and actions that we take throughout the day are guided by our unconscious goals. And that’s okay.
However, if we don’t, from time to time, check what is the direction of our lives, where do we really want to go and what is important to us, we quite often find ourselves going in some kind of circles, not really going anywhere, achieving the same results, day in and day out.
It might seem like the days are repetitions of the previous ones, or we repeat our history in a longer perspective.
In my mind, vision is like the big picture of what we want our life to be and goals are like the stepping stones that are taking us toward that vision. So basically, vision gives us the direction and the goals give us little guidances and kind of marks that we can check.
Direction
Are we going towards the desired direction? Are we fulfilling the vision that we have set for ourselves?
Throughout the day, I think it’s good to ask ourselves if what I’m doing or what I’m about to do is going to take me towards my vision or is it maybe taking me to another direction, maybe even opposite direction?
Being aware of where you really want to move towards is really essential if you want to improve your life and really create the life you want.
What Do You Want?
You need to first be aware of what do you really want. It’s also good to really think if your goals, your vision and the direction is really coming from you, from what is important to you. Or are they perhaps some sort of external goals that have been set by your parents, by your spouse, by your boss or whoever? Are you letting the external world to guide you or are you being guided from within?
In my book Your Own Blue Ocean, I give very specific and extensive instructions on how to set well-formed goals and I also talk about the vision and the values that need to go with your goals. So if you really want to get into that, I suggest you read Your Own Blue Ocean.
My latest book, Words of Wisdom, has Chapter Five that is about goals, vision and direction and it gives you more ideas about why it is important to really have a clear vision and set goals. And, like all the chapters in this book, this chapter also has a number of quotes from wise people.
Here, I would like to give a quote from Maxwell Maltz:
So, like I said, being aware of what you really want and having that as an intrinsic thing, not external, gives direction to your life.
And instead of just repeating the same things and going in circles, when you have a clear vision, you know where you want to go, then that guides your daily actions and behaviors.
You Are Never Done With Your Vision and Goal Setting
Now, it’s also good to know that once you have set a vision for yourself, it doesn’t mean that that’s it; you’re not allowed to change it anymore. Of course you are.
I mean, the world around us changes all the time. Why not your vision and why not your goals?
However, I think it’s good that when you set a vision that you think about it really carefully.
Don’t change your vision and goals every day, but from time to time, yes, I think it’s really good to think about what you really want. And when you add that it’s also important to you, to you internally, then that gives the motivation and meaning also for your daily activities.
So setting a vision and the direction for your life and being clear with it, you start to change your life for the better.
Because when all those actions and behaviors, or rather more and more of those daily actions and behaviors, are based on that vision, that will guide you towards a better life for yourself and hopefully also for your loved ones.
