Your vision is your unique dream. It is the image of what you want your business to become. It provides the pull factor. The vision gives you the big picture. The more clear your vision the more powerful your focus. Suddenly things will happen that take you closer to your destination. By clearly articulating what your future looks and feels like you begin to do things with a purpose in mind.
Developing your vision is easy because all you have to do is dream! Developing your vision is difficult because you must distil it into one memorable statement! You don’t have to have a particular time frame in mind. It is a state of being that will be achieved at some point in the future. However, if you prefer you can certainly fix a time frame; three years, five years, ten years, whatever.
Start with the dreaming. This is very important – assume there are no obstacles and everything is possible. Jot down in point form anything that describes your ideal picture of your business and your personal life. This is a left brain exercise. Don’t question anything; don’t hamper your thinking by identifying obstacles; let your mind wander and take you to places you had never imagined.
Live with your dream list for some time. Add to it; remove from it; enhance it; review it with people; improve it; make it more explicit. And as the list grows start grading it. Cross out the points that have no importance. Rate the remaining points into very important (VI), important (I) and not so important (NSI). Keep working on it until you are completely satisfied that you have identified the very important descriptions of your vision.
From these start writing your vision statement. This is not an easy task so take your time and anticipate that you will rewrite it a number of times before it accurately reflects your vision in a manner that you find appealing and memorable. We have two suggestions. One, keep the statement as short as possible so that you can remember it; in fact try to keep it to one sentence. And two, write the statement in the present tense so that you can feel and touch the end result.
To make a great dream come true …. you must first have a great dream!