Questions to Ask Yourself Before Making Your Personal Vision Statement

In the corporate structure, you would see this all the time. Businesses have their vision and mission that serve both as a guide and direction for the company. This is a crucial component to avoid going astray and enables them to focus on the goal.

However, most people don’t realize that they can make their own personal vision statement that doesn’t differ much from the company’s mission and vision.

The vision statement outlines what you want to be in the future, your goals, and your overarching purpose. At its essence, it’s a sentence or paragraph that reinforces your values and principles.

It’s a personal goal that will help you become successful in your field. Think of it as a torch that lights up your way in a shadowy path.

With all that said, writing your personal vision statement can still be a challenge for some.

First off, you should know who you are in the first place, and that’s not easy for some people.

Second, you need to narrow down all your values and goals in one or two sentences.

Nevertheless, here are some questions that will help illuminate who you want to be known as and what you want to do.

1. What are the core values that you can’t do without?
2. What are the two or three lessons you learned from someone that you admire the most?
3. If you win the lottery and you’re set for life, what are the things you would want to do?
4. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
5. Imagine yourself five years from now, how do you see yourself? What would you have been doing by then?
6. If you’re on your deathbed, what do you think you will regret most not doing?
7. What is the legacy you want to leave behind?
8. If you have the power to change somebody’s life, who would it be? (If possible, exclude your loved ones)
9. How do people perceive you? Do they see you in a more negative or positive light?
10. What are the things you need to do in your life that make you feel complete?

When setting your goals, list down one or two in each facet of your life. It could be spiritual, career, physical, mental health, relationships, family, colleagues, finances, or recreational.

What Makes a Good Vision Statement?

If you write down the answers to all those questions, you would probably have a long list. The next step is editing that list.

A personal vision statement typically has 50 words or less. But ignore that for a moment and just write freely. You can edit the word count later on.

A good vision statement features the following characteristics:

1. No more than one or two sentences long
2. You can easily recite it by heart
3. A child can understand it
4. It reflects your values
5. It reflects your priorities
6. It’s actionable

The last part is crucial. Your vision statement should be grounded in reality. You can’t just write that you want to be a millionaire in the next five years without a clear plan of how you make that a reality.

That’s not a vision statement. It’s wishful thinking.

Your vision statement must always be reviewed and modified to reflect the changes in you. But then again, it’s rare for most people to change their vision statement even if they revisit it 5 or 10 years down the line.

That’s not surprising at all. Your core values and principles remain the same, even if your goals may change.

Finally, it might be ironic to say that your vision statement is not about you. While you may seek personal success or ways to improve yourself, it should ultimately be for the service of others.