End of Year Challenge: Define Your Vision

One of the perks of being Chief Vision Performance Coach is that you get to witness the moment that your clients make the connection between “vision” and “possibilities. For Jeannine K. Brown, founder of Vision Performance Leadership, that’s where it all begins. Jeannine is a trained leadership coach and experienced speaker with expertise in strategic vision, performance development and leadership. “The first understanding of vision is that it is future and forward-looking,” says Jeannine in one of her most popular Leadercast Now videos. “It is seeing now the possibilities of the future.”

But how do we begin to define our vision? Jeannine says that’s the easy part: start with the one thing you think about most.

Defining Your Vision: Start Here

Step 1: “How do you see your life in the future?” Jeannine prods. “Write it all down, everything, everything that you desire.”

Step 2: “Let’s put some clarity to that, and narrow it down so that it is attainable and something that you can actually communicate.”

Step 3: Define further: what are your core values? This is key, says Jeannine. “Your core values must align with the vision you have for your life. It’s the ‘why you do what you do.’” Jeannine’s vision for herself is people-centric. “No matter what I’m doing, people are at the center of what makes me my best self. That is the vision that aligns with my core values.

Step 4: Write your vision in as few words as you can, but use the clearest, most exact words that truly describe it. “Clearly communicating it to others is an active step,” says Jeannine. “You’re reminding yourself regularly what the vision is so that when you are walking in it, when you’re executing your plan, you’re clear that you’re still going in the right direction.

Step 5: Find support around that vision. “Even people who are like-minded, who are on the same course but may have a different purpose – those can be great supporters as you start the process of executing a vision for your life,” says Jeannine.

Jeannine believes in creating a vision for your life holistically, considering all of it —family, career, health and wellness, etc. “All of these different aspects of your life should rise up to your vision,” she says.

Give the gift of vision to yourself this season. Check out more of Jeannine’s insights or immerse yourself in the Leadercast Now Vision channel where you can hear from dozens of innovative leaders.