Life is tough enough without any other self-imposed obstacles to make it even harder for yourself. You will agree with me that as you grow older and hopefully mature that life places more demands on you to become the best version of yourself. A life vision comes into play which is meant to be a picture of what you want your tomorrow to look like.
The life you are living today is based on the decisions and choices that you made yesterday. While you cannot change the past you can make new decisions and choices today to have a better tomorrow. A clear vision should lead to goal setting with a plan of the steps you need to take to make the vision a reality.
Maybe you never taught how to come up with a vision but it is about asking yourself where you want to be 5, 10 or 15 years from now as a starting point. That vision should then guide you in the process of effective goal setting, a broken down step by step plan to help you see the vision come to pass.
An important principle to remember is that if the vision is not written down it does not exist.
Having said that this is why it is critical to come up with your life vision:
1. To set your direction
What I have learned and discovered is that when you are just drifting through life you get nowhere and that place is devastating. If you do not know where you are going you are sure to get somewhere that will not be pleasant and may be heart breaking.
“Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint; but happy is he who keeps the law.” ~ Proverbs 29:18
I have seen people and their families suffer because there was no guiding vision about where they were going. This can easily be you if you go down the same road. In the area of personal finance having no vision can be devastating because you can easily waste money without knowing it and only realize later on. Perhaps you could have used that money to secure your family’s financial security.
However, even if you have gone down that road all is not lost. Create your vision today.
2. Confidence for the future
A clear road map of where you are going with your life breeds confidence and therefore helps you embrace the future more readily. Without a solid plan you constantly worry about what tomorrow holds and that can lead to stress and depression in the present.
I have gone through such a season and I can testify that it is not a nice place to be. There are some things I only realized later in life that I wish I could have known when I was younger but I chose to start again where I am with what I have.
If you are planning to have a family, a life vision is that much more critical because you are taking other people with you on the journey. They need to be confident about what you are doing and where you are going in life.
3. It guides your values
If your vision for example is to become financially free then your values will include managing your money well, cutting out unnecessary expenses, increasing your income through multiple streams of income, etc.
These values will guide your behaviors and discipline you to avoid doing things that will jeopardize your life vision. Discipline is more important the older you grow. Your vision should never be at the mercy of temporary or seemingly urgent things in the present. Discipline yourself today so that your vision for tomorrow will materialize and bring you closer to what God planned for your life.
