Start the year with a clear personal vision in mind

Start the year with a clear personal vision in mind. A personal vision is a comprehensive expression of your ideal self, including your dreams about the future, passions, purpose, and core values. It provides meaning in your everyday actions in life and work and helps you get closer to where you want to be and overcome obstacles. 

Original article posted for Forbes 4 Ways To Embrace Change In 2021 By Crafting Your Personal Vision.

The end and beginning of the year is a time for reflection and validation of your personal vision for the months to come. What for some people could be a great time to set resolutions and goals, for other people may be a stressful time where they realize they are not clear on their purpose or how they want to see themselves in ten years. How to deal with these unanswered questions?

There are four ways:

1. Define the need to review the personal vision
2. Prioritize change over procrastination
3. Implement the vision through an action plan
4. Focus on the strengths first

Just like companies develop a purpose, a vision and values to keep them focused and help them overcome difficulties, individuals should strive to start the year with a clear personal vision in mind.

1) Define the need to review the personal vision

Now, who needs a personal vision? Is it only for entrepreneurs? For a leader taking a new position? For someone who is looking for a new job?

Everyone should have a personal vision to help them be more efficient in re-directing their efforts to accomplish what they wish faster.

Many times, people dream about an ideal life, but don’t dare to fight for it. They think about the things they should be doing, or what other people expect from them, from parents and spouses to friend co-workers, and therefore get lost and prioritize daily tasks in a way that doesn’t benefit their purpose. Of course, if people don’t know what that purpose is, it is even easier to get lost. Being unaware of the disconnection between actions and personal vision or assuming it is just normal, people don’t even care to change daily behaviors. They end up procrastinating.

2) Prioritize change

Most of the time, a significant event, like a marriage, a separation, a move, the loss of someone loved or a crisis like the pandemic, forces people to review their priorities. They suddenly feel lost, uninspired, needy, without a sense of meaning or hope. Over time, if this is not tackled, it impacts their productivity and their mental health and others’ health.

Coaches and psychologists are usually professionals to help you review your vision or change your behavior. The good news is that you don’t have to wait for something really bad or moving to happen. These experts can help you find something meaningful to fight for, refine it and become an accountability partner to help you sustain changes or even microchanges.

Research done by Rickard Boyatizs, Melvin Smith and Ellen Van Oosten published in the book Helping People change found that for people to really change behaviors, they need to envision an exciting and energizing future. In the book, they say, “people tend to change behaviors when they want to change. Without an internal desire to change, any noticeable differences (in behavior) are short-lived.” That’s why only 30% of all organizational changes are successful, because in the end, the ones that need to change are individuals, and they all need to be inspired to do it.

3) Implement the vision through an action plan

The vision provides context and energy for the change to continue. Let’s say you want to write more, do more physical exercise, spend more time with your family, or have more time for your hobbies.  

Think of the strengths, and then the barriers or weaknesses and gaps in the context of that vision to achieve it. What is missing? What are the behaviors you should reinforce or do more often? You will need to define an action plan to help you track and implement the changes.

You probably will have to choose some things over others, that is, prioritize. You may have to wake up earlier or stop doing things that you were used to doing to do more of the ones you envision. Growing and changing are painful. As long as you keep your purpose in mind and practice how, not just to accept, but how to embrace change and the new behaviors, and be happy about it, growth will come along. And with that, you will be closer to live your dream.

4) Focus on the strengths first

Many coaches, especially leaders at work, focus on improving the weaknesses and defining ways to address them, like a specialist who needs to become a team leader. When this happens, individuals find it more difficult and even more painful to change because these conversations trigger their fly or fight response. They shut down, as they are in the called NEA state (negative emotional attractor).

When, on the other side, the change or proposed behaviors are focused on unleashing the strengths and getting close to the desired future, such as preparing for a desired position, positive emotions are triggered. The PEA is activated (positive emotional attraction), and the person is more relaxed, open to change, and is more creative. The actions to take will be aligned with what the person wants to do, so the change will be easier. And they not only will be looking for achieving a dream, but they will be living it every day in the process. Focus two to five times more often on the positive than the negative.

Individuals in all industries and life stages should review their personal vision, especially before planning these year priorities. Companies on their side should care about helping their employees define their personal vision, and ensure it is aligned to the company vision, to be able to start and sustain change in the long term. Through internal and external coaches, peer coaching and leaders trained to focus on the strengths, the change will not be a struggle, but part of the culture.

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