What Do We Mean By Vision?

This is part 2 in a series on vision. Read Part 1 here.

What do we mean by vision?

How often do you think about your vision? Not your literal sense of seeing (although, yes, that too), but your vision for your life.

Or maybe, more narrowly, your vision for one part of your life: your health, mind/body/spirit connection, intimate relationships, friendships, family, your home, your business or career, your service to the world.

The Context For Everything Else

Most people that I meet don’t think about their vision much. They are caught up in their goals, outcomes or intentions. They might be concerned with their habits — creating new ones or breaking those that no longer serve them. They are most certainly anxious about completing everything on their “to-do lists” or what needs to get done. And very often, the people who come to me for help are struggling with a big (or sometimes not-so-big) decision.

The Missing Link in Your Goals and Actions

What is often missing is the broader context in which all of these other things fit. What is the relevance of anything on your “to-do list”? Why do you want to break certain habits or create other habits? Why do you want to achieve a certain goal? Why is this project important to you? What’s really the issue for you in the decision you’re tossing around in your head?

If you think of your goal as a destination, there are many ways you can travel to any destination. How do you know which is the best way, for you? How do you even know that the goal is the right goal for you? That question is answered in part by defining your vision.

A Simple Understanding: What is Vision?

The most simple way to understand vision is that it creates the bigger picture context for how you want to live, what you want to accomplish and, just as important, how you want to accomplish it.

Coming up tomorrow: Why vision is so important.