By Safia Said
Friday March 24, 2023
A vision is a long-term view of what you intend to achieve in life. It is
an inspiring image of your future that aligns with your passion and values. A
crystal-clear vision provides direction and purpose, giving you a sense of
motivation and focus. It helps you prioritize your time and resources and
enables you to see the big picture. It is the foundation upon which specific goals
and objectives can be set and achieved.
Goal setting is the process of breaking down your vision into specific,
actionable steps. Goals should be SMART: Specific, measurable, achievable,
relevant, and time bound. By setting goals that are in line with your vision,
you can make exponential progress towards achieving your long-term goals.
For example, let’s assume that you aspire to become a successful
entrepreneur that wants to make a positive impact in your community by creating
jobs and supporting local businesses. To achieve that vision, you need to set
your goal and break it down to smaller activities with specific timelines to
enable you realize your vision. Example of goal setting around this vision
could be:
§ Establish a business
plan within the next 30 days.
§ Secure funding for
the business within the next 6 months.
§ Hire and train a
team of employees within the next 12 months.
§ Launch the business
within the next 18 months.
§ Generate $1 million
in revenue within the first 3 years of operation.
§ Develop partnership
with local businesses and organizations to promote economic growth in the
community.
Defining your vision and setting true goals are essential for personal
and professional growth. Here are some practical tools and strategies that can
help you develop your vision and set your life-long goals:
§ Practice
visualization: Visualization is a powerful tool that can help you clear your vision.
Close your eyes and engage your imagination to visualize what you want to achieve
in your life. Picture yourself living your dream life and experience the
emotions associated with it.
§ Conduct SWOT
Analysis: SWOT analysis is a critical tool that help you identify your strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This analysis will give you insights
about your unique abilities and help you understand areas where you need to
improve.
§ Set SMART Goals: By setting SMART
goals you can break down your vision into actionable steps and track your
progress along the way.
In a nutshell, having a clear vision and SMART goals are critical for
direction and focus, clarity and understanding, accountability and tracking,
and motivation and inspiration.
Contributor,
Safia Said
Freelance researcher
Email: [email protected]m