You may have your goals set, and you may not. You may have your values lined out. Do you have your life statement set up? That is what we are going to be talking about this week. Talking life statements or vision statements. Now I actually like to separate the two different statements out.
There is the vision statement and those are closer to your goals and stating what your vision for your life is for the next 2-3 years. Now you may be saying wait I don’t even know what I am going to be doing next week let alone 3 years from now. I get ya that. I am much the same way. Yet, Those visions statements are good for getting the ball rolling. They are to be written and rewritten as your progress down your path. Those vision statements change as you progress. They help you to get your mind rolling in that direction. They help you to keep your sights set on your goals.
What is a life statement?
Now your life statement is a lot longer in scope and also a bit less detailed. It talks more about your life in particular. What is your vision for your life? How do you define your personal vision? Who do you want to be known as? What are you wanting to accomplish? What needs to be done so that you can have vision and direction in your life? That is what a life statement is.
There are lots of different names for a life statement. They can be called Life vision, Life Statement, Personal vision, Or your visions and purpose in your life. No matter what you call it A life statement fleshes out what type of impact you want to make on the world. What do you want people to say about you at your funeral? The Life statement is grander and guides you through the overarching layout of your life.
It is also short it is just a statement. It isn’t your manifesto. It is short just a few sentences. That covers who you are and what you want to do. It is a bit airy-fairy feeling but it does work on setting your mind on a particular path.
Why write a life statement?
A personal vision statement helps you with being intentional in your life. Many of us go through life following the flow of that river we call life. Sometimes we bump into a rock or a tree. Other times we tumble over a waterfall. Sometimes we just float in a little pond for a short while or a long while in a lake.
Dependant on your determination and drive having a life vision is like adding a trolling motor or maybe a Jetboat engine to your life. It helps you get to your places faster and avoid those doldrums of life. You are driven or more driven than the people who are just sitting there wondering when their ship is going to come in.
A life vision statement helps move you in the direction you desire with the values you find the most important.
The Key points
There are some key points to your life statement you want to have ready when you start writing. So you will want to gather some key thoughts and write them down as you work on your personal vision statement.
The main points you want to assemble and think about are your objective, your core values, and the impact you are wanting to achieve.
Your Strengths and Talents
This is what are you good at? You don’t know? That can be done if you apply a little thought. Think of sometimes that you achieved success. Try to come up with about 10. Now Find the 3 or more times that really stand out. Maybe the time you got a promotion. Perhaps you were able to take the kids on an epic camping trip in Colorado. Then again it could be something simple like the times you made a friend smile.
You can also look back into your childhood. What did you love doing as a child? What were you always drawn to? These too can be clues to what your real talents are. These are the activities and passions you had before the world came along and told you they would never work.
Look at the similarities these accomplishments have. You can start to needle out what your talents and callings are for your life statement.
Your Core Values
Now, this has been addressed a couple of times on The Relaxed Male from Finding Your Purpose to Finding Your Core Values. Your core values direct your decision makings but they also tell the world what you stand for. So list out a few of your most important core values.
Your Impact
This is if you could change the world, and you can. What would that change be? Would you have the people around you see the world in a brighter light? Maybe Those that know you would be encouraged to aim for bigger dreams. The possibilities are all up to you. What do you want your impact on the world to be? Write this down.
You don’t need to worry about it sounding too out there. This is what you are wanting to do for the world. If people cast snide remarks take pride in their scorn. You have reached their hidden desires that are packed away. They see you trying to better yourself as a, ‘I wish I could do that’. If they see it and respond then you are making a difference.
Time to assemble your Life Statement
Now that you have written down your Strengths your Core Values and your Impact. It is time to put it all together. A good template for this is found on Astrid Baumgardner. It goes like this.
The Purpose of my life is to
(What are your Talents)___________________________________________Using my________________________________________
(Using your Core Values)so that/in order to__________________________________________.
Astrid Baumgardner
(Your Impact)
And yeah that is pretty much it. You can play with the wording a bit so that it flows right. That way you are able to make it easier to remember. Then write the finished statement in your journal or place it somewhere you can see it every day until you have it memorized.
You can then know when you are veering off of course and when you out of alignment with your life purpose. You can make the needed adjustments and get yourself back into integrity.
