How a Well Crafted Vision Statement Can Make you a Winner

This much ignored activity is at the heart of success in fitness endeavors, or any endeavor for that matter, business included. It has gotten a bad name over the years because it has been asked to do things beyond its range of usefulness by people who are unconscious to its possibilities. It’s not magic but it does have indispensable usefulness when properly used. Your personal fitness program will undoubtedly benefit from sound visioning practices as will your business.

What constitutes sound visioning in this context? Well for starters, visioning is the foundation for goal setting. If you can’t visualize something better, how can you set a realistic goal to achieve? Without goals what chance does a business have? So the process is sound and of value. There should be solid emotional content in the statement. A vision should be more than a picture of what could be. Andy Stanley, a popular minister and motivational speaker, defines a vision as “a picture of what could be compelled by the conviction that it should be.” (emphasis added) That’s a little different than just a picture of what could be. Stanley’s definition is something that will connect with people, the standard definition, not so much.

Something that connects emotionally with the reader is what’s required. This may take a little more thought than most usually put into this exercise. If the statement is flat it will not be remembered.  If not remembered , or at least respected,  it won’t be used. A vision statement should be guiding all decision making that goes on in a company or any planning exercise. It should also be the basis for evaluating day-to-day performance.  Think about it for a minute: It’s what you hope you or your company will be someday. An effective argument can be made that anything that does not advance you or your company toward achieving that vision is probably not a worthwhile activity or outcome.

Goal setting in general and the lengthy exercises involved in establishing a worthwhile vision statement have fallen into disrepute. Like the proverbial “brainstorming” session that generates undifferentiated detail for consideration the necessary thinking required to reach useful levels of thought is difficult and frequently avoided by participants as too painful to accomplish. The results, because of this shortcoming, are often lacklustre and of limited usefulness even when used properly. Hence people rightfully resist being held to these second rate commitments. Make the effort. Pay the price. A well crafted goal or vision statement is often all the motivation required to exert the discipline necessary to succeed over tough times either personally or in business. We all know tough times will come. For what valuable prize are you pushing ahead?