Do you want to live your life on your own terms?
If so, then a personal vision statement is what you need.
Why?
There are many distracting things in this world. There is just so much opportunity since the world has gone online. And itâs easy to wonder if youâre on the right track.
When you lack clarity, you can feel a little lost.
And when that continues, you might even feel stuck and become frustrated.
Thatâs why a personal vision statement can help.
When you write such a declaration, youâre generating clarity for yourself. And the statement itself helps you to make decisions that serve you best.
Itâs a simple concept but it helps you to build the future you desire.
In this article, you will learn how to write a personal vision statement in three simple steps. And Iâve also included many personal vision statement examples to inspire you.
So letâs dive in!
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What is a Personal Vision?
A personal vision is your outlook on how you want to live and who you want to become. A personal vision statement is a written declaration of your vision.
You may think this is similar to writing a personal mission statement. And though there is an overlap between the two, thereâs also a difference.
- A personal mission statement explains what you want to achieve. It focuses on your purpose and helps you to set goals and take action.
- A personal vision statement is all about who you want to become in the process. Where do you see yourself in 10 to 20 years? How do you want to change?
These statements combined can generate massive clarity. You can use it to navigate difficult decisions, like should you take that job opportunity?
Hereâs an example between a mission and vision statement:
A personal vision statement example could be that you want to make yourself and more people smile. A mission could be to hold a 1.000 comedy show and make 1 million people laugh.
Though perhaps you no longer want to give comedy shows at some point. Say youâve achieved that goal and want to do something completely different.
Perhaps you want to start a Mexican restaurant. Your mission could change to serve the best tacos in the country. But you could still keep your vision of putting a smile on everyoneâs faces.
Do you notice how this personal vision statement could also make your Mexican restaurant unique?
Why Do You Need a Personal Vision Statement?
Letâs say you donât clarify your personal vision and simply go through the motions of life. Does that mean you have no vision for what you want your life to look like?
Probably not, right?
Everyone has some values, ideas, and dreams. Yet, if you never generate clarity about what this is to you, itâs difficult to live according to it. Instead, life just drifts you around.
And thatâs a common reason for frustration.
Because on one hand, you feel like youâre missing out on something. You feel that youâre not living your life the way you want to.
At the same time, you donât understand why you feel that way.
A personal vision statement helps you to avoid that trap.
First of all, writing one forces you to think about whatâs most important to you. This is something that only a minority of people do. And secondly, research shows that a vision statement gave students a sense of direction and responsibility.
A personal vision statement helps you to:
- take responsibility;
- stay hungry and focused;
- increase your self-awareness;
- overcome the many distractions in life;
- make better decisions that are good for you in the long run;
- and finally, to build the life you truly desire.
There is a risk in writing a personal vision statement. Because once youâve got one, you now have to face the truth and be honest with yourself.
That might mean you have to make some important changes. And to step outside your comfort bubble.
But isnât it worth a shot?
Isnât it worth the risk to try and build a future around whatâs most meaningful to you? Isnât that much better than feeling frustrated because you know there is more to life?
Life is too short and a personal vision statement helps you to navigate and live it.
Personal Vision Statements Examples
If youâre not convinced yet, whatâs a better way to convince than through the personal vision statement examples of others?
Take the amazing life story of Richard Branson for example. He is truly living by the vision statement that he has set for his life. He is a great example of how a personal vision helps you to live better.
Some of the personal vision statements examples below are actual statements. Others are extracted from quotes that reveal the vision by which these individuals lived their lives. Here are my favorite ones:
To make people happy.
– Walt Disney
To have fun in [my] journey through life and learn from [my] mistakes.
– Richard Branson
To be a teacher. And to be known for inspiring my students to be more than they thought they could be.
– Oprah Winfrey
To use my gifts of intelligence, charisma, and serial optimism to cultivate the self-worth and net worth of women around the world.
– Amanda Steinberg
To serve as a leader, live a balanced life, and apply ethical principles to make a significant difference.
– Denise Morrison
If something is important enough you should try, even if the probable outcome is failure.
– Elon Musk
When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That’s my religion.
– Abraham Lincoln
My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.
– Maya Angelou
I shall not fear anyone on Earth. I shall fear only God. I shall not bear ill will toward anyone. I shall not submit to injustice from anyone. I shall conquer untruth by truth. And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering.
– Mahatma Gandhi
To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
How to Write a Personal Vision Statement in 3 Simple Steps
When you first want to write a personal vision statement for your life, you may not know where to start. You might feel overwhelmed when you stare down at an empty piece of paper.
Donât worry, itâs part of the process.
With the simple three-step approach that I will take you through, youâll soon have your first version.
Step 1: Do the Research
People always overestimate how much they know about themselves. And therefore, they never ask simple questions that can help them to live their best life.
If you want to build the future you desire, you must clarify what that means:
- What is important to you?
- What interests you?
- What is your mission?
- What are your values?
- What makes you happy?
Take your time to dig into each of those questions. Ponder each of these questions for at least a couple of minutes (if not longer). Try to come up with a couple of points for each of your answers.
After all, if itâs going to be a vision for your life, it should take a bit of time, right?
The more time you spend getting to know yourself and reflecting on what truly matters to you, the easier youâll find it to draft your personal vision statement.
Step 2: Write an Ugly Draft
What Iâve learned writing over 200 pieces of content is that your first draft sucks.
You desperately want it to be perfect when you write it, but itâs not going to happen. It needs time to fully grow and develop.
Whatâs more important at first is writing any statement rather than the perfect one. Pour your heart out and write everything that comes to mind.
Of course, the deeper you dug into yourself in the first step, the easier this process becomes.
Write your first ugly draft.
What does a good ugly draft look like?
A piece of paper, filled with sentences that wonât make any sense. When you read it anyway, you wonder if you did any better than a toddler could.
But donât worry. Itâs all part of the process.
Step 3: Polishing the Ugly Draft
There are two brain modes when it comes to writing. The first mode is the creation part, which is when you created your first draft. The second mode is the editing part.
These two donât work at the same time. Youâre either creating or editing.
Thatâs why itâs also a good idea to wait one day between creating and editing your draft.
When you come back the next day, itâs time to polish your draft.
Polishing your draft is about taking a closer look at each of the sentences. Does it serve a purpose? Does it touch the right emotional strings?
Removing sentences that donât strike you as important. Design the sentences that do in a way that brings the point across stronger.
Can you remove any words without changing the meaning of the sentence to you? When you declutter sentences from words that only fill up the page, make the sentences more powerful.
The editing part is for you to play around with a little bit.
But keep the goal in mind: you want to write a personal vision statement that empowers you. One that aligns with your life goals.
Donât worry if other people can extract the meaning or if itâs grammatically correct. Unless thatâs what you care about, of course. Itâs for you, after all.
Are you still struggling to craft your statement? Then there are some templates to help you,
Personal Vision Statement Templates
I hope youâve done your research, written your first draft, and tried to polish it up.
If you didnât do that yet, go back to the exercises and do it.
See what you come up with yourself first before you dive into these templates. Itâs a great creative exercise, and often the stuff you come up with yourself is what empowers you the most.
Anyway, letâs assume youâve done that and still struggle a bit.
Then templates could offer great help.
Though there isnât a one-set template for everyone, you can use these little pieces as inspiration to draft your own:
- To live [your most important value] and [the second most important value].
- To be [what person you want to be in this world].
- To be known for [what you want to be known for].
- To use my [your talents and skills] to [the difference you want to make in this world].
- To serve as [how you would like to serve others] and [the outcome you desire].
- Iâm living my best life when it aligns with [your values].
- My mission is to [your mission statement]. And I make this happen by [your values].
Use these templates as inspiration for parts of your personal vision statement. But make sure to edit these, so it feels authentic to you. Thatâs most important.
Final Note
A personal vision statement takes some time to craft, so take it easy on yourself if you canât come up with the right one.
Having the first version ready is more important than perfection. Having something can already help you better navigate your life. And then you keep updating the statement over time.
Over time, you might notice that your value statement no longer gives you personal power. Maybe it even has become vague to you.
Thatâs because if you live your values, set goals, and take action, you gain self-awareness. And the statement you wrote a while ago may no longer match with the new personal insights you got.
Thatâs when you want to rewrite your statement.
In general, you want to revise it every so often. The more you learn about yourself, the more powerful your statement becomes and the easier it will be to write.
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