Your life vision
A Life Vision is a sentence or two that expresses the deepest desire for your life. It’s the thing that would have you jazzed to get out of bed in the morning. It’s the thing that you might think of when you’re in the midst of a difficult situation: “Is my reaction to this supporting my Life Vision?”
Now, first—the fear. Some people reading this might already be putting pressure on themselves to establish the “just right perfect Life Vision.” There might already be fear that you have to know what your vision is and then stick to it. Oy—commitment!
So I’ll share first that I thought my Vision was a few things, that were really just incarnations of the Vision that I ultimately chose.
My Life Vision is this: To completely and totally love and accept myself, so that I can completely and totally love and accept everyone else, and thus facilitate healing in the world.
How did I arrive here?
Through Values work, self-care work, and taking time to slow down and get connected to me, it was inevitable that I’d ask what all of this Coaching work, self-exploration work, etc., was all about. I was in a workshop where the question was asked: “Why did you come to Earth?” This was a line from a song, but what they really meant was: “What are you here to do? What is your unique contribution to this planet?”
I tried a few stabs at writing my own Life Vision. I’d write things like “To be an amazing Coach/Counselor,” or “To forgive my family and heal myself.” Those Visions were appropriate for those times in my life, but I grew to understand that a Life Vision is so much bigger than anything we could check off of a to-do list.
It came down to three questions: 1.) What is my big mission, the thing that I want for myself more than anything that money could buy? 2.) Why do I want that? The thing I wanted more than anything in the world was to completely and totally love and accept myself. I was sick of self-hate, put-downs, etc. It was exhausting. It wasn’t allowing me to be who I was. And why did I want that? Because part of loving and accepting myself means creating community where that can happen. And if I’m really dreaming BIG, even if it scares me, why not simply include love and acceptance of everyone else in that vision? I want to love THAT BIG.
So let me ask you: Why are you on the planet, today? What is your big mission, the thing you want for yourself more than anything that money could buy? And why do you want that? What will it give you? What does it tap into for you, or what is its significance for the rest of the world or your family or...?
Having established a Life Vision, you’re in this really lovely place where you get to look around and make choices. The question becomes: “Does this support my Life Vision?”
Does your career support your Vision?
Your relationships? (The people themselves need not support the Vision—but do they provide the opportunity? For instance, even if I don’t get along with someone, that’s an opportunity to step into my Vision and practice love and acceptance.)
How you care for yourself?
The choices you make?
Sometimes when I’m in conflict with someone, and I really really really want to pop off a sarcastic remark, my next thought is: “Would that support your Vision?” Well, no—so it’s better not to make that comment. This has been instrumental in heading off more than one argument!
I’m not always successful in living my Vision, and it’s unlikely that you’ll be perfect at it. That’s okay. The Vision is something that is “stepped into.” Imagine yourself being in a stuck place and then deciding to cross the threshold of a door. On the other side of that door is your Vision, and all the choices that support that Vision. You’re choosing to step into it.
I find having a Life Vision to be an incredibly practical, grounding thing to have. There’s no sense of purple light and woo-woo and fairies in it, for me—it’s about how I want to show up on the planet at a time in the world where we desperately need people who have some kind of mission or will for themselves that supports not only the individual but the community, the world.
Using the questions above, share your own Life Vision in the comments, below. What's your life about? What's your Vision for your life? What would you most like to see happen in your lifetime?
(P.S. Literally—share it! If you think that the Life Vision that I’ve described here is your perfect match, go ahead and adopt “Loving and accepting myself, so that I can love and accept everyone else, and thus facilitate healing in the world” as your Vision!).