Your Vision Statement is the basis of your entire journey – where do you want to go? Without the Vision, not only don’t you know where you’re going, but there is no reason to go in the first place!

There are as many opinions on how to do a Vision Statement as there are Vision Statements. Some “experts” claim it should be clear and concise, some claim it should be expansive and idealistic and others fall everywhere in between. I tend to fall in the expansive and idealistic camp, but that doesn’t matter, as long as you make it your’s, not someone else’s idea of what it should be.

A Vision Statement should stimulate the reader (as well as yourself), promote discussion, create possibilities, ask why not and communicate your belief in the Vision.

You can hardly make your Vision Statement too grand. If your company has been a million dollar revenue business for many years, why not make your vision to become a five million dollar business. So what if you don’t get there – this is one of the times when goal achievement is not necessarily the purpose. The purpose is the journey. What if you get to three million dollars, are you going to be disappointed – you just tripled your revenue.

Don’t make your Vision to plain or analytical, think big, go big, explore, create and show your passion. If you’re not excited, how can you expect the reader to be excited, have your desire or passion? Have fun, be wild; the time for cold, hard analysis is not when writing your Vision Statement.

The Vision Statement can be the most difficult part of the planning process, especially for those businesspeople that worry about what others may think – forget them, go for it!

Use powerful words, strong adjectives to describe your dream. Start with the five W’s – Who, What, Where, When, Why (and How). The answer to those questions will form the foundation to formulate your Vision.

Put your Vision on paper, stay with it for awhile, then go back and edit it, you may be surprised to find that you decide to do something more exciting that you originally thought.

There are lots resources for writing and formulating a Vision Statement – many are free – go find them and get started today!

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