It Starts With A Vision
- samhanes66
- Jan 19
- 3 min read
Vision statements are not just for corporations and groups. While they are great for uniting groups, vision planning is just as powerful for the individual.
So why should you start your health journey by setting a vision? Vision planning helps set your why, your compass on our journey. In my opinion, health is a forever-moving motion. I like to envision health as a vertical spiral map of paths that wind over different evolutions, allowing the adventure to travel upward or find times when it feels like you’re at rock bottom. While it’s easier to go downhill when you’re tired, a compass helps direct you in the right direction; even if it directs you to climb a mountain of a hill you know why you’re doing it.
Now that we’ve discovered the value of setting a vision, let’s chat a bit about planning a vision. While some know exactly what they want out of this life, I often find people need some time to think about their ideal long-term big picture. While that can seem daunting, it’s good to do every now and again to ensure your day-to-day really aligns with where you want to go. Thinking about what makes you happy, truly happy, is a good place to start. How I start my vision planning is by journaling with prompts of inspiring questions; sometimes creating my own by filling a page with questions as if interviewing someone I need to discover what makes them tick. From there I write without worrying filling pages with run-on sentences and more spelling mistakes than correct ones.
With that, let’s get started with this vision planning regarding health. My journal prompts to create my vision where what does optimal health mean to me? What does my life look like for me? What does the woman of my life look like? What does she do day to day? How does she allocate her time?
You can see that my vision plan doesn’t ask what I eat or what kind of workout I do. These are checklist items on how to do something. My prompts trigger why do I want to be healthy. If I can move, how do I want to move? If I want to love myself, what am I attracted to? These help dive into why finding optimal health matters to me so I keep pushing through the challenge on tough days. My vision helps me weigh the benefits compared to the pain of the incline when the path starts to go uphill.
From there, I have a picture of my vision in my head. Now what? I can give you two options even though there are many creative ways to leverage your vision.
First, there is the good old-fashioned collage. To bring your big picture vision to life with many pictures to see the holistic view.
The second, seen a lot by corporations or groups, is to make a vision statement. This sums up their vision into a clear concise statement that is easy to distribute. Similar to a collage or vision board, you’ll see this statement marketed across platforms and common areas.
No matter what method you choose to bring your vision to life, make sure to engage with it. Vision boards are helpful when they can be seen regularly versus stuffed into a bookshelf, so these visions can be consistent reminders. Even if going with a robust statement to remind yourself about your vision, write this statement on a dollar store mug to use daily in your morning routine or custom design a water bottle.
I did a vision board and loved Jillz Guerin’s “How to Make a VISION BOARD That ACTUALLY WORKS (mine allows come through)” because she walks you through tips and tricks for a successful collage as a vision board.
My vision board consists of pictures of a fitness level to dance gracefully, continue learning how to cook with a purpose, grow into new career heights, plus balance my time with family and friends. This vision is holistic to help me know why I want the energy, strength, and right nutrition to keep pushing for improvement. This board hangs in my bedroom to be seen every morning and evening. There is a daily reminder for the goals I set and daily activities I plan. When you’re ready for goal setting, see my post “New Year’s Resolutions Are Not Just for January” to use your vision in setting goals.
