38: Creating a Personal Vision Statement

Andrea Liebross |

www.andrealiebross.com |

Episode 38

Speaker1: [00:00:08] You are listening to the Time to level up podcast, I'm your host business life coach, Andrea Libros. I helped women in business commit to their own growth personally and professionally. Each week I'll bring you strategies to help you think clearly, gain confidence, make your time productive, turn every obstacle into an opportunity, and finally overcome the overwhelmed so that you can make money and manage life. Let's create a plan so you have a profitable business, successful career, and best of all, live with unapologetic ambition. Are you ready to drop the drama and figure out the how in order to reach your goals? You're in the right place. It's time to level up.

[00:00:57] Let's do this.

Speaker1: [00:01:04] Hello, my friends, and welcome back to the podcast, it is episode thirty eight, can you believe it? Thirty eight. Uh, crazy. So I am doing a little batch recording today. And if you listen to episode of Thirty Six, I just recorded that prior to this one and I'm on a roll so I decided to keep going. And it's summer and this is a great way for me to manage my energy versus managing my time by recording two podcasts in a row. And I'm about to leave on a vacation. In a couple of days we're going to go to Big Sky, Montana, which I am looking forward to telling you all about when I get back. So I decided to record these two podcasts right in a row. And last time we were on, we were talking about the importance of having a vision and doing a Deep Dove VIP day like my client Sherry did. And so today I want to share with you another testimonial, another client who did a Deep Dove VIP day. I want you to hear what she had to say about her deep dove VIP day and what it meant for her, because with her, she's coming at it from a totally different place. She's a totally different person. And what we did with her, again, we created a vision and then we created a plan with some tangible steps. But I want you to hear what she had to say in her own words. So here it goes.

Speaker1: [00:02:44] This is Sandy. So Sandy said, I worked with Andrea when I launched my new career and we built a solid foundation and I achieved great success. I felt that I had all the tools to be successful. And so this is just a side note in putting this in here. So Sandy and I worked together for probably nine months or so when she launched her business. And then we took a little break. However, she reached back out and she said as the market changed and I had the desire to elevate and grow my business, I began to notice something was missing. I had a vision, but my wheels began to spin again. I started to question myself and my actions were a bit scattered and lacked the focus and intent they needed. I was ready for a revisit of the vision and a closer look. Andrea is my first call and I went all in on the deep dove. Wow, what an experience. It confirmed that I had a vision and the ability to go to the next level. What I needed was the time to evaluate the vision, evaluate where I had been, think about where I wanted to grow and go and create the path forward. During this process, we were able to create the 2.0 version and vision of my business, and now I have the clarity, goals and direction to move forward. The deep dove experience has given me the confidence in the ability to see what is possible.

Speaker1: [00:04:15] I I'm excited to tackle new goals, challenges and experiences. And most importantly, the deep dove reignited my passion for life and the business that I love. Pretty cool, huh? Yeah. So we kind of created the 2.0 version, the 2.0 vision, and it was just a tweak from the one point zero, but it needed a revisit and then it needed new a new plan and new actions to make it a reality. So today, what I want to talk to you about is this vision as the secret sauce and how you actually create a vision. OK, so here we go. So this vision is what I call the secret sauce to all of what I do. So when someone says, hey, I want to be more productive, I want to be more efficient, I want to grow, I want to start something, I want to stop something. I don't have enough time. I'm overwhelmed. I often go back to what's your vision, what's your vision? And most of the time, like I said, people are like, well, they're not. It's kind of a fuzzy vision. They've got a fuzzy, fuzzy vision. But vision can give us clarity. OK, so here's how we do it. There's four steps. Number one, the first step is to get clear, to get clear. So that means you have to set aside the how you have to set aside the how of all of this. That that'll be our next podcast. You just set aside the how, because when you get stuck in this, how it really is debilitating, OK? And what happens is if you start to think about the how it's going to feel heavy, you might decide.

Speaker1: [00:06:03] Oh, my gosh. To. Make this vision a reality, it's going to take more people and more time and it's going to be tough and I don't have the money to do it and I don't even have the time. And then you can't see past the how and you discount the value of the vision. So I always say we're not going to talk about the house right now, we're going to just believe that the time and money and people, they will come. If you get clear, you will figure out the how the most important thing is not the how. It's the clarity of the vision. It's finishing that Monet, because if you knew that you couldn't fail, would that help you in creating the vision? If you knew that your vision was guaranteed to come to life, would that help? Totally. It would help you create the vision. Then you wouldn't be worrying about the failures. So no one is don't worry about the how. Don't worry about the fail. Just get clear and dream big. Dream big. So here's another thing to think about. What do I mean by dream big? One client got scared last week when I said, hey, I think we need to dream big. She just again thought, I don't know what dreaming big. So I want you to think about Oprah.

Speaker1: [00:07:23] OK, this is my this is what I said to her. I think about Oprah. OK, Oprah's big right. But think about Oprah, Oprah. Everything Oprah is doing right now is aligned with her vision. And when you are thinking big and when you're aligned with your vision, you're not afraid to ask questions. You're not afraid to ask for the favor. Do you think Oprah hesitates when she calls someone and says, hey, will you be on my own network? Can I interview? You know, she is not hesitating because she's dreaming big. Do you think she's hesitating when she decides to spend money on the fast pass versus waiting in line? No, because the FastPass aligns with her vision of getting through Disney World faster. Do you think she's hesitating when she calls in the personal chef to make her meals now because she has a vision of eating a certain way so she can look a certain way? I guess now she's using Weight Watchers. But think about it. She's not stuck in the how she is just thinking about creating the vision. Get it? She has a clear vision and she's making it come alive by thinking big. So think big. Forget about the how to get clear. That's number one. Now, number two is you need to access your future self. So number two is accessing your future self. Go to that future person, that future you three to five to ten years from now, mentally transport yourself there and use your senses.

Speaker1: [00:09:06] What does it look like? What does it sound like? What does it smell like? What does it feel like? Use your senses and describe to yourself what that future self is doing, is feeling, is hearing, is smelling, is tasting. It's going to give meaning to you as you create your vision. And when you can give meaning to something, it's going to change the culture of your work. It's going to change the culture of your business, of your team. It gives meaning, right, and it combats the what I call the worrying ahead of time, because think about your team or think about you. Oh my gosh, what's going to happen if this what's going to happen if this happens? What will how it'll affect us? If this happens, how will it affect us? We don't need to worry about that. It combats the worrying ahead of time if we can access our future self. And we'll get clear on what that looks like and then, no, we will the how will come again, the house will come to number two is access your future self. The number three in creating the vision is record what you see, so this is a lot of the work we do in the Deep Dove, we are recording what you are seeing. We are bringing dumping out what you're seeing. We're not bringing dumping out finished work. It's more of like bringing dumping out bullet points versus a whole narrative.

Speaker1: [00:10:51] It's getting things out of your head and it's getting it on paper. We are not creating a vision statement, but a vision. The vision we're creating is way more robust. It's bigger. It's the whole painting. It's not just a statement. So in a deep dove day, when we take that time, we give ourselves the space. We can get it out on paper and it can be big. It can be Oprah's. Think big. OK, and I always encourage people to write things in the present tense, when we write things in the present tense, it feels more real, it feels more doable. It makes things a reality. Right, I am meeting with one hundred women each month to coach them. I am traveling to all 50 states, I am able to work from anywhere, I am spending time with my kids and my husband, I am living in the new house we're building. OK, write it in the present tense because it really makes it feel doable. It makes it a reality. So number three, record what you see in the present tense. Maybe in bullet point form versus a story, and then number four in creating your vision is to let it kind of simmer. I say you're going to go out into the world. So after a time together on a Deep Dove VIP day, what happens is that I say go out into the world, start putting this into action, feel it, see what's working, what's not working. And then we come back together about 30 days later, no more.

Speaker1: [00:12:43] And we evaluate and we hone and we tweak that vision. Because usually that first pass, we get it right, but we can make it better, so we give ourselves the opportunity to make it better. So let it simmer. Let it marinate, like put it in the refrigerator in a Ziploc bag. Right. Let it come back to it. And then revise, so how I kind of do my vision is just like this, I, I set aside the how. I get some clarity on what the picture looks like and a lot of times that involves me asking myself a lot of questions, it involves me asking my clients a lot of questions before they even enter the room for the Deep Dove VIP day, the real room or the room room and then. Next part is that we we go to that future self, we use our five senses, we see what it looks like, feels like. Tastes like. Sounds like. Smells like. OK, which helps us give meaning to things in it, combat soaring ahead of time. And then we record it, we recognize that it's not finished work the first go round, it's almost there, but not quite finished. And then we let it simmer and marinate and we come back to it and we evaluate and hone it. And this is what I call a high value cycle. OK, so when you're doing any kind of work, picture a clock and you start at 12 o'clock and then the minutes start to chip away and by three o'clock you've got something.

Speaker1: [00:14:28] And then you go out into the world between three and six o'clock on the clock and you put it into action. And then when we come back together at six o'clock, we evaluate it and hone it. We don't just throw it out the window and go back to 12. We evaluate and hone it and we move. We keep moving around the clock and then we get to nine and we evaluate and hone again. Now we get to 12 and we evaluate and hone again. It just keeps your vision keeps getting better and better and better. That's a high value cycle versus what my client said when she said, I think I'm just going to meet the goal and have to create a new one. Now, this isn't about goals. This is about a vision. And this is about you just getting your vision, making it better and better and better. So, coach, with me, imagine you have got your vision down on paper. Imagine you are planning your weeks, your days, your hours. Imagine using that vision as a tool to guide what you are doing on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Imagine you having a team that is aligned with your vision. Imagine that alignment. Creating engagement, everybody is engaged, everybody is all in. Imagine that this vision is the cure to you feeling overwhelmed. Imagine that this vision is the cure to you, feeling like your team is not on the same page.

Speaker1: [00:16:08] Imagine that this vision is the key to future growth. Because we can't be aligned unless there's something to align with. We can't be engaged unless there's something to be engaged with. So imagine that this vision is the key, it's the foundation, it's the framework to all of this, and a vision gives you that goodness. To plan. It stops you just doo doo doo doo doing being productive without moving the needle forward, it eliminates that, it creates productivity. That does move the needle forward because you have done the thinking behind the doing. Too often we just get stuck in the doing without the thinking and having a vision. Gives you that excitement and energy so that you can have a vision that is linked to execution, we link a vision to a strategy to execution. That's the amazing this piece of this amazing piece of this this vision. Then it gets linked to your strategy and execution. It's brilliant. It's brilliant. It is brilliant. So as I always do, I'm inviting you to join me on a Deep Dove VIP day. I'm inviting you to have me as your coach for a day. This type of work is for women who want to move forward with deliberate direction. This is the kind of work that is that those paint brushes flying across the room. It's getting passionate about your ideas. It was like Sandy said, by doing this, it recreated the passion she has in her business.

Speaker1: [00:18:11] This is about you spending the time. It is time well spent building a real concrete vision and plan that you can refer to for the months ahead. So. How would having a vision change things for you? What would you be doing if you had the vision? What would you not be doing? If you had the vision, where would you be? Would you be in a different place than you are now? What would be the obstacles that might get in your way that you could now decide whether or not they were obstacles or opportunities? How would you be using your time? Who would you be spending your time with? So I invite you to reach out and let's chat, I'm here to help you if you want to take your work and yourself to that next level, let's have a vision and you can do this on your own as well. Sometimes I think it's harder, but you can do it. You're capable. But the vision is the secret sauce to living a deliberate and intentional life. The vision is the joining of the work that I do with my clients that joins both the mind set work and the systems and strategy work. It is the glue that holds all of this together. OK. My friends, have a great week. Enjoy your summer with your family and friends and think about what your Monet painting garden looks like. What would you like your vision of the next coming school year to look like?

[00:19:51] All right, have a great week. Talk to you next time.

Speaker1: [00:19:57] Thanks for tuning in to today's show, if you're ready to commit to personal and professional growth, move forward, make money and manage life. Head to Andrea Libros Dotcom that's a and DARPA l i e b r o s s dot com to find out about the ways we can work together until next time, go level on.