Vision and Mission statements are your guiding principles. They say what you intend to accomplish and create. They are principles you can measure your progress against.

• The vision statement is a high-level statement that encompasses your philosophy, goals and long-term position. It is your realistic, credible and attractive future. There is no more powerful engine driving you toward excellence and long-range success than an attractive, worthwhile, and achievable vision of the future.

• The mission statement is a more specific articulation of the vision, a statement of how the vision will be implemented day-to-day. It can be done in a narrative form, but a list is more specific.

Vision is the art of seeing that which is invisible, a picture of something that does not yet exist. Organisations and people need vision, they need to understand:

• where they are

• where they are going
• how they are going to get there
• what is expected of them and what they, in turn, can expect from others
• their purpose and reason for existing (Their Cosmology)
• All this is communicated via story

What is YOUR personal vision statement? In a nutshell, your personal vision is what you want to be, do, feel, think, own, associate with, and impact by some date in the future. Why bother? Research conducted with people judged to be ‘successful’ consistently highlights one interesting fact; Successful people invariably have a personal vision statement. Your vision statement is your guide and is vital in helping you judge how far you are towards achieving your goals.

steve@storytelling.co.za