Perspective and Vision
To begin to craft a vision of your future, take a few minutes to reflect on the question; "What now"?
What is your vision for a new normal lifestyle?
To develop a vision for your life, think big picture - leave the details out. Think of it like your sketching the outline for a picture of your future with a charcoal pencil. Then you can fill in the details and use more colors as you think of ways to make your vision come to life. It might be helpful to look at the vision as a decision. For example; if you are a Potter, before you can even cut the clay, you have to know what your going to make. (Read more about this word picture as detailed out by Michael Bradley @ https://www.bible-knowledge.com/potter-and-the-clay/ and read the "Fit to Be Used" bible study located in the second half of this workbook.) The second part of the same decision is to make a plan detailing out how you will achieve your vision. A summary of this plan is called a mission statement.
Preparation work for your vision and mission statements
Christian Cognitive Consistency - the ”Psycho” perspective
1. Who do you swear by? Who is your source for truth? Is this your highest authority in your life or do you override truth with your opinion?
a) Does your current reality reflect all of God's truth? If not, why not?
2. Who are you?
a) When you look back at the past, who were you? What did you like and dislike about yourself? Think about some of the unhealthy choices you made in the past. What common defense mechanisms blocked your view of the truth and skewing your perspective?
b) List and describe your values and goals as of today. Are your goals within the boundaries of a Holy God? Consider whether you live in the present moment. Are you free from worry and anxiety? If not, what’s blocking your trust in God? Are you compartmentalizing faith?
c) When you live in the present, how do you feel? Are you content with who you are? Did you accept Christ’s forgiveness? Do you express gratitude by walking in the Spirit?
d) Describe who you want to be in the future. What makes you confident that you’ll achieve it?
e) Is shame and regret dragging you back to the past, corrupting today’s decisions and warping your future?
3. How do you respond to problems?
a) Do you justify, deny or complain about problems? (See Appendix 1C pages 2-3 to take a self-assessment.)
b) Do you see problems as opportunities to grow and position you for a more successful future?
Christian Cognitive Consistency - the ”Social” perspective
1. Do your values match up with your family or old friends? If not, how will you handle this?
2. Do you value God’s opinion higher than those of other people? How do you prove your answer?
3. Whose support do you need to make your recovery become a reality? Why?
4. Write down concerns about facing certain “triggers”. Include people, anxious thoughts and circumstances not just places and current situations. Then think of strategies that will help you limit or avoid the trigger. As you write, think about how you can limit your exposure to family or friends but still communicate love to them while maintaining your boundaries.
Your Vision, Mission and Goals
Picture who you want to be 15 years from now. What do you see? What are you working towards? A vision statement captures this picture. It gives you a positive mental image that will inspire you to persevere through life growing into the person you want to be. A vision statement is future-based and exposes the values of who you are and acts as a boundary for daily decisions that will shape who you’ll become. It defines the optimal desired future state. It describes the mental picture of what you want to achieve over time; it will identify what you need to learn; and it will provide a pathway to follow so you'll live within the boundaries of your values.
A mission statement is a shorter-term plan of the specifics of what you can do today to achieve your vision of tomorrow. This is a bit more general than a detailed set of goals, and it’s not a specific to do list. The mission explains what you are going to do while the vision explains who you are as you do it. A mission statement changes with time and circumstances while a vision statement doesn’t. You could have 3 mission statements over a 10-year period, under the same vision statement.
Vision and mission statements serve as a useful monitoring system from which you can check your progress to ensure the decisions you make on a daily basis will lead you forward to achieve your vision and steer you away from the trap of short-term gratification. Consider things like whether the criteria your decision must meet is consistent with your vision, the boundaries and other requirements; your selected option is consistent with your values & priorities; your judgement is grounded in Christ’s perspective rather than opinion, whether you need to make the decision to act on the plan now or later, and if it's within God's will.
Craft a long-term VISION STATEMENT
Examples: I want to be a joyful, peaceful, responsible Christian when alone, at work and with family and friends.
I want to build relationships that encourage my values while pursuing a career that will financially support my goals.
Use the space below to write in yours:
Craft MISSION STATEMENT(S) for transitional seasons of your life
An example of using the immediate to 2-month period: I will use all available resources to help me get prepared for surviving on my own; find an appropriate place to live, a job, a church and a bank, all of which located by a bus stop.
An example using 5 to 12 months: Seek friends that share my values, start a savings account, consider supplementing my education or job skills to qualify for a better job.
Use the space below to write in yours:
Goals that will achieve your mission
Using your mission statement as a guide, write out SMART GOALS; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time bound. These will become your action steps to achieve your mission statement. Here's an example using the most immediate time frame: Within the first week of my exit from the recovery center, secure temporary housing through a homeless shelter, locate all local food banks, find the locations of bus stops, apply for a license (or state ID), obtain a copy of my social security card, write a projected budget to determine how much money I need to make, find and schedule support groups, find a church to visit. Review the notes below and then down your goals.
Steps to the goal development process:
a. Brainstorm* ideas for goals without judging the probability or odds. Example; Locate a bank with free checking and/or savings.
*Brainstorming means to think creatively to generate ideas without judging whether you can achieve them. The purpose is to first gather as
many ideas as possible. After forming a list, then evaluate the options; ask some clarifying questions and then select the best option.
b. Write a to do-list or an action plan of steps that will need to be taken to reach your goals.
c. Assign a priority to each one and rewrite them in order of importance so you can plan accordingly.
d. Work your plan and stick to it! Use your faith to be resilient and to limit your anxiety. Focus on your victories!
