How to align your vision, passion, purpose, and values
Are you searching for actionable steps to find fulfillment, meaningful connections and to make a positive impact in your life? Are you looking for different ways to connect your personal values with your true passion and purpose?
You’re in the right place. This is a practical guide on How to align your vision, passion, purpose, and values so that you experience true satisfaction in your life and career.
Walt Disney had a clear picture of his vision, it was burned into his mind, and he was able to clearly communicate that vision to others. Disney World’s grand opening in 1971 happened five years AFTER the great visionary Walt Disney passed away.
During the dedication ceremony, someone asked his wife, “Isn’t it a shame that Walt didn’t live to see this?” Mrs. Disney responded with, “He did see it, that’s why it’s here.”
That’s actually one of my favorite stories when it comes to seeing it, the first pillar of the Red Hot Formula for setting and crushing goals. Truly having your dream come to life in your mind – seeing it before it actually comes to fruition – this is seeing it.
We’re going to dive into why a clear vision matters, and how we uncover and define our unique passions and purpose. We’ll also explore how we catch the vision God wants us to have, and how we know that’s the one.
Through this step-by-step guide on How to align your vision, passion, purpose, and values, you’ll walk away with some valuable insights and an action plan that will propel you to success.
Love podcasts? Me too! Click below to listen to the Podcast on this topic.
Why aligning your vision, passion, purpose, and values is important
To discover and live as your true self, it’s important to align your goals with both your passions and personal values. This will help you tap into the intrinsic motivation for doing the work necessary to crush your goals.
Identifying purpose gives goals a deeper meaning, which can contribute to something larger than ourselves, and, when we are involved in something larger than ourselves, usually it’s harder to quit.
Aligning goals with values ensures authenticity and integrity in our actions, and that can serve as a compass for our decision-making. This holistic alignment fosters coherence, authenticity, and resilience, creating a more satisfying and meaningful life journey filled with joy.
It mitigates misaligned stress and transforms goal-crushing into a purpose-driven experience that resonates with our core identity of who God created us to be.
Interesting in learning more? In Finish Line Goals, Gabe will show you how to think backward so you can spend less time worrying about where to start and more time taking action that works.
How to align your vision, passion, purpose, and values
In a rapidly changing world, your vision, purpose, passion, and personal values act as a roadmap and guiding light for sustainable growth and long-term success in your career, business, and personal life. They influence your specific goals, decisions, and priorities.
Understanding these principles is a transformative process. Spending time determining personal goals, the driving force behind them, and the intentional actions you need to take gives you a sense of direction which ultimately leads to personal and professional success.
This is the step-by-step guide you need to follow.
1. Develop a Vision
One of the first things you need to have in goal setting is a personal vision statement for life that will truly satisfy you. You can make this part of your digital or physical vision board. It guides your long-term and short-term goals. But what is a vision?
Well, a vision is “the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom.”1 All successful businesses have them.
It is a clear, vivid mental image, that depicts what the future could hold if you latch on. It becomes powerfully realistic as you ingrain the pictures of that vision in your mind.
A vision is North Star, a clear roadmap that is meant to be a long-term picture of a larger dream you want to see happen, a place you can’t claim to be true right now.
When you develop a clear vision, it helps you to pursue those passions and achieve long-term goals. A strong vision can connect your passions with your potential and possibilities.
And, guess what? We need a vision to connect with our purpose. Let me give you a visual.
In the frigid Minnesota winters, some drivers, in a frenzy to get to their desired destination, scrape a minuscule hole in the layer of ice plastered on their windshields.
In our hurried society, they’re worried about being late to work or to an event or wherever they may be headed. They’re afraid of missing out. Oh yeah, that FOMO gets to us.
However, the problem with this practice is that the tiny hole prevents drivers from having a full vision of the road. They can’t clearly see all that is in front of them, thus, creating even more problems or delays throughout their drive.
Actually, I just did that the other day to get my son to basketball practice… it’s only a few blocks away, but man, that was hard to see!
Just as without a clear windshield, drivers don’t have a full view of the road ahead, a person working toward a goal without vision loses sight of the most direct path.
A vision is a necessary tool for accomplishing all significant goals. Not only does it help you see what your life will be like having accomplished that goal, but also why the specific dream or goal must come to fruition.
Answer this question: What benefit beyond yourself comes from accomplishing your vision?
Interested in diving deeper? Watch this free masterclass to help you get a jumpstart on your goals: 3 Pillars To Setting And Crushing Goals In A Stress-Less, No Hustle Way
3 ways to start unpacking your vision:
1. Journaling
This is a powerful tool, and I encourage you to do this regularly so that you can freely express your thoughts and dreams, anxieties, and fears then release them to God, and give Him control of your life. This process also helps you develop gratitude.
Reflect and write about what brings you joy, fulfillment, and a sense of purpose. Ask yourself this question: “If anything were possible, what would I want to achieve?”
2. Write a letter to your future self
This is a fun exercise that really gets you thinking about where you want to be a year from now, 5 years from now, or even 10 years from now. Imagine yourself 12 months from now.
Describe your life, accomplishments, and the impact you made on others. List out any challenges you encountered and how you pushed past them. Write it as if you are in the future, 12 months from now. It’s fun to look back on these letters down the road!
3. Value mapping
In this exercise, you rank different categories in order of importance so that you can really use that as you define your vision to ensure it aligns with your values.
Some of the categories could be family, relationships, career and professional life, personal development, financial stability, health and well-being, faith, adventure, and exploration.
Others are creativity, service and contribution, community and social connection, environmental awareness, learning and education, risk-taking, and balance. I’m sure you can come up with even more of your own.
Examples of individuals who have been driven by a powerful vision
The following are examples of popular and less well-known individuals who were not happy with the status quo. They took the necessary actions to accomplish their vision and left the world in a better place for us all.
- Martin Luther King Jr had a personal vision statement that helped him pursue his passion “I dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
What would have happened had he not had a clear vision that became a passionate life purpose?
- Steve Jobs came up with innovative solutions for personal computing and made technology accessible to everyone.
As the co-founder of Apple Inc., Jobs had a long-term vision that played a key role in the development of products like the iPhone and iPad. Can you imagine life without these things now?
His vision led to technological advances that make our lives easier today. Though I’d have to say, I’d be okay with a little less technology again, as I think it complicates a lot of things. That’s just me though, wink wink.
- Irena Sendler’s vision for saving Jewish children during the Holocaust outweighed the costs for her.
She was a Polish social worker who, at great personal risk made a meaningful impact by smuggling approximately 2500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto, saving them from Nazi concentration camps.
Our vision goes beyond ourselves and, many times, beyond what we think we’re capable of.
- Kathrine Switzer is one of my heroes in running. Her vision? To break the gender barriers in the marathon. It was thought that women couldn’t run that kind of distance back in the 1960s, but Kathrine wouldn’t let that stop her.
She snuck into the Boston Marathon disguised as a guy proving to the world that the social norms at the time were wrong.
In 1967 she became the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon, challenging gender norms and paving the way for female participation in long-distance running. What if she had believed women weren’t capable of running that far?
I don’t know about you, but I love hearing stories like this. They get me all motivated. These are people who did the right things even sometimes when no one was watching. They took consistent action towards their dreams and never gave up.
Interested in diving deeper? Watch this free masterclass to help you get a jumpstart on your vision: 3 Pillars To Setting And Crushing Goals In A Stress-Less, No Hustle Way
2. Identify your passions, purpose, and personal values
So how do we get a vision like Kathrine, Irena, or Disney? It starts with reflecting on our passions and aligning them with our purpose.
Our purpose isn’t defined as the ONE thing we were put on the earth to do. Sometimes we get stuck trying to figure out what that one thing is before we ever take the first step.
Our purpose is defined in knowing our giftings and strengths and allowing God to direct our path moment by moment knowing we can’t thwart His plans. This is the next crucial step on the journey to a fulfilling life.
Living your life’s purpose means you are committed to working towards something greater than yourself.
You want to live and function as your true self and make a positive impact in your community, church, your family, and the world. The kind of change you want to make is all about the greater good.
Here are 5 reflective exercises you can do in your free time to help you identify your passions and purpose.
I encourage you to take out a journal, write these exercises down, and take some time to really reflect on each of these 5 areas. This is an important part of your journey to aligning your vision with your passions, purpose, and values.
- Take a passion inventory: create a list of activities or pursuits that bring you joy and fulfillment. Consider both past and present experiences. Identify patterns or recurring themes in your interests. Write them all down.
- Identify your core values: Values are your beliefs, guiding principles, and actions you take daily. These may be things like honesty, integrity, creativity, family, health, or financial security.
Reflect on the principles or beliefs that are most important to you. Consider how aligning your goals with these values can lead to a more meaningful and purpose-driven life.
- Take a strengths assessment: Identify what you are naturally good at and reflect on how leveraging these strengths can contribute to a sense of purpose and achievement.
- Reflect on your impact: Consider the meaningful impact you want to have on the world or the lives of others. You don’t have to be a missionary in Africa to do that. You can be a light and make an impact in your family, your neighborhood, your community, and beyond.
Reflect on how identifying a sense of purpose often involves a desire to make a positive difference. Pray for God to reveal a piece of this to you.
- Imagine your ideal future: Take a little time to visualize what you want your future to look like. Reflect on the aspects of this vision that resonate with you and consider how it can guide you in setting goals that are aligned with your passions and purpose.
If you do this exercise, which I hope you will take the time to do, you will start seeing your passions come alive, and you’ll notice a pattern of what comes up more than once.
3. Overcome limiting beliefs
Maybe you have created a solid vision for a dream in your heart, but now you’re feeling limiting beliefs right now like:
- “I’m not good enough”
- “I’m not strong enough”
- “I don’t have the resources or knowledge”
- “It’s been done before”
I could go on and on with even more limiting beliefs. I have them, you have them, we all have them.
These common barriers are rooted in our fears, sometimes from fear of what others will think, of walking into the unknown, and sometimes even fear of success. I know, right?! Who has a fear of success? But I’ve seen it even in my own life.
Your vision with help you break these limiting belief barriers, overcome your fears, and stand on God’s promises. These equip us with what we need to fulfill the plans He has for our lives.
Your vision can pull you toward your dreams and encourage your imagination to grow. The here and now tells a story, but it doesn’t have to define where we end up. We can change the direction of our lives, and it starts with our imagination!
A vision calibrates your priorities and the smaller steps you need to take daily to achieve them. When you have determined where you want to go and can see it clearly, you will begin to arrange your priorities to line up with arriving at your destination.
A vision keeps you focused on what you want and keeps you motivated to achieve it. When you have clear direction, you will have a clear focus. With a vision, you’re more likely to make the necessary changes in your daily tasks to achieve your specific goal.
4. Review and Adjust
Sometimes goals change or even values. This could be due to a change in life experiences. It’s important to review your goals, values, and passions to see if they still align with your vision and purpose. Adjust and change when you need to.
How I aligned my vision, passions, purpose, and values
I didn’t gain clarity in my vision overnight. And the vision I initially had isn’t the vision I have now. I went through change, and personal growth and embraced new experiences.
I learned that when we allow God to direct our lives, He’s going to move us in different directions and ask us to do things out of our comfort zone and trust Him and the process.
Having a vision for a qualifying time to run the Boston Marathon was the first step in being able to see the bigger picture of who God created me to be and what I am capable of. Qualifying for a race doesn’t really seem life-changing but it impacted me on a deeper level.
But it actually did, and here’s why. When I allowed that vision to become a goal, l learned new skills, trained my mental toughness, and learned success principles to put into place. I became disciplined and focused which allowed me to dream again.
So when I crossed that finish line with the exact time I was training for and visualized for months, it allowed me to set new goals that were more outside myself.
It allowed me to be an example for my kids and to help them set goals for themselves. It allowed me to write the book that was in my heart with a message to others that they can cross the finish line of their own goals.
It kickstarted my entrepreneurial journey and l started an online business for women with a clear mission statement which is to “Help you step into the fire of refinement so you can come out stronger and crush your goals, God’s way.”
My business purpose is to help other women craft their personalized goals and business strategies so they can live a life of balance, making an impact and an income for their families as well.
You see when we take the time to create a vision… to gain clarity where we’re feeling called… it can make waves we didn’t even know were possible. That’s what Philippians 4:13 means. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
The most important thing to remember is that when it’s in God’s will and plan, he will make the way for us to do what he calls us to.
We don’t have to be enough… we aren’t enough without him. We don’t have to know enough… He’ll give us the next steps as we go. We don’t have to be strong enough… because then we NEED him to be that strength for us.
My challenge for you is to consider the positive change you want to bring about through your personal goals. Goal setting is not solely about personal fulfillment. Rather, it’s an opportunity to make an impact on others as well.
Aligning your goals with a vision for positive change will add a deeper dimension to your own aspirations.
If you’ve been wondering How to align your vision, passion, purpose, and values to reach your full potential, this detailed plan is a great place to start.
Creating the vision and clarifying your calling is the first step in goal setting and goal achievement.
The next step is to identify your purpose, passions, and personal values with practical exercises. It’s also important to overcome common barriers to your vision.
I hope this gives you the tools you need to meditate and pray on the vision God gives you for your own life. Once you do this, you will live a fulfilling life as your authentic self.
In all things I pray, you just run YOUR race. I believe in you.
Finish Line Goals
Are you tired of quitting on yourself and your goals? What if you could create a personalized game plan that works in the season you’re in with the capacity you have without sacrificing precious family time?
In Finish Line Goals, Gabe will show you how to think backward so you can spend less time worrying about where to start and more time taking action that works.
