Vision vs. Goals. What’s the difference?

Vision vs. goals.  Who here knows the difference?  They are easily confused – but not so easily interchangeable.

If my clients desire, I work with them on their vision, which helps them figure out the “why” in their journey.  This is their dream, their ideal life.  It’s like the feeling you get at the top of a mountain after a long hike and days (sometimes weeks) of planning.  The goals are the things you do prior to getting to the mountain as well as the literal steps you take to get to the top.

Sidebar: even if you are not a current client of mine, you can book a Visioning Session a la carte. It’s a fun process as a coach to help guide a client through a visioning session; the process can be eye-opening for many and can really help someone get a clear focus as to why they are doing what they’re doing.  I’ll put more info on how to book this session below.

Why do you set goals? To get to where you want to go.  But, if you have no idea where that is, then goal setting tends to be a little all over the place.

Think about getting in your car.  If you don’t first set your GPS, how will you know which direction to go?  Sure, you could drive around in circles all day and somehow get to your destination by chance. Or maybe you end up somewhere else and fool yourself into settling and thinking “yeah, this is OK.  This will do.”

What people in your life have you seen ignore their passions, desires, and dreams, and just… settle?

Instead of driving around aimlessly or settling in a place that doesn’t speak to you, you get exact coordinates for where you want to be. You set that GPS and see your destination more clearly, which will help you decide how to pack (are you going to Bermuda? or Canada?) and how to get there (are you traveling by car? is a train more your style? or do you want to get there quickly – via airplane?). This also will help determine how long it may take to get there, and from there you will be able to plan further: Need a book for the plane? Put it on your goals list.  Need to buy new hiking shoes as you’ll be camping in state parks along the drive?  Put it on the list.

The vision is the endpoint, that final destination, that all of your goals lead to. It is your dream. It is how you feel after achieving all of those goals, after all of your hard work.

That is not to say your vision/dream may not shift over time – once you are on the road, you may decide you want to continue to Alaska instead of just stopping in Canada.  Visions tend to shift and expand as we change and grow.  The possibilities truly are endless when it comes to a vision!  You simply pull over to the side of the road, reset the GPS, and consider what you need to do now along this new road to make sure the journey is a good one.

When given the opportunity, knowing there are no rules or boundaries, what do you dream of?  What is the feeling you want to have in your life – every day?  How do you want to be?

Vision first. Goals will follow.

Vision vs. goals – some other differences:

• Goals are usually action-oriented. Visions are not.  Visions are emotions, feelings, a way of being.
• Goals can be checked off a list. Visions, on the other hand, not so much. When was the last time you checked off “felt at peace” from your to-do list?
• Goals are usually physical, tangible things. Visions are more imaginative. A common example of this is the “I have a dream” speech of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  He certainly wasn’t talking about action steps in this powerful speech – this was his vision.

Some more examples:

• Vision/dream: To live life with resilience and ease despite having autoimmune issues.
  Goals:  Find a good doctor, research how diet plays a part in chronic illness, learn stress management techniques, find support.
• Vision/dream:  To embody a peaceful, calm, sense of balance every day.
  Goals:  Cut back on work hours or change jobs, find a yoga studio and take classes, move out of the city, start a meditation/journaling habit, etc.
• Vision/dream: To be confident in my body and know I have the strength and energy to be able to keep up with my kids.
  Goals: Go to the gym 5x/week, go running 2x week, drink more water, get carbs down to 100.

The above goals might be considered “long-term goals”.  Each of these can be broken down into even smaller goals.  For the last example, those big exercise goals might be broken down further into maybe starting with one day at the gym, what exercises are being done, and even how many reps/sets are being done of each exercise. Build from that.

Some people like to use sticky notes and work backward from their vision.  The vision is the top sticky note, like the apex of that mountain. The sticky notes below that are the big long-term goals they would like to be doing regularly.  Below those long-term goals are more sticky notes that have smaller action-steps that get them to the long-term goals.

The beauty of this sticky-note exercise is that you can rearrange your action steps as needed. You can rewrite or even throw away notes, including your vision – and start completely over!  This happens when life throws us curveballs (pandemic, anyone?) or we realize we simply do not want something anymore.  We shift and pivot and rearrange our sticky-note mountain.  And this is ok!

At what times in your life do you recall not shifting or changing your actions, even though your current vision no longer served you?

To summarize Vision vs. Goals:
Goals are DOING, and visions are BEING.

With that in mind, here are two final questions for you to ponder:

How do you want to be?

and:

What do you need to do to get there…?

If you do not know where you are going, figuring that out is the first step.

Goals and action steps will follow.

Until next time, dream big, my friends!

Sandy

A visioning session is something to consider doing for yourself if you are in the midst of a life or career change or if you want some clarity around your current vision.

Prior to this session, I will send you my “Vision Statement Exercise” to get your creative juices and imagination flowing. During our session, we flesh it all out.  If you’ve never worked with me before, this is a great opportunity to see how I coach!

Please allow a minimum of 90 minutes for this session. For more information and to book this session, click here.

“I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream.” – Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

MY OFFER TO YOU.

I would love to be a support to you, no matter what fears you are facing at this time.

As your coach, I will listen deeply, offer empathy, and help you make sense of what’s going on in the world right now.  We can talk about anything that’s on your mind:

• creating new habits – or maintaining current habits
• work challenges – either working from home or being out of work
• figuring out how to best spend your time with your now at-home children (and still retain your sanity)
• fears of starting a new career
• how best to manage stress
• guilty feelings about cheating on your diet
• fear around changing your diet
• feeling ok doing absolutely nothing for a while
• creating boundaries with family, friends, and co-workers
• helping you create structure in your life and a plan moving forward – whatever that may mean to you
• help you regain control if you are feeling out of control
• giving yourself permission to just be – no matter where you are in your life.

To book your Complimentary “Meet & Greet” Session and Assessment, click here.

Sandy Swanson is a Certified Functional Health Coach who received her training from Chris Kresser’s ADAPT Health Coach training course (A-CFHC) and is also a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC).  You can learn more about her here and more about what coaching is here.