Setting a Vision for Your Life
Oct 18 2010 04:00 PM | Sabrina O’Malone in Protecting Your Family
This might be one of the most important things you do all year. Do you have a vision for your life? I’m not talking about your ability to see with your eyes, but a big-picture vision, your goals, hopes and dreams. Most people don’t even get around to setting goals, much less creating plans to reach them. Your vision will help you realize and define what success means to you.A Picture Puzzle:
Let me try and explain...imagine your life as a difficult jigsaw puzzle. One of most important parts of a puzzle is the box cover. It shows a picture of what it the puzzle will look like when it’s done. Without referring to that picture on the box cover, it would be a lot more difficult to put the pieces together. Likewise, your vision can serve as a kind of road map or reference point for your life’s goals. It helps you define where you want to go and make a plan for how you’ll get there.
The Challenge:
I’d like to ask you to post your vision on the Money Minded Moms forum right now. Either a vision for a part of your life (like your work, family, health etc.) or the overarching vision that encompasses your life’s dreams. The hopes and dreams that make your heart soar. This is YOUR vision, and there is no wrong answer.
There are three reasons I’m asking you to post it on the forum:
1. Writing it down will cause you to put a little thought into it.
2. Your vision can inspire you while being an inspiration to others.
3. This will give me an idea of what topics I ought to focus on for future Money Minded Mom articles.
Sabrina O’Malone works full-time while raising and homeschooling her 6 children ages 13 and under. (That’s no typo - six kids + a full-time job + homeschooling!) Thanks to the Great Recession, she is rediscovering the lost art of frugality - and writing about the secrets to maintaining a great lifestyle while saving money. To keep up to date on Sabrina’s comings and goings and other hot-button topics, check out the following:
WorkingMom.com
Newsletter
3 Comments
Desta
29 October 2010 - 05:34 PM
Having taken a moment to think about this challenge, I would have to view my future as one of subsequent short term goals that come together to make the whole life experience. I will join together my desire to finish my doctorate in 3 years, reshape my abdomen in 12 months, climb the professional ladder to smash the glass ceiling and most importantly support the related objectives of my children. These areas of my life mosaic will fuse together to create a well, challenging, progressive and positive life that I ultimately see myself living.
29 October 2010 - 05:38 PM
Perhaps I should start with my vision for my own life...
Sabrina's Vision
My vision and goals are an amalgam of faith, family and running a business. It's my goal to negotiate without compromise. This is the inherent challenge of combining so many aspects of life at the same time. I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, a wife, mother, daughter, friend, businesswoman, author, mentor, housekeeper, chauffeur, book-keeper and cheerleader -all at the same time. It all comes down to what I envision...what my BIG dreams are, or the ones that make my heart sing...here they are:
I envision attending the college graduations of each one of my six children, and enthusiastically applauding when their names are called, followed by the phrase: "Summa Cum Laude!"
I envision holding a grandchild in my arms someday.
I envision being in heaven seeing the Lord face-to-face with a multitude of people rejoicing.
Professionally, I envision having the influence to TELL companies exactly what kind of coupon WorkingMom.com wants to distribute - and having them CREATE it.
But above all, my vision pertains to running this race called life well. Staying true to my core values and calling. Even those times I have to seemingly walk alone, I envision having the strength to keep moving forward. To appreciate the blessing of having Big Dan at my side - and our children as a team that helps one another through difficult times while celebrating joys and successes together. Always being sure to give honor and praise where it is due.
I'm hoping this is vision enough for this post.
Let us know your vision!
Sabrina's Vision
My vision and goals are an amalgam of faith, family and running a business. It's my goal to negotiate without compromise. This is the inherent challenge of combining so many aspects of life at the same time. I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, a wife, mother, daughter, friend, businesswoman, author, mentor, housekeeper, chauffeur, book-keeper and cheerleader -all at the same time. It all comes down to what I envision...what my BIG dreams are, or the ones that make my heart sing...here they are:
I envision attending the college graduations of each one of my six children, and enthusiastically applauding when their names are called, followed by the phrase: "Summa Cum Laude!"
I envision holding a grandchild in my arms someday.
I envision being in heaven seeing the Lord face-to-face with a multitude of people rejoicing.
Professionally, I envision having the influence to TELL companies exactly what kind of coupon WorkingMom.com wants to distribute - and having them CREATE it.
But above all, my vision pertains to running this race called life well. Staying true to my core values and calling. Even those times I have to seemingly walk alone, I envision having the strength to keep moving forward. To appreciate the blessing of having Big Dan at my side - and our children as a team that helps one another through difficult times while celebrating joys and successes together. Always being sure to give honor and praise where it is due.
I'm hoping this is vision enough for this post.
Let us know your vision!
Jeff G
30 October 2010 - 10:33 PM
I'm not a mom. I'm not even a woman. Sometimes, I'm barely a person. 
But I do have a vision of where I'd like my life to be.
I live in a house now with my long-time girlfriend and a whole bunch of cats. I work as a software developer. I practice the martial arts of Brazilian jiu jitsu and Muay Thai. I write fiction.
My vision for the future is just a more successful version of where we are now. I'm still living with Kate, though we'll be married. We still have the cats, though we've managed to sort through all their health, dietary, and litterbox issues.
We'll still have the same house. We love it. But we'll have had the time and money necessary to repair and enhance it. I'd like a frog pond in the backyard. Kate would like a nice garden.
Work and money-wise, I'd like to be sufficiently well off so as to never have to fear for our financial future. We don't need fancy cars, or summer homes, or any of that: just security. I want to have enough money so that we can buy anything we ever will *need* and a sufficient number of things that we *want*. But most importantly, I want to be at the point where we are no longer at the whims of a capricious economy.
Kate is showing promise as a photographer and she loves it. My vision for her includes having the time and resources to continue to develop (ahem) her skills in that regard. Perhaps she'll even get good enough to generate a little income on the side. That would be nice, but it's not necessary.
I'd like to be successful with my writing. Get a couple of books published. Maybe a handful of short stories. I wouldn't want to be a full-time author. I like variety in my life.
And I'd like to get into the physical shape where I could compete in some amateur mixed-martial arts fights.
When it's all said in done, our goals are modest. We actually have most of what we need in life already.
But I do have a vision of where I'd like my life to be.
I live in a house now with my long-time girlfriend and a whole bunch of cats. I work as a software developer. I practice the martial arts of Brazilian jiu jitsu and Muay Thai. I write fiction.
My vision for the future is just a more successful version of where we are now. I'm still living with Kate, though we'll be married. We still have the cats, though we've managed to sort through all their health, dietary, and litterbox issues.
We'll still have the same house. We love it. But we'll have had the time and money necessary to repair and enhance it. I'd like a frog pond in the backyard. Kate would like a nice garden.
Work and money-wise, I'd like to be sufficiently well off so as to never have to fear for our financial future. We don't need fancy cars, or summer homes, or any of that: just security. I want to have enough money so that we can buy anything we ever will *need* and a sufficient number of things that we *want*. But most importantly, I want to be at the point where we are no longer at the whims of a capricious economy.
Kate is showing promise as a photographer and she loves it. My vision for her includes having the time and resources to continue to develop (ahem) her skills in that regard. Perhaps she'll even get good enough to generate a little income on the side. That would be nice, but it's not necessary.
I'd like to be successful with my writing. Get a couple of books published. Maybe a handful of short stories. I wouldn't want to be a full-time author. I like variety in my life.
And I'd like to get into the physical shape where I could compete in some amateur mixed-martial arts fights.
When it's all said in done, our goals are modest. We actually have most of what we need in life already.
Featured Article
Make your “Joe” – save a “Benjamin”
- posted by Doreen Kukral
The “Benjamin” I’m talking about is Ben Franklin… the face on the one hundred dollar bill. And what if I told you it’s possible to save $100 a month by changing just one daily habit…Your coffee… yes, your daily “Joe”.
If your day typically starts by dropping in at your favorite coffee spot, you’re likely spending a few dollars on your “Joe” or even more on the fancy concoctions. Add an afternoon pick-me-up, a spouse or partner, and you’re spending some serious cash, each and every day.
Featured Discussion
A Special Thanks to Suze
by: jhamilton
This is just a special thank you to Suze for creating her simple to use and understand "Must Have Documents." I just went and had my revocable trust notarized and instantly I felt a sense of relief.