Building a Vision Out of Burnout
“He, who has a why to live for, can bear with almost any how.”
Vicktor Frankl – Holocaust Survivor
There is lies an explanation for burnout; if we lose sight of “why” to work hard, we start to go downhill.
How would you like to have a coach work with you on finding YOUR “why”.
This month – something a little different – a practical tool for building a personal vision that drives you through the challenge. Lets go!
What’s a vision statement?
A key aspect of resilience coaching is a “vision statement”.
“A wellness vision statement is a compelling declaration of your desired health-promoting and life-enhancing behaviors. It encapsulates your core values and long-term wellness goals, serving as a motivational guide towards your best self….. It should resonate with your personal desires and provide a clear picture of what you want to achieve, helping to align your daily actions with your overarching wellness objectives”
Spread over 2 coaching sessions, we work to create a powerful, self affirming statement that they own and believe in.
It can be challenging to write one of these powerful statements that resonates with ourselves.
Its harder if you don’t have much writing experience.
Even more so if you speak English as a second language.
But it was that scenario that created this awesome opportunity.
Crafting a statement is extremely difficult
As at the time of writing I’m group and one-on-one coaching a multicultural QualityMind 12 week Boot Camp crew. We have a weekly group session and then a weekly one-on-one.
Last week we were at various phases of getting the vision statement crafted, but not quite at the stage of “meaningful and powerful”.
- Client 1 had an abundance of information. We are talking thousands of words which described the life they wanted to live, but lacked any structure
- Client 2, almost nothing written down, but plenty of thoughts in the mind. We refreshed notes and extracted the keys
- Client 3 was caught in a loop of overthinking ; the hyper intelligence of this individual had them brooding every thought, wish, desire, caught up in language structures.
I suggested to client 1 “How would you feel about trying a different approach”?.
The results in all three cases were staggering.
Let’s have fun with the solution
The answer was a streamlining the input and then calling on ChatGPT for assistance. It was met with looks of horror from my coaching colleagues. There is a lot of pushback against technology in coaching (some of it for very good reason.)
Technology can be distracting.
“How can ChatGPT write a personalised vision statement … If the person doesn’t write it then it’s not theirs…”
I believe that AI can drive us to be better humans if that’s the way we design our experience.
Whilst ChatGPT constructed the statement, it was fed with the fuel of the person’s thoughts and dreams which we had coached and extracted.
I honed the process and prepared for the GPT.
Creating your inspirational vision statement
The fuel for the vision statement needs to be personalised with our own thoughts and desires.
So lets do it.
Under each of these sections, write three and five bullet points like the examples provided
- use bullets, keep them to 1 or 2 lines
- write in the present tense – i.e. “I am…”
- about things you are doing, things you are feeling
- Don’t say what you want, what you need or what you hope for - write in the present tense like you are doing it
Through all of the steps, you will end up with 15 or 20 bullet points
Step 1 - talk about the places in your vision
Where are you, how does it look, how does it feel when you are living your ultimate life? Here are some examples for you to copy and include:
- I’m living between a small luxury apartment in the city and acreage with a view near the beach
- at our country property we are surrounded by nature
Step 2 - what are you doing?
Don’t just write what you are doing, but write why you are doing them.
- I’m training as a martial artist to hone my skills and so that one day I can teach my grandchildren
- I’m working on local community projects, developing my own skills and reinvesting back into the world around me
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Step 3 – Add some Values
Start flowing and keep them positive.
- I’m creating a legacy for my family, a place where they can grow and nurture themselves, to plant a tree with my grandchildren that one day, they will shade with their children
- A self sustained lifestyle that is balanced with nature promoting a healthy mind and environment
Step 4 - Set a timeline
Grand vision statements are easy to work with if they are a couple of years in the future. Some people like one year, some people like 10 years. You can always change it later. But choose one of the two statements as a bullet
- My vision is for 3 years time (or your time frame)
Step 5 - How Does the upgraded version of you feel
The version of you that is a work in progress – you are on the way but not there yet – be aspirational, you have fixed the things that annoy you, free of burdens.
- I sleep well and awake refreshed
- I feel great in my body as I continue to keep physically active
- I read an meditate so my mind is sharp and always learning
Step 6 – Who are you with
Try something like
- I have great time with my wife , travelling together
- I’m spending quality time with friends
- I play golf with nearest and dearest
Now – Cull the list
Copy and paste all of your bullet points into one long list:
- Make sure they are written in the present tense
- Ensure they are positive
- Preferably as actions
- Get rid of anything wishy washy, pick your best 15 to 20 max
Prime the AI - The GPT primer Text
Copy the following text exactly as it is into a brand new document. You can tweak the words, but just start with this one.
“Hi there! I’m hoping you can give me some help with a vision statement.
I’m currently enrolled in a 12 week QaulityMind mental fitness and resilience Bootcamp with Mark Luckey. The first task is to create our own vision statement.
My coach told me a “Vision Statement is a compelling declaration of my desired health-promoting and life-enhancing behaviours. It encapsulates my core values and long-term wellness goals, serving as a motivational guide towards my best self. It resonates with my personal desires and provide a clear picture of what I want to achieve, helping to align my daily actions with my overarching wellness objectives.”
It’s the sort of thing that I will print out, memorise and stick up on the back of my wardrobe door. On the days that I don’t feel motivated to do the work I need to do, one look at this vision statement will pump me up and inspire me. It’s personalised, it’s everything that my best version of self is living.
So I’m wondering if you can help me write my own wellness vision statement. At the end is a series of bullet points which I have worked on with my coach. It should open with a statement something like “in 5 years time” or “In my vision of best self…” and be based on the information I provide you.
I’m after something that is about 150 words long, or maybe about three paragraphs,.
It should be written in the first person – so not talking about hopes or dreams in the future, but what I am doing, in the present moment, all about me. It should not be repetitive, it should be fun, it should weave in all of my thoughts and values into a coherent statement that defines my best self.
If you have any questions, please ask them before you begin:
These are the ideas that I want you to help me work with:
Paste it into ChatGPT
Now it’s simple:
- Copy your bullet point list
- Paste it below the GPT primer text
- Select all of the text in the document
- Copy it
- Paste into ChatGPT (or your AI of choice)
- Press GO
IMPORTANT FINAL STEP
When the GPT finishes – the first time you read it must be out loud to yourself.
Feeling inspired?