We all want our projects to succeed, but two problems almost always occur while we are working on them:
- We don’t actually know what success looks like.
- While working on a project, we get stuck without a clear idea how to move forward.
Whether it is a book, a screenplay, a song, a speech, an online course, it doesn’t matter. We have to overcome these two problems.
I have found that the best way to avoid problem #1 and overcome problem #2 is to answer three questions.
These three questions make up the process I call vision setting and it is really simple.
Vision Setting Exercise
Write the name of your project at the top of a post-it note and then write these three words along the side:
SEE:
SAY:
FEEL:
Now, here is what you are going to write next to each item:
- SEE: What do I want to see myself or my audience doing with this?
- SAY: What do I want to say or hear people say about this project?
- FEEL: What do I want to feel or inspire other people to feel through this project?
These three questions make up a simple process for visualization. You visualize what success looks like, sounds like, and feels like.
It is better than goal setting because through vision setting you have a concrete idea of exactly what you are trying to accomplish. From there you can start to pick metrics as goals if you want. The vision, however, is so much more effective at understand what your project is really trying to accomplish and why you are so motivated to get there.
