5 Practical Keys When Setting A Vision For The Year 2023.

Estimated reading time: 13 minutes

Now that we talked about stock-taking, I figured we should also talk about setting a vision for the year 2023. After all, the Bible clearly tells us that without a vision, the people perish. And it would be great to make it a part of your new year’s resolution. But before we can look at the how let’s look at the definition of what a vision is and the importance of setting a vision

The Best New Year Resolutions you can ever make

The importance of setting a vision for the year.
How to set a vision for the year.
Conclusion

Definition.

According to Google, vision is the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom. You cannot set a vision until you have set your mind to do so. I love this definition because it implies intentionality, which is the point of setting a vision for the year. So let me ask you this, do you desire to live an intentional life?

You can only be intentional when you have a plan. As the saying goes, if you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything. This is why I figured to write this and help you set a vision for the year. But before we do that, let us look at the importance of setting a vision.

The importance of setting a vision for the year.

Gives you clarity
Helps you set proper boundaries.
Helps you get closer to achieving your purpose.
Helps you live authentically and be intentional.

Gives you clarity.

When you have a vision for the year, you are able to clearly know where you are headed. And instead of going with the flow, you understand that you have a purpose, therefore, your vision governs everything you do. You just don’t take any opportunity that comes your way unless it aligns with your vision. And You also have a clear yes and no.

When you have a vision, you can clearly focus on what’s important and let go of what’s not important. Unless you learn to prioritize what matters, you will not get to where you are going.

8 PRACTICAL KEYS TO HELP YOU GAIN CLARITY

Helps you set proper boundaries.

When you have a vision for the year and your life, you will establish boundaries that align with your vision. The boundaries will help you to stay on track. And you will also learn to identify who to bring along your inner circle and who needs not be there.

You cannot have people who don’t align with your vision as part of your inner circle. Even Jesus had 3 people as part of His inner circle, despite having 12 disciples. It was the 3 that He would take with Him whenever He needed to do a weighty assignment. Like when He went to Jairus’ house to raise His daughter. He only took with Him Peter, James, and John. In the garden of Gethsemane, He also took the 3 because He needed people with whom He could be vulnerable.

There will be moments when the said vision will overwhelm you. And you will need people who understand it to encourage you to keep pushing. You also need people whose vision aligns with yours to help you achieve it.

Therefore, having a vision for the year will help you establish boundaries. You will not be swept away back and forth. Rather, you will be clear about where you are going and why you are going there.

Setting a vision for the year will help you get closer to achieving your purpose.

It all boils down to achieving your purpose on earth. Do you know what your purpose is? If you don’t know, you will not know how to set a vision for the year. And you can never know your purpose until you know your identity. And your identity is found in your creator and that is God. So let me ask you this: do you have a relationship with God? Only your creator can tell you who you are. And it is in Him that you will discover your purpose.

If you don’t know your purpose, I want to encourage you to start that journey of making Jesus the Lord and Savior of your life. Ask Him what your purpose is. And be expectant that He will answer you. After all, He wants to reveal to you your purpose more than you want Him to. It is in your purpose that you can live a fulfilled life and bring Him the most glory that points others to Him.

Once He has revealed to you what your purpose is, then you can set a vision for the year that aligns with your purpose. As you do that you will realize that you are more intentional with your life and helps you align with others who are intentional as well.

As the saying goes, you are an average of the 4 people you spend your time with. And birds of a feather flock together. Setting a vision will give you clarity on the people who need to be in your circle.

Setting a vision for the year will help you learn to live authentically.

Have you always desired to be your truest and best version? Then learn to set the vision for the year. As you do so, you will find yourself drawn to opportunities, people, and resources that will get you closer to the vision you set. And in doing so, you naturally become that person you always desired to be.

The people, opportunities, and resources will encourage you to thrive in your authenticity since they are aligned with your vision. To learn more about authenticity check out my blog on how to live authentically.

Now that we know why it’s important to set a vision for the year, let’s look at the how-to.

How to set a vision for the year.

Embrace solitude
Prayer
Journal to write what you feel in your heart
Have an action plan
Determine position. Proper analysis of your current situation
Make provision for the unexpected.

Solitude.

You cannot set a vision for the year in a noisy space. You need to learn to embrace solitude if you want to set a vision for the year. Intentionally set time aside by silencing the external noises and practicing stillness. Silence is questing of the external noises while stillness is quieting the inner chaos. It is in solitude that you will be able to set clear and intentional goals for the year. Also, it is in solitude that you will hear your soul and therefore make decisions that allow the real you to thrive.

The best way you can achieve your goal is by ensuring that your vision aligns with who you are as a person. When purpose, passion, and vision align, you become unstoppable. The drive to achieve your vision and purpose will stem from within, and when the drive is internal, you will achieve the very thing you desire to.

So set aside time to be alone so that you can set a vision for the year. And don’t be in a hurry to complete it. No. You need time to do so. In fact, I would suggest setting aside a couple of hours daily within the week if you cannot set a day or two. After all, you are setting a vision for 365 days so the process cannot be rushed.

And again, practice stillness in the process so that your inner witness can come alive. This also gives room for the Holy Spirit to give you direction for your year. After all, if you want to go far, you need to discern the times and seasons so that you don’t miss your hour of visitation.

And when you are in a relationship with the Holy Spirit through spending time with Him, He will help you achieve the vision because He is the One who will help you set a vision for the year. This brings us to the next point.

Determine Position

Determine where you are at physically, financially, emotionally, and mentally. As you assess your current position, you will be able to know how to get to where you want to go. And be honest with yourself. It is when you are honest that you will get the right strategy to achieve your vision and set it soberly. This can be done through the help of an amazing workbook I created called the wheel of life. Check it out by clicking on this link.

The essence of this workbook is to help you determine your current position so that you can make a proper decision on where you want to go.

Prayer

Prayer and worship will silence the flesh and open your spiritual senses. This will make it easy for you to hear your inner witness. Let’s not forget that God is Spirit, so for you to hear Him, you need to activate your spiritual senses. Also, prayer and worship will help silence the flesh, which will quiet the inner chaos.

As you pray, ask the Holy Spirit to help you set a vision for the year. Ask Him to tell you what He would have you achieve in the coming year. Always remember that the Holy Spirit wants to help you become your best version. He is your helper and not only that, He loves you and wants to see you win. If you ask Him for His help, He will help you. And when you make room for Him to guide you. He will guide you every step of the way. So ask Him.

Could it be that you lack vision because you have yet to ask Him? After all, the Bible tells us we have not because we ask not. And that God would not deny you any good thing is a sign that you can ask. Having a vision for the year is a good thing. So ask. Resolve in your mind to live intentionally. This starts with you setting a vision for the year.

Journal

Write what you feel in your spirit. It does not matter how silly you think it is or how grand the vision is, write it down. The book of Habakkuk tells us to write the vision and make it plain. And I want to encourage you to do so. It is as you write you will gain clarity on what needs to be done. Also writing will ensure that you don’t forget.

Again, as you write the vision, you will have it as a form of reference, and this will help you stay on track. It is easy for the Holy Spirit to remind you of something when you already know what the thing is. One of His roles is to remind you of the way you should go. And how will He remind you when you don’t even know how you should go? Write it down. And determine in your mind that you will align your every step to your vision.

Have an action plan.

How will you achieve the goals you set? How will you measure your success? And what steps will you take to achieve the vision you have set for the year? These are some questions you need to ask yourself as you set the vision for the year. So let me break it down for you. Let’s say that you decide in the coming year you want to increase in knowledge. The first step is to define what knowledge looks like for you and in what area you want that to be evident. Let’s say you decide you want to be knowledgeable in the finance industry.

This then means that you need to read finance books and also listen to the news on the financial markets and finance industry as a whole. How much time are you willing to set aside to learn that? Who are your role models in that field? And how will you measure success? Remember, an action plan that cannot be measured will not help you. Will you attend seminars and luncheons on the same?

Remember, you can learn by association as well. After all, it is what you consistently fill your mind with that you will release. No wonder the writer of Proverbs reminded us that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. As you set the action plan, remember to set achievable goals. Break down the big goals into small, actionable steps.

Start with an hour a day. You can break the hour into 4 sets of 15 minutes in a day. Quality is better than quantity. And it is consistency that will lead you to achieve your goal. And again commit to the plan you set. That is the only way you will achieve the success you are looking for.

Determine how you will handle distractions and make provisions for what you cannot control.

You will have moments where things will come up that will make it difficult to achieve the vision you set, and that is why it is imperative that you make provision for the unforeseeable. This can look like being flexible and adaptable. So going back to our earlier example, let’s say that it becomes challenging to get an hour to learn, how else will you factor in the learning time? Instead of reading books, you could decide to listen to podcasts on your way to work.

Another example is, let’s say your vision for the year is starting a business. But along the way you experience financial hardships that force you to get a job. How then will you run your business? In this case, you could decide to work on it in the evening. Or instead, use the time to learn more about the industry that your business is in. This could look like you getting a job in that same industry. The knowledge you gain will help you when you do take the business back up.

Don’t be so rigid as this will only make it impossible to achieve the vision you have set for the year.

Conclusion

My hope and prayer are that you will achieve the vision you have set. Don’t allow distractions to make you forfeit the set vision. And remember, you have a purpose inside you and God wants you to fulfill the purpose He gave you.

Don’t give room for excuses and learn to interact with those that will propel your vision forward. You can achieve what you set your heart to do. You only need to believe in your ability. After all, you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. It is your season to thrive. Don’t settle for mediocre. Embrace your purpose and live intentionally.

5 Practical Keys When Setting A Vision For The Year 2023.