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Mayo Clinic On Human Optimization
E54 How to Set Your Personal Vision: Define What You Want to Accomplish in Life
00:49:18
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- [00:00]
A
Foreign. Welcome to the Mayo Clinic Human Optimization Project, where we're creating the blueprint to help you become the best human you can be so you can give your gifts back to the world. I'm your guide and fellow optimizer, Christopher Camp. Simple question for you. What do you want to achieve with your life? The question is simple, but I bet it's challenging for you to answer in a clear, concise and convincing way. While we may have a rough or general idea of what we want to accomplish as human beings, very few of us can clearly articulate that in a way that is at the forefront of our minds and drives our behaviors. Time for that to change. Our session today is titled how to set yout Personal Vision Define what you want to accomplish in life. This episode is part of our special series on understanding yourself better and it's a pillar in human optimization. Our expert guest for this topic is Dr. Greg Kauser. Dr. Cowser is an organizational and occupational psychiatrist, board certified in both psychiatry and occupational medicine. Greg has served as the medical director of the Mayo Clinic Internal Employee Assistance Program in Rochester for over 20 years, where he provides guidance and counseling to nearly 52,000 employees and supporting healthcare professionals with preventative mental health and workplace challenges. He's also the creator and director of the Mayo Clinic course titled Optimizing Potential, where he helps individuals reach their maximal potential and abilities. The three big questions we're going to work through today with Greg are, number one, what exactly is a personal vision and why do we need one? Number two, why do so many of us struggle to clearly articulate what we actually want to accomplish in life? And then in our third section, we'll come up with some solutions for you. And our question there is what practical steps should we take to set the ideal vision for ourselves? Well, Greg, thank you so much for joining us today. We really appreciate you coming on the program.
- [02:20]
B
My pleasure to be here. Thanks, Chris.
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A
All right, so let's start out with some definitions. And can you just tell me how you, as an expert in the field, define this concept of vision for yourself?
- [02:32]
B
Sure. I like to explain things simply. I guess I would say that it's a big want something that fuels the individual and, and, or the work team, but it's based on values and purpose and some of the other things that you're going to be talking about in other podcasts.
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A
Oh, good. And I like that you say, you know, it's for the individual or the team. So we'll talk a little bit about how I think vision is a concept that applies to both an individual and a group. People are probably familiar with it in the group setting or the team or company setting, less likely in the individual. So we'll focus mostly on that. And you're right. This, this concept of defining your vision is a part of a bigger series that we're doing on helping folks to understand themselves. So just for the audience to clarify, some of the things we feel like are critical for you to understand yourself are knowing, number one, what your values are, which we define as what's important to you. Second, your vision, which is kind of what you want to achieve. That's what we're talking about today. Your purpose, which is why you want to do those things, your mission, which is how you are going to go about doing it. And then lastly, your identities or roles. So these are the roles that we play in our lives to try to carry out all of those things that we just mentioned. So for today, we're going to focus on vision. So can you talk a little bit about what are some of the key qualities that are needed in a good vision for an individual or a team?
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B
Well, I think you already talked about this a little bit because it's related to those other podcasts that you're going to be doing. But it needs to be rooted certainly in your value so that it's consistent with who you are as a person. And I would say that it's something that needs to be simple, that you can articulate quickly and something that you can also easily articulate to others quickly. There's a timeless value if you have a good vision I'll probably be talking about later. Sometimes we can be too perfect about trying to create these things. But yet if you're onto something that works really well, it should be something that's good later on and not just today. Something that is future oriented, aspirational and inspirational all at the same time. And it, it helps you kind of as a guide to live your life with purpose, hopefully enjoying the process along the way.
- [05:03]
A
I love that, you know, life is too short. We often we really value delayed gratification in our world, but life's too short. Like we have to enjoy the process. That was a great list of things. So you said it's got to be rooted in your values, consistent with who you are. Clearly articulated, timeless, aspirational, inspirational, and something that you can enjoy. I think those are great. And a lot of those feel probably pretty abstract to our audience, which I think also flies in the face of the concept that it needs to be something you can clearly Articulate. So in some ways, this needs to be very, very clear, very specific and concise. But we have to encompass these large elements that you're talking about.
- [05:49]
B
Exactly right.
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A
I think that's. Those are some of the big challenges where most people say, I don't get it or it's not worth it or I'm not going to do it. So I think that that is a big challenge. And another one I would add to that list, if I can, is hopefully something that is actionable. I think this is a thing that you want for sure. This is not just a theoretical thing. You want some sort of action focus. You want it to drive you forward into acting and making a change. So let's talk a little bit about why it's important to do this. You gave us good key qualities there. So why should we be setting a vision for ourselves or a group? So essentially, kind of, what are the benefits of doing it?
- [06:31]
B
Well, there are lots of benefits. I guess probably the biggest one that I would say is that it gets people excited and motivated. It's something you can keep referring back to. And I think life should be fun. And sometimes it seems like life is too hard too. And I think having a good vision statement makes things easier. You've heard, of course, when you love what you do and you're not really working at all. And I think vision makes that easier. It gives us direction. Yeah.
- [07:01]
A
And if we look at the things that bring us joy, it's usually sort of fulfilling a purpose, making progress, and then genuine connections with others. And so you talk about doing this, I think that it does bring meaning, it does motivate us, and it does make life easier and allows us to know whether or not we're fulfilling our purpose, which is a big component of joy. I also think if we can clearly articulate our vision and others know about, then helps us connect with others, which I think can be really helpful and also can contribute to our joy. Is that any different? If you're discussing this in the setting of a team or a group versus just the individual, are those really kind of universal concepts?
- [07:45]
B
Well, I think that they are universal concepts for the most part. When teams have good vision, they're kind of all on the same page and they have something to work toward together, and that does make things more fun. But the individuals as well, it makes things more fun. And working as a preventive psychiatrist, mostly what I do, a lot of times people feel stuck, and when they have something that they are pulled toward in their lives, which again, is a vision versus Something that, at least metaphorically, they're running from bills and bad relations, relationships and that sort of thing. It really helps them, not just individuals, but the teams.
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A
And I like the concept of sort of getting unstuck, I think is really good because we're all prone to that in life. And I think some of that comes from the fact that we don't always know what our definition of success is. We haven't figured that out. We don't know what our North Star is. We're not sure where we're aiming, so we can't tell if we're making progress or not. And so I think it's helpful in that. Not only does this give us that North Star, that direction that we're supposed to be striving for, but then it also allows us to judge whether or not we're doing it. So it gives us direction. And then along the way, it will allow for some process satisfaction to say, hey, I actually am taking steps that are moving me in that direction versus us just sort of flailing about, working hard, putting in the hours and doing a lot, but not really sure if we're making progress. I think that that can be really valuable for. Particularly as we're all so busy, we all feel like we're spinning our wheels sometimes and not sure. So having that sort of direction or North Star, I think, can be immensely helpful.
- [09:37]
B
Absolutely. Yeah.
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A
Let's talk a little bit about making this clearly something you can clearly articulate. I think that's a real challenge, because we have challenges with all the information, all of the clutter, all of the confusion, all of the misinformation, and I think that it lends us to sort of have everything jumbled up in our head. So can you expand on that a little bit more of what you mean by something you can clearly articulate?
- [10:11]
B
Bottom lining, I think, is what I mean about that. So I think people try to make this too complicated sometimes. If you think about the things that are really important to you, what you want in your life, most people, if you don't put them under pressure, can give pretty good idea about that. And they might do it in a page or two if you have them keep going. But part of that really is getting it down to a few words that really says who they are and their essence, which that's a little bit more difficult to do. But I guess from that sense, I would encourage people just to try it. I mean, no one's testing you on this at all. Right.
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A
And so in your mind, this is probably a less is more sort of thing. We're not talking about writing a two page essay here. We're talking about trying to get this down to one or two sentences even.
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B
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, one or two sentences. And there's no, you're not graded again. So it doesn't matter for sure. Sometimes doing the longer work or writing things out or journaling, which some people like to do, might get to the heart of it. Okay, so then write down a couple of pages and then go back and take a look and distill it down to what's really important out of. Out of those couple of pages if you want to do it that way.
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A
I like that. And the point that you're not getting graded on this is helpful too, because that's probably one of the reasons people don't do is that they feel like, oh, I'm not good at it, I'm going to fail. Nobody's looking, doesn't matter. You can't fail. This is not graded. Yeah, it's not. That's a. It's a really good point. So just try, just try. Continue to refine it over and over with you. So to help make this a little clearer for our audience, I'd like to give some examples.
- [11:49]
B
Sure.
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A
And would you mind, I'm going to put you on the spot here and ask, would you mind, as somebody who studied this a lot and has taught this to other people, could you share with us some examples, either, you know, your own, if you want, or others that you think are helpful so the audience can kind of wrap their heads around what we're talking about with a good vision statement for an individual.
- [12:11]
B
Yeah. And I want to thank you for the opportunity to do this. Although this is something that I've helped other people craft, sometimes I forget my own just because I've been so much into that. And I want to make it clear again, hopefully what I made already clear before, that it doesn't have to be perfect. And so mine's iterated over time and even since we've talked last week, it has a little bit. It's basically the same thing there. But I have to live and grow with integrity and vitality, empowering others to uncover their inner greatness. And I've had different versions of that over time that have. Because a lot of what I do in my work is I talk to people individually and I see things that they don't see and try to unlock their superpowers, so to speak. I've had different versions of superpowers, ones that have been out there as well. So just sometimes the wording might change a little bit, but it's essentially the same.
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A
Oh, great. I think that's fantastic. And our discussions that we've had in the past has led me to update mine as well.
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B
I was just going to ask you, what's yours, Chris?
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A
I do. So I do the same thing. So it's funny, I keep mine. I actually have a yellow notepad that I keep in my desk, legal pad that I've written out my values, vision, mission, purpose, identities. And it's funny, when you look at it, you can tell I'm about halfway down the notepad because I've ripped off half the sheets, because I'll do it and then come back to it a little while later and redo it and redo it and redo it. So mine continues to evolve as well. But for me personally, my vision statement is to bring hope and wisdom to others by giving my time, attention and effort to help them become their best selves.
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B
I love it. It's concise.
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A
And I tried to. I mean, didn't start that way, though. It's exactly what you said. But I know for me personally, it was really helpful actually to start with my values. And so I kind of listed those out. You know, what are the things that are really important to me? Because you can really look at any of these vision statements and say, oh, that's pretty good. I'll take that. Or that's pretty. That one's good, that one's good, that one's good. And so how do you make it specific to yourself? And I think for me, it really helps in. All right, what are my values? And sort of getting those listed and then building from. From there. So I think for those of you that are doing it, you know, start with the values, write this thing out, and then cone it down over time. You also talked about how you can have a vision statement for yourself and then also as a part of a team or an organization or a work group. And as you and I talked about that previously, I was thinking about it. One of the things I think is really helpful for us as individuals and brings us a lot of joy is when we get our individual vision statement that lines up with our work, our team or company vision statement. So I just shared my personal vision statement for me as an individual, but also. And the audience will recognize this immediately, but the vision statement for the human optimization project we have is to help as many people as possible become the best humans they can be so they can give their gifts back to the world. And I feel like my personal lines up with that and that's really helpful. So I have great alignment there of vision.
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B
So do I. I love what you're doing.
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A
And just like that, then it, it helps others say, hey, I like that, I can get behind that. Or no, I don't. That's not for me. I'll step away either way. I think it's, I think it's really, really valuable. So how about for you? How does your personal vision line up with your professional vision? Is it the same or do you have multiple different vision statements for the, the different roles you play in your life?
- [15:48]
B
Well, I'm not that sophisticated, Chris. I, I would say I did, I did just have one. In general, part of this is sometimes we think that we are, we have different roles we in life, like at work and at home and whatever that might be. But we're one individual. We're not disintegrated. And so for the most part, I would say that they're the same. You might tweak it a little bit if you want to, if you find that it's helpful. But I don't see that you necessarily need to do that.
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A
Yeah, I think that actually I agree 100%. I think ideally, if you can, if you have one vision statement that sort of covers all the multiplicities of selves, I think it's great because all of these different roles that we play in our lives are going to come and go. At times we are a parent, at times we are a child. But at certain times we stop becoming. You know, you lose your parents, you're no longer a child or your, your career changes, so you have a different profession. So those sort of things come in and out of our lives. But hopefully we have a vision statement that's relatively universal and can, can be exercised in all those. So I actually would encourage folks to the best you can make your vision statement not specific to your vocation if you can, because the vocation may change, but you as a human will change as well. But you don't want to have to tie all of your self worth and value to that vocation if you can. All right, so we've alluded to some of the struggles, but let's jump into our second section where we're going to talk about why so many of us struggle to clearly articulate this. So I've seen some stats that only about 30% of Americans can state what their employer's vision or mission is from memory. Those stats vary depending on how you Ask. But overall, it's a minority of folks that can do that. Why would you say those numbers are so low?
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B
I think this has to do with employers and how much they spend in work culture. So work culture in general will determine what's acceptable or unacceptable in the workplace, important or unimportant, right or wrong, that sort of thing. If you have a strong work culture, the companies that do that will emphasize the importance of vision and mission. Because what you want to have is all employees singing the same tune. If you have a strong vision as an employer, you're going to attract employees that want to jump on to that vision. Then again, it makes things so much easier for the individual employees and the employer in that case. So again, then everyone can have fun and work isn't so hard.
- [18:24]
A
Yeah. And I think a lot of teams and companies are probably leaving a lot on the table if they don't have a vision statement or if their employees don't know it. I mean, it doesn't do you much good to have it if the people who work with you don't know it. So I think it's pretty obvious that those companies are probably losing out.
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B
Yep.
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A
Does the same apply to the individual? So if the individual doesn't have one, are they losing out? And so that makes me wonder. And I don't know any stats on this. There probably aren't any. But what percent? You've done a lot of courses on this and you've talked to people who are trying to craft their own. In your experience, what percentage of individuals have actually crafted their own vision statement for their lives?
- [19:07]
B
I think it's pretty low. And of course, in my clinical practice, it's hard to tell because I see people. There might be a selection bias towards the people that come in and see me, but most of the time people are thinking about the stressors they have in their lives and they're not necessarily proactively looking forward to who they want to become. And again, I think that when people start thinking about what they want in their lives versus what they don't want, it's a really good way to move forward.
- [19:34]
A
Yeah, I think that's classic of us as humans. Right. We tend to wait until we have problems and then we address them in a reactive fashion rather than doing this sort of setting out ahead of time and trying to determine values, vision, purpose, mission. Very proactive approach to saying, I'm going to figure out who I am first, then my behavior is going to come from that, and we're just wired that way. That's don't. Don't feel bad about it. It's who we are. We all suffer. I do. I know you do as well, Greg.
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B
Absolutely.
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A
That's part of it. But if we can switch our mindset here and think of this sort of crafting of your values and vision as a proactive approach to your life, I think that it will help quite a bit. But when you go through this in your course on optimizing potential and you trying to talk people through these exercises, what are some of the most common mistakes you see individuals make when they're trying to craft their own vision statement?
- [20:28]
B
Yeah, for me, it's something that maybe isn't intuitive because I work mostly with healthcare professionals and healthcare professionals in general tend to be high in empathy and really hard on themselves. They're perfectionistic. And so if they're gonna do a vision, they want to do it absolutely right. And that's why I guess I wanted to even point out that we all evolve as people and my vision can still evolve. It doesn't mean that the words in general, I mean, you're going to tweak that over time. So I encourage people just put down a couple sentences on paper, give it some space and come back and look at it later and see what you think and it'll come to you. Don't try so hard.
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A
Yeah, I think that's great. And I think that people, like you said earlier, one, don't do it because they don't have the confidence or the understanding or they think they're going to mess it up or they're afraid of failure, sort of fixed mindset. And then also I think we all tend to be excessively verbose in this with a lot of jargon and don't keep it simple. And maybe the thought that it has to be very complex and elaborate keeps us from doing it as well. So sticking with it, the it small, keep it short and sweet and then come back to it as needed. Let's talk about some of those other elements you mentioned. At the very beginning, you said that it has to have clarity to it. How do people mess that up and how would you advise them to fix that?
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B
So it has to have clarity to an individual too. And I think a lot of times what people will do is they do try to. To make it into something more complicated. They also try to make it into something that might be based on someone else and not themselves. We have a society certainly with media and everything that will. You want to be like the idol or the stars or whatever that Might be. And it's good to have those people as role models who are there. It makes it difficult for sort of your average person on the street sometimes and try to come up with something that's clear for themselves. So I think part of that is just focusing on what they really want rather than what other people want. And then it becomes clearer. We think about it too much. I mean, I think this is one of those things too. We live in a left brain information society and sometimes clarity comes when we actually unplug and we think. We follow our heart or our intuition, which is something we're not used to doing.
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A
Yeah, that's a great point. We do live in a world where social comparison is easier than it's ever been. We're very prone to doing that, which I think is a mixed blessing. I think it's nice to. If you can look to others and use it for inspiration, I think that's wonderful. But I agree with you. I think you have to avoid just adopting somebody else's definition of success or somebody else's goals or somebody else's vision or values. Use it to inspire, but not necessarily, necessarily copy it directly. What would you say to the person who says, I don't have time to do this? We, that's all of us, really. Right. We all Time scarcity is a big hurdle.
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B
I think this is one of those things that actually makes more time for us though. It's. It doesn't take a lot of. You can think about it in the background when you're doing something and just jot something down. That certainly can be a way to go. It doesn't have to be anything that you make it into. Too big of a thing.
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A
Yeah. I often tell people, for me, answering these types of questions become answers that then answer a thousand questions afterwards. I do think once you sort of have a really good sense of who you are and what you're doing and why you're doing it, then everything else sort of falls into place. Like you said, it really makes the rest of your life easier. And your yeses become very quick yeses and your no very quick no's. And you don't have to spend as much time concentrating, deliberating, should I take this opportunity? Or what do I do in this situation? Or what's the right path forward? It really reduces the amount of thinking time you need for those things in the future.
- [24:42]
B
That's a really good point. I think we have difficulty saying no, particularly in healthcare, people have difficulty saying no. And to have that vision, you're Going to save a lot of time if you really take a look at what is my vision. Is this aligned with that or not?
- [24:59]
A
Another question I have about this too is how lofty should a vision be? I think there's this tendency for all of us to think it needs to be kind of heal the world, save the world, world peace level, Nobel Prize seeking kind of vision. Is that practical or appropriate or how would you coach people in that you
- [25:22]
B
want to have something that speaks to you individually and I think actually from the people I see people undershoot rather than overshoot. I don't think that that's really an issue. Our potential all. And I love the name of the project and everything. That's what we're trying to do. We're trying to reach our potential. And so I would encourage people not to. Don't worry about the overshoot part.
- [25:49]
A
That's great. And I think part of that is you can do that if you also find ways to recognize that it's a process, you know, so if you have a lofty vision, that's a real big picture thing and it's going to take a long time that I think that's okay. If you learn how to enjoy the process of getting there, like, like you mentioned earlier, you have to build that fun and enjoyment into it. It's not a thing that's going to be. I'm setting this massive vision for myself and I'm committed to a life of pain and suffering until I achieve it. That's not what we're after here.
- [26:23]
B
We're not. And people, I think along that lines too. Sometimes people are modest and they don't want to put things in that will make them seem not modest. And I noticed you had wisdom in yours. And some people would say, well, how do you know if you're wise or not? Can I put that in my statement? And I would say, yeah, absolutely, because this is something that's aspirational. And if wisdom is something that's important to you, it needs to be there.
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A
And I think this is something too for me. It's something you are seeking, but not always completely attained.
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B
Exactly.
- [27:00]
A
And so you can say, I will continue to seek wisdom. Without viewing yourself as somebody who has. Exactly. We're young and we're on the journey and on the pathway. So continuing to seek those things I think is really helpful. So speaking of that, we're talking about process, satisfaction and progress here. Is it important that our vision be measurable? Do we need like metrics and boxes we can check along the Way to see if we're living consistent with it.
- [27:30]
B
We're so used to dealing with metrics, and to a certain extent, having metrics is good, but not necessarily outcome metrics, more like process. Are we enjoying things along the way here? Are we having fun? Does this feel right? I mean, we're not used to talking about things like that. Does this feel right? So there might be a few smaller metrics that you want to make sure, you know, you're on the right track, but I wouldn't pay too much attention to that.
- [27:58]
A
Yeah, I tend to agree with you. I think it's really challenging if you make it objective. You know, for a lot of our folks in the medical world or science world or math world, like, we love to count things and we love to make lists and check boxes and do all of that. And I think there's a role for that in our lives. But this is probably not the place, in my opinion. Like, I think of this as sort of this is directional North Star type language that we're using here. Not a series of boxes to check or a to do list or a task list. Yeah.
- [28:27]
B
Yep.
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A
Curious about the future of healthcare. Tomorrow's Cure, the chart topping and Ambi Award finalist podcast from Mayo Clinic brings it to you today. I'm Kathy Werzer, and in this new season, I. I sit down with researchers, doctors, and industry experts who are leading
- [28:44]
B
the way in medical innovation.
- [28:45]
A
From cutting edge technology to breakthrough treatments, we'll explore how new solutions are improving and even saving lives. Follow Tomorrow's Cure wherever you listen to podcasts. All right, so now let's jump into the third section where we're gonna talk about some sort of practical steps people can take to set up their own ideal vision for themselves. And I call it an ideal vision. But I think we acknowledge there probably is no such thing. So it's okay to keep iterating on that. First, let me ask, is this something that anyone can do and that everyone should do?
- [29:25]
B
Yeah, I think anybody definitely can do it. It's just sitting down and doing it and like we've already been talking about. But yeah, doing it you should, because it will save you time. It will hopefully clarify things for you so that you take on the things that you want in your life consistent with your vision and not take on the things that are not consistent with your vision. And again, if you're concerned about getting your vision right or not, only you're the judge of that and you can change it anytime you want. So there's not really a lot of time that needs to go into that. And it can be something that evolves and it doesn't have to be perfect.
- [30:04]
A
Yeah, and I think I'm hearing in there too, this is not something, it's not just for companies, it's not just for CEOs and managers, it's everybody. And I think that we tend to equate it with work. But in reality, as we've talked about earlier, this goes far beyond that. This is defining who you are as a person and what you want to accomplish as much outside of work as inside of work. So this is sort of a universal concept, in my opinion. I agree. In doing this, going through this exercise, is it important that we do it on our own or is it okay to get help from others like people we know in our lives?
- [30:47]
B
I think it's certainly okay to always get help from others they aren't going to know. If I go to see someone, they aren't going to know me though. But they might ask clarifying questions that help bring that out. And so that's always going to be helpful. And sometimes when you talk to others too, I might not know some things about myself that to other people are obvious and they're like, well, did you consider this? Did you consider that? And it's something I might want in my vision, so I think it's helpful for that.
- [31:20]
A
I hadn't thought about that. So it is helpful for people, you know, who may say, greg, this is not quite consistent with who you tend to be or yeah, this is exactly who you are. I agree with this. I didn't think about that though. If you're talking to people you don't know as well they can, that can be helpful too because they may not know you at all. So they're going to want clarity. And you can ask those folks to ask you more questions and see, is this, when I show you this, is it clear? And if not, maybe they can ask the questions to help you clarify. So now I'm wondering if we can get a step by step guide on crafting our own vision. And I know it never exists, but, you know, in listening to the things you've told us so far, it seems like some of the key elements that I can pull out of this are when we probably need to determine our values and what's important to us. You know, spending some time writing that out, assess what the need is not only for us as an individual, but especially if you're doing this for a company, and then kind of see how do our values align with whatever needs are out there, set that vision and then kind of redefine it and circle back to it. Try to keep some of the elements, keep it consistent with who we are, make it clear, make it timeless. So you've given us a lot of good tips on that and I think that that's a nice step by step approach. Any other suggestions you would have for people and how they can think about getting started in the process?
- [32:47]
B
Yeah, for people who get stuck creatively, which is really easy to do when you're trying to think about things that seem like big, like doing your personal vision. I try to get people outside of their heads a little bit. And I've done a meditative exercise for people at times where they think about they've had a perfect career. Now they're at their retirement party and start asking questions like how is it decorated? What does it look like? Who shows up to this? What are people saying about you? And then it starts when you start asking questions like that, it gets back to a little bit of things related to vision. What do you say if you're going to get up and you're going to give a speech in a situation like that, you've had a perfect career, what do things look like? And that gives you some clues to what, what your vision is.
- [33:37]
A
A lot of that would be probably, who do you think? Who's in attendance? What are they saying about you? What would you be saying about them? And then what do you hope is a legacy that keeps going after you're gone? That's great. I love it. So think about your ideal retirement party. That would be a great suggestion. And then even still keep, as we talked about earlier, focus on not just work related relationships there too, but think about everybody from your life that's important to you.
- [34:07]
B
Yeah, that's a good point. Because when I've done it, I've done it more in a work context.
- [34:11]
A
Right.
- [34:12]
B
But yeah, a retirement party, at least the ones I've been to. The people you love in all areas of your life end up showing up there. And so that's interesting too because you see how home and life are integrated by kind of going through that exercise.
- [34:27]
A
Yeah, I like it. I have heard people talk about what do you want folks to say at your funeral? That feels a little morbid. So I like the ideal retirement party where friends, families and coworkers are invited. So let's go with that one.
- [34:38]
B
I like that.
- [34:38]
A
I love that.
- [34:39]
B
Sounds good.
- [34:39]
A
That's a great story. Okay, and so now can you give us a list of sort of top tips for creating an excellent vision or mission statement. And you know, when I put this question together, I was thinking about some examples of folks that have done it well and some that have not done it well, particularly companies, because we don't know individuals, vision statement. So it's pretty easy to look at companies and you think about, you know, companies that have just sort of nailed it and they have this, like, quick slogan that just really fits perfect. You also think about companies that went out of business because they didn't have a timeless vision. You know, they were sort of jumping on the hot commodity of the day. So it's really easy to look out into the business world and see. See folks that have done this really well and those that haven't. But I think some of the top tips that you mentioned, you know, keeping it short, make it specific. Also, I think don't make it specific to your vocation or your job. I think is really important. Maybe share it with somebody else to get a little feedback, you know, somebody you know or a stranger. Make sure it aligns with your values. And then something that can give you both purpose and pleasure. I think pulling that enjoyment piece in is great. So those were some of the tips that I pulled out of what you said so far. What about you? Do you have a way that you think about this?
- [36:07]
B
Well, I would say a lot of times I don't think. And that might be the problem. I will call myself Greg the Automaton. I going through life basically responding to things like if someone cuts me off in traffic, just like anyone else, maybe I want to get out the rocket launcher, whatever that might be. I don't, I don't. But it's during those times where you're like, well, what was that all about? You ask questions about that to yourself and you realize a lot of the times we're asleep, and I feel like 98% of the time I'm asleep. And that's an improvement from what I was before too, pretty much on autopilot. And actually, because I'm not so good at it, I realize that most people aren't so good at it too, at recognizing maybe things that they do on automatic mode that they don't realize that they do. And you have to have some data about that. And so what I'll often have people do is whenever you have a strong emotion like, like maybe you get angry because someone cut you off in traffic, you write down angry, someone cut me off in traffic. You write down what happened and the emotion associated with it. And do that for good and bad emotions for a few weeks. And you start to notice that you do have the full range of emotions at times. And that gives you some clues sometimes or data about what you like and what you don't like and what's important to you that you might put into a vision statement.
- [37:31]
A
You've hit on something that I haven't really thought about, but it actually hits pretty close to home for me. Essentially what you're talking about is just asking yourself questions about why you do what you do. We talk a lot on here about giving feedback and helping others and mentoring others. And so much of that is about asking questions to learn from others before you give feedback. You can't really motivate somebody until you understand where they're coming from and why. Right. I guess it's really the same for ourselves. So we have to be asking ourselves these questions. Why do you feel this way? Why do you react that way? Why are you doing what you're doing and then really thinking through it? And actually, now that you mentioned, this is bringing me back to probably five years ago when I first started doing all this thinking about I really need to sort out my values vision mission. I was doing a research project that had me sort of driving across country in a, my truck with an ultrasound machine in the back and we were, you know, it, long story, but I had like a 21 hour road trip driving by myself and I thought what am I doing and why am I doing this and. And like I had a lot of time just to sit and kind of think and ask myself over and over, well, why, why and what are you looking for and why and. And that really I realized I have not figured a lot of this stuff out and it gave me time to do that. But it really all came down to me asking myself why and what and how over and over and over again and kept iterating on that and then fine tuning it and then realizing, wow, I really don't know as well as I think I should, I need to spend some time sorting this out. So a lot of we talk about breaking up. Greg the automaton means you need dedicated time to sit and ask yourself why am I doing this, what am I doing and how and where am I going next? I think that that's really powerful. Okay, so let's say folks have started to do that and they've crafted this vision and we're all going to agree it's not perfect in version number one. Version number 1000 is still not going to be Perfect, but it'll be closer. How do they continue to reinforce it or live it out? Once it's created and they've got it down on paper, how do you live it out?
- [39:55]
B
That's a great question. And it has me thinking about how I would do it as well, I think ideally, because if I have my phone with me all the time, it would be a screensaver on the phone. But putting it in your refrigerator or somewhere where you're going to see it or by your nightstand, because it's one of those things when you see it, you automatically start reflecting about it. And I think that's the Greg the automaton thing. A lot of times I'm just, I'm on autopilot. I'm not thinking about, about it. Just like you were saying on your cross country trip. You know, once when you get the time to reflect and that's what you're doing, you might do it. But it's the day to day stuff where you really need to take time and so just put it somewhere where
- [40:38]
A
you can see it and visit it often. Yeah, yeah, I think that's great. And I think the same process you use to create it, you know, when you're reflecting and asking yourself why and what and how, I mean, it's the same way, you refine it the same way over time by saying, okay, this is what I've put down on paper or on my phone or wherever. This is how I'm living my life. Are those two consistent with each other? If not, which one's the one I want to aim for? And then adjusting accordingly. And sometimes that means adjusting your life and the way you're living. Sometimes it means adjusting the vision statement that you set out for yourself because maybe that wasn't actually the correct one. So along those lines, when should the vision statement be updated? Do you have sort of a recommendation? You know, we got some type A folks that are going to put a reminder on their calendar to revisit it. Others won't think about it at all. What's the right answer?
- [41:31]
B
Well, there's no right answer, however. I mean, if you have a perfect statement, it's timeless. The whole thing is as we evolve and our ideas of how that might look evolve. Which is another reason why I wanted to show you that I'm still evolving and changing it over time. I think that's great. Whenever, just like you were saying before, we have major events in our lives that have us question what we're doing. That's probably a natural time to do it. It's good to set aside time, though, just to reflect and unplug, and maybe that's the time to do it. I try to do it at least monthly try get away and think about these things that might not be realistic for some people, and that's okay too. But just have reminders and also have maybe some sort of interval that works for you to take a look at it.
- [42:25]
A
Perfect. And it won't be timeless from the beginning. If you get to a point where it becomes timeless, you probably need less updating. But that won't be version 1.0.
- [42:36]
B
No. No. And again, that's way down the road, I think. So I would really encourage people, again, to just bottom line it, make it a few words, a couple sentences, and if it works for you, it does. And if it doesn't, you'll change it.
- [42:54]
A
That's okay.
- [42:54]
B
Yeah.
- [42:55]
A
Great. All right, summary time here. So let me take a minute. I'm gonna summarize my notes and then we'll give you a chance to summarize as well. So notes I took down. In terms of what a vision is, it's really a way for you to capture what you want to accomplish in life. It's applicable to both an individual and a company. Here we're focus mostly on you as the individual. The benefits of setting your own vision is that it can add a lot of excitement and fun into your life because it allows you to make things consistent with who you are. It can serve as a great motivator. It makes life easier. We talked about how once you answer the question of what your vision is, that that's an answer that then answers a thousand questions. It can be your North Star to give you direction and know which way to go helps you get on the same page, maybe with your company, or if others know what your vision is, then it's easier for them to the same page as you. It allows you to define success for yourself rather than just adopting somebody else's definition. And then it makes it easier for you to measure your progress or have process satisfaction along the way. Some key elements that you listed out that you need in a good vision statement or that should be rooted in your values must be consistent with who you are. You should be able to clearly articulate it. It should be concise in one to two sentences, ideally timeless, aspirational for yourself, inspirational for yourself and others, enjoyable, actionable, and then not specific to your vocation. And then I would also say modifiable because you're not going to get that full list in the first go around. So certainly okay to modify it. Nobody is grading you on your vision statement. This is for you. So you're not going to get a grade. Just start, just try. And we mentioned for some people, it might be easier to start with defining their values, what's important first. So do that first. That might inspire your vision. Some folks will be tempted to write out a page or two of what their vision is, which is fine. But then try to see if you can shorten that down to one to two sentences. Know that it won't be perfect. Please don't make it painful. It's not meant to be. Life's too short for that. And don't focus too much on metrics. And then we talked a little bit about how you can and brainstorm some ways of doing this. So envision yourself at your ideal retirement party where friends, families, and coworker, they're all there. What would they say about you? What would you say about you? What would it look like? And what would be the feel that'll help you? And then figure out how to get yourself out of this automatic automaton mode that we all live in, which is basically just you asking yourself, why over and over, why do I do what I do? Why do I think that way? Why do I feel that way? Why is it is this important to me to really kind of understand who you are? And then in order to live it out, once you create it, look at it often, reflect on it, and change it as much as you need to. So that's my summary. Now let's give you a chance to summarize. I'll ask you those three big questions which you've answered very well over the last 45 minutes here. Give us the rapid fire answers here. So what exactly is vision and why do we need one?
- [46:03]
B
Well, a personal vision is a heartfelt aspiration that motivates purposeful action and brings fulfillment in daily life. We need one because it provides motivation and reinforces our purpose for being here.
- [46:17]
A
Love that definition. All right, our second question. Why do so many of us struggle to clearly articulate what we want to accomplish in life?
- [46:25]
B
Well, instead of celebrating our unique qualities, we often set our goals based upon what society expects and make things overly complicated. We focus too much on small details and don't pay enough attention to our instincts.
- [46:41]
A
And what practical steps should we take to set the ideal version for ourselves?
- [46:46]
B
Start immediately, jot down your first idea, quickly step away, then revisit and revise it. After a break, take some time to unplug and have some fun with it.
- [46:57]
A
I love it. I love it. Okay, so now we always end with the challenge or an action step. This one's super easy because you've sort of laid out a lot of steps already for the folks. But first, I would say if you haven't listened to our session on determining your value values, go do that, because I think that will really help set the stage for crafting your vision. So I would encourage people to check out that episode as well. Then when you get to the one for the vision, get out a sheet of paper and write it down. And you're aiming for one to two sentences here. Write something down. Know that it's not going to be perfect. In order to do that, ask yourself a lot of why questions. What you know, why do I think about this? Why do I value that? Why do I want to do, you know, X, Y, and Z? And then start writing it down and. And the tendency will be to overwrite. That's okay. If it's coming, let it flow and write it all down. And then go back and try to shorten it down to one or two sentences. Look at it often, revisit and adjust accordingly. Does that sound fair?
- [47:53]
B
Sounds great.
- [47:54]
A
Awesome. Greg, thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it.
- [47:57]
B
My pleasure.
- [47:57]
A
Thank you. All right. And to our audience, remember to live intentionally, consistently better. Keep striving to be the best human you can be so you can give your gifts back to the world and never stop, stop optimizing. Thanks for listening to the Mayo Clinic Human Optimization Project. If you liked this episode, hit subscribe and leave a review. It helps others find us know someone who might benefit. Share the episode with them to join us in our mission to help as many people as possible become the best humans they can be. Have feedback or a topic idea. Email us at optimizeayo. Edu and be sure to look for us on Instagram X and YouTube. This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be relied upon for medical professional or legal advice. Always consult with a qualified professional for any questions. The appearance of any guest does not imply an endorsement of them, their employer, or any entity they represent. The views and opinions expressed by the guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mayo Clinic Clinic. Reference to any product, service, or entity is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by Mayo Clinic.