How vision and core values are essentials to personal leadership

How vision and core values are essentials to personal leadership

Personal leadership is the ability to lead yourself. Personal leadership is based on self-awareness, self-discipline, and self-improvement. It is also doing the things when no one is watching that moves yourself forward. Before you can lead others, it is important to lead yourself.  

Personal leadership is the art of leading yourself by having a clear vision and values, and acting in alignment with them. Stephen Covey, wrote “Personal leadership is the process of keeping your vision and values before you and aligning your life to be congruent with them.”. In this article, we will discover how vision and core values are critical to become a better self leader. 

Key Concepts of Personal Leadership:

Personal leadership means discipline. It's about aligning your actions with your core values to create a harmonious environment for your family.

Leading yourself is like being the head coach of you. You make daily decisions that impact the game. Your game of life.  Some days are wins, some days are losses. You have to plan your strategy. Are you letting life happen or are you creating a life you want? One of my favorite quotes is from a mentor of mine, Maurice Philogene.  “Create a life you don’t need a vacation from”.  What are you creating?  Everything you are experiencing right now is a product of your creation.   Just like in coaching, you must inspire yourself.

Having a clear vision is a part of that inspiration. 

Do you have a vision?

Do you know your core values?

Setting a Vision for your future self

To create a life of your dreams requires a vision.

Having a clear vision is like setting a roadmap for yourself. It clearly defines the destination of the life you want to live. It defines internal things like. What type of person do you want to be? What do you want to be known for? It defines external things like.  How do you spend your days?  What is life like with family and friends? How much money you have? 

If you are not happy with where you are in life.  I will say it again.  It is a result of the current vision you are living.  One more note: vision is different from a dream. A dream is fleeting. We mostly don’t remember our dreams when we wake up in the morning.  A vision is a directive, followed with a plan and action.  Vision can include a dream of a life you want to lead.  However, a dream by itself, leads nowhere.   

Can you describe your future self? How do you want to spend your time?  How do you want to be known? What type of character do you want to be known for? How do you interact with your family and friends? What is the life you want to create that you do not need a vacation from?  

Take a moment to start witing down the life you want.  That is the 1st step to creating a vision. 

Core Values:

Now, let's dive deeper into the concept of aligning your actions with your core values. Your core values are the fundamental beliefs that guide your life and decision-making. Think of them as the compass that helps you navigate through life's challenges and opportunities.

What are those character traits that are important to you? Is it integrity or trust?  Is it wisdom and knowledge? For example, I have a core value of “Be a part of the solution not the problem”. This stops me from complaining about the situation or focusing on who to blame for a problem.  It keeps me focused on solving the problem and moving on. 

What are the things that you most believe in?

Actionable Steps:

What steps can you take right now to enhance your personal leadership in your family's financial journey? Think about how you can lead more effectively as your own head coach. What type of person do you want to be? What is your personal vision? Then make a plan to become that person. What do you need to learn?  What do you need to start doing?  What do you need to stop doing?

Write it down. 

Look at your plan every morning after you wake and every night before you go to bed.

Personal leadership is the cornerstone of becoming a leader of one. By taking initiative in everyday situations, aligning your daily actions with your vision and core values, you will find yourself living the life of your dreams.  

Until Next Time…