The Perfect Time for Planning: December is the perfect time to review your year's goals and accomplishments noting the progress you have made. It is also the perfect time to fine tune your Vision, Purpose, Mission, Values and create a Goal Plan for the coming New Year. This article will describe how you can accomplish this important activity.

Why Have Vision, Purpose, Mission, and Value Statements: When a person knows their destination in life (Vision), why they are living (Purpose), how they are best serving (Mission), and precisely what they Value, then they are equipped with the knowledge and guidance to say YES or NO to the many things that come into their lives. Living congruently with your Vision, Purpose, Mission, and Values (VPMVs) is rewarding and brings inner peace, happiness, and joy to your life. But first, you need to know your VPMVs!

Your Vision: Vision is a vivid picture of where you want to go in your life. It's your ideal destination. Most people just react to life events and let other people tell them what to do. They have no clear idea of what they desire or how far they can grow and develop. They don't take responsibility for the quality of their lives and blame their situations on events and circumstances outside themselves. With a clear vivid vision, people know what they desire, want to create, and they are deciding and choosing to take actions to achieve the life they want.

Choose a time in the future - one, three, five, 10, or 20 years in the future, and imagine what the ideal life would be like. Write a detailed and vivid description of that ideal life. Fill your description with emotion and inspirational words that will motivate you and act as a beacon to guide you in the creation of what you want. After writing your description, distill it into a written statement that you can remember (one or two sentences at the most). You will be using this statement of your vision to guide your decisions and choices in life. With a clear direction to travel, you will be guided in your path as if you had a compass to show you the way.

Your Purpose: Your arrival on this earth is not some coincidence. Your purpose for existing is not to consume resources in pursuit of indulgences with no meaning. You came into this world to fulfill some very unique and important purpose or purposes. Identifying that purpose and conducting your mission within that purpose can bring you great satisfaction, joy, and happiness. Working and living "on purpose" becomes seamless as the time flies by with total immersion in your "on purpose" activities. What are you passionate about? What contribution to the world do you naturally love to make? What is your purpose for living and working on this earth? Why are you here?

Find a quiet place where you will be undisturbed. Let your mind dwell on the subject of purpose. Ask yourself the question, "Why am I here?" Immediately after asking that question, write your first thought(s) on a piece of paper. Continue asking the same question and recording your initial thoughts until you have exhausted all possible answers. Examine your recorded thoughts for some common theme that answers your question. Capture that theme in a statement of your purpose. As time passes, your purpose may evolve.

Your Mission: Your mission describes your labor, what you do both in work and life. It involves using your natural skills, strengths, and competencies. Your mission is where you will be able to perform your best work tirelessly with great energy, meaning, joy, and satisfaction. What is your mission?

Mission statements are made up of four parts. They are:

Who you are? (I am a unique person of greatness and unlimited potential)
What are your major roles? (i.e. son or daughter, husband or wife, father or mother, business leader, provider for your family, etc.)
What services do you provide in each of your roles? (i.e. respect & love, companionship, nurturing and education, coaching and feedback, secure financial planning, supervision, labor, etc.)
To what standard do you provide your services? (excellence, etc.)

Jot down your answers to the questions using unbounded brainstorming techniques. Identify common themes and combine into phrases. Combine your phrases into a sentence or two and polish to create your unique mission statement. As with purpose, your mission may change and evolve with time.

Your Values: Values are guides to your thinking, behavior, actions, and results. Values act as boundaries to conducting your mission, living on purpose, and traveling toward your vision. Therefore, identifying your guiding values can be quite valuable in your life journey.

As you develop into and through adulthood you learn to value certain objects, relationships, characteristics, and concepts. It is natural to find yourself learning to value hundreds of "things." However, hundreds of valued things can't act as guides.

Brainstorm and write on a piece of paper all the things you value. Include ideals or which you are aware and characteristics you admire in leaders, friends, and people. With your complete list, look for common themes or ways to combine items into similar groups. For instance, keeping commitments could be grouped with integrity. Continue the combining process until you feel that you have identified your foundational values. The number of values and wording should be such that you can instantly recall what they are. After identifying your values, you can begin to consciously use them in your work and life. As they are used and you think more about your values, you may want to repeat this exercise or refine your current list. Over time you will become sure of your foundational values and know what they are.

Dream Again - Goal Planning: Most people I know work many hours, have a family to raise, and other obligations that consume most if not all of their time and lives. Dreams they once had are placed on the back burner, so long ago, that they can't be remembered today. It's time to pause, reflect, resurrect, and record anew those dreams. Take time to crystallize your dreams so you may create the future you want. If you don't dream, you won't have a future, at least the future you desire and wish to create.

Find a quiet place where you can relax and just let your thoughts travel back into the past and forward into your future. What are all the things you want to learn, become, do, visit, own, feel, interact with, and impact. Take 3 X 5 cards and write one item on each new card. Let your imagination run wild with no limitations, especially financial costs. Write them down as you dream them one to a card.

John Goddard did this when he was 15 and created a list of 127 adventures he wanted to experience. Type 60 words a minute, milk a rattlesnake, travel the Amazon river, climb Mt. Everest, go into space, hold his breath under water for 3 minutes. John Goddard has accomplished 109 of his dreams. He is a very happy man.

Take your cards (goals) and sort them into the following three piles: Must do, Like to do, Will do if time permits. Then prioritize each pile and combine them Must do on top, Like to do next, and then Will do if time permits. You now have a priority list of your dreams that become your life goals. Take the top two or three dreams / goals, plan their accomplishment, and start taking actions to manifest them. When you feel comfortable with your progress and have time, activate the next priority dream / goal on your prioritized list and repeat the process. Do this each New Year and you will never run out of adventures!

If You Do Nothing Else! I challenge you to take out a pen right now and write down three goals that if you accomplished them in 2007 would make it the best year ever. The hard part is making up your mind, the rest is just work! Make up your mind now, make the commitment, and take the first step toward realizing one of your goals.