The personal vision statement goes beyond career goals into a deeper place of discovery and fulfillment. In fact, before you can truly identify the intentions for your professional life, you first have to know what they are for you as an individual. Once written, your vision statement serves as a roadmap for all areas of life.

The wonderful thing about a vision statement is that it is customized to what you want to say. You get to focus on what matters the most to you. Best of all, you write it down in present tense, so you don’t have to wait to connect to this future version of yourself. You can begin to experience and be guided by it right now.

Crafting a personal vision statement demands that you define your destination with the utmost clarity so that you can stay focused on your path. It allows you to be intentional about the choices you make along the way. It helps you make decisions with confidence, knowing what will and won’t lead to where you aim to go.

From a professional standpoint, it helps you to align your career with the rest of your life. It helps you stay balanced and gives you a clear marker of what success looks like. Distractions are everywhere these days, and without this strong and steady anchor to come back to, it’s easy to get sidetracked with the details of life.

A compelling vision statement provides inspiration to be your best YOU. It celebrates who you are today and motivates you to stay committed to the person you will become. Instead of dwelling on past mistakes, it gives you just what it says it will: Vision. An unclouded view of the future.

Give yourself an undistracted chunk of time to really focus and think about what you want. Since this is essentially a definition of your future self, it’s important to give it your undivided attention.

Take notes of your ideas as you go. Think about what you truly want out of life, and avoid thinking about what others want or what you think you should want. Don’t worry about limitations. This vision is not about where you are today, and it’s not a plan of how to get to the future. It simply is the future that you can visualize for yourself. Connect to your heart and your true, authentic self. Close your eyes to picture it, if that helps. Aim to see it as clearly and as detailed as you possibly can.

There is no right or wrong length but aim for 2 or 3 paragraphs. The more detail you can write out, the clearer picture you will have. Take ownership of this vision, and write it in the first person, as if it’s already happening.

Refine it until it says everything you want it to say about your future. Type it into a document so that you’re able to print it. (Or write it neatly onto its own piece of paper.)

A written statement holds weight. Seeing it on your wall or next to your desk every day reinforces the vision and allows you to internalize what it means for you. It will give you focus and remind you what you are working towards. In fact, this article via Forbes shares that “people who very vividly describe or picture their goals are anywhere from 1.2 to 1.4 times more likely” to accomplish them.

So post it where it’s visible, and read it every day.