You need goals, but they will not drive you on days when you don't feel like doing the work. They give some guidance but will not allow you to push through when you come home from a long day at work.

This is where you need a vision. It will give you the push when goals don't work.

What's the difference between goals and vision?

You set goals in your New Year's resolutions in the gym, at work, and in your personal life. If you do them right, they should be SMART. You don't want to set goals out of your reach, as you will lose motivation to achieve them, and they must be measurable.

A vision is the end.

It's a projected future version of you — the life you live, how you act, how you look, and the people around you. Your vision is personal to you, and it should energise you every time you think of it. Your vision is your largest, most impressive version; it is bigger than you now.

To have massive success and achieve your dream life, you need the goals and the vision working together.

You set goals for each quarter and for the next 12 months. And you check in daily.

It's like a pilot flying a plane; the pilot has a starting point and an end destination. But in the middle, the plane is off course 90% of the time. It needs constant feedback and readjustment back on course.

Your vision is your final destination, and your goals are your adjustments in your flight plan. They keep you headed in the right direction, allow you to track progress, and allow you to adjust your efforts accordingly.

Goals give you direction. But vision gives you the drive.

How do I create a vision?

Set aside time to do focused, inspirational thinking using your creative imagination.

You want to imagine what your dream life would look like. Imagine what your dream day would be like. Think about this —

From the moment you wake up,

• What do you do?
• How do you feel? How does confidence feel?
• Who's with you?
• What do you look like? What do you wear
• What activities do you do during the day?

You could think of someone you admire and aspire to be like. What do they wear, how do they speak, how do they carry themselves, what do they do?

Write down in detail what your dream day is, how your health is, how you speak and interact with others, how much confidence you have, where you live, who you live with, and the actions you do daily; you need to feel how committed and confident you are in yourself.

You can use pictures and create vision boards if you are the more creative and visual type.

This vision should make you feel excited as you write it, make you feel alive and passionate, and make you want to work on yourself immediately. It should be so powerful and realistic that you feel you can almost touch it now.

How do I use a vision?

If you have made a vision board, keep it visible where you work in your home.

Keep the written details on your phone in your notes app. Refer to this daily and whenever you need a push.

Most days will be a slog; it will be hard, and you will feel like giving up. These days, you must remember your vision.

When making decisions like

"Should I go out drinking after work this Wednesday?"

"Should I go to the gym today?" or

"Should I cancel my diet for the weekend?"

Ask yourself what the best version of you would do. Then, you will begin to embody this vision and act the way the future version of you acts.

First, you must do, then you can become.

What if I don't know what to do

Most of us have yet to take the time to figure out what we really want from life. What happens is that you get to a stage in life, generally around your 30s, where you begin to question your path and doubt your direction.

You followed the traditional path, leading you to your current point. Is this where you want to be?

If not, it is probably because you never set a clear intention or a vision of your endpoint.

You just sort of set a direction and took one day at a time. Days turned to months, months turned to years. And here you now are.

Now is the time to set aside a day, preferably in the morning, before you are influenced by outside factors and decide on the life you want to live.

• What is the end goal?
• What do you imagine yourself doing?
• What type of person are you?
• Who are you surrounded by?
• And most importantly, what is your WHY? Why do you want that life?

If it is a superficial why, like I want to drive a nice car because I've always wanted one, great! But there needs to be a stronger why.

Your why must compel you to become the best version of yourself.

It must be bigger than you. Who can you help? Who will benefit from you becoming the best version of yourself? What will you put out into the world by embodying this? What will your legacy be?

It is a never-ending mission. It's the journey you will go on; there is no end destination on the journey of self-mastery.

I have written about how you can find your purpose and how you don't need a purpose to take action. The most important thing is doing the work.

You have an idea of the activities you enjoy or are good at. Just start taking action. You will learn along the way whether this is something you want to pursue.

If it is, you must stick with it for at least 18 months. That's the only way to see results.

Most days will be boring, and you'll ask yourself if it's worth it; you barely make visible progress.

This is where you use Goals to monitor your progress, and on those boring days, you use your vision to drive you.

Don't be in the same place you are now in 12 months. Take action today. Small steps, compounded daily, lead to a totally new you and a different life — a life of your dreams.