Your Values

The first component is the core values on which you will be basing your vision. Values speak to your true essence and represent who you are and what you stand for. Experts have pointed out that if a person were to lose one of their core values, he or she would be a totally different person. Others claim that we die for our values before we compromise them. My complimentary ebook contains a values exercise, if you need help.

Now that you know your top values, you are ready to align your vision with them. This is where you can look at what you'd like to accomplish in your writing to reflect what you honor in your life. Remember, don't adapt the value to the vision; create the vision to support the value. You are using the values as the reference point. The vision will drive your efforts, but is not what drives your life.

Your Vision (Your Dream)

This is the fun part of this process. You get to dream your dream. What is it you want to accomplish? Is it to be on Oprah? To be a best-selling author? To travel the world as a speaker, bringing your message to thousands? Is it all of these?

This is no-hold's barred dreaming. No limitations. Nothing can stop you. The world is yours, and you will soon manifest it.

When creating your vision, I want you to exercise "no-limit thinking," with the premise, "What would my writing look like if it were impossible for me to fail?" With this type of thinking, your vision will obviously be quite different than if you put limitations on what you create. Be wary of scarcity thinking and limited beliefs. They will hold you back from what's possible.

Your Purpose

The next step is to determine your purpose for writing. The purpose is your ultimate intention. It is the "why your writing exists" statement; when others hear it, they have a sense of what you want your writing to be. The purpose statement is something you strive for, your aspirations.

Purpose can be the central theme of your writing, and can also be used as a basis for a brand to establish your writing in the intended audience's thinking.

Your purpose for your book will quite likely parallel your purpose in life. That's good. It gives you an even more compelling reason to create and promote your writing.

Your Mission Objectives

Your mission objectives are comprised of the big initiatives that you are going to accomplish. This is the list of goals and strategic actions that you are striving to achieve. Your dream and your purpose drive your mission. Your mission is composed of goals and activities that you could check off when completed; it is not a destination.

Here are some examples: Best-seller status: To make Amazon.com, New York Times, and Barnes & Noble best-seller lists. Number of books sold: To sell 30,000 copies of my book via the Internet. Exposure: To have 10 articles on other people's websites.

I'll give you an example of two different missions that created similar outcomes. There were two business writers who were experts in their field, with similar topics they wanted to write about. One had a mission to be on the best-seller lists of the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Amazon.com. The other had a mission to sell 300,000 copies of his book.

The first author went the traditional route, hiring an agent, finding a publisher who wanted to work with him, and eventually marketing his book to the public. He attained his goal of making the best-seller lists, and made a significant amount of money. He sold close to a half-million books.

The second author took a different approach. He targeted a major corporation in his industry and sold them on the idea of paying him an advance to write the book, then taking the rights to his writing and publishing the book with the company's name on it. He would receive royalties on all of the books they sold, and they would benefit by helping their customers with important information, as well as making a significant amount of money for their efforts. The company sold well over 500,000 books and he made a lot of money.

The point is, there are many ways to be successful with your writing. What works for you and your audience will be different than the next author. You must determine what will be best for your message and your market.