Help Your Client Develop a Vision, Path, or Goal Within an ICF Certification Program
Proverbs 29:18 tells us where there is no vision, the people perish. This underscores just how important it is to develop an overall life vision, and a specific vision to face a particular circumstance or situation. While this is a non-core competency topic in an ICF certification program, a personal life vision gives purposeful and practical direction, allowing the client to navigate life with clarity.
A vision helps your client make decisions and choices that are right for them. The challenge for the Christian life coach is helping their clients to develop a vision that is truly inspirational. Without inspiration, there will be no gusto to pursue it. This topic is not always addressed on ICF certification programs, so here are some tips for helping your clients to develop a vision.
Writing a Vision and Purpose Statement
The vision statement defines the big picture. The purpose statement tries to concentrate on the moment. Vision says, “This is where I am going.” Purpose says, “This is where I am, and this is what I am doing.” Having a vision will help your client answer the question, “What am I hoping to accomplish?” Your client’s purpose will help them answer questions such as, “Why do I exist?” “What are my gifts and talents?” “How do I accomplish what I have in mind?”
As a Christian life coach, you want to help your client to understand life from a Christian worldview. The Bible lets us know that God created us all for a unique purpose; in fact, he predestined us. You can help your client to understand this by referencing Scriptures such as:
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
Through insightful questions on your part, and objective answers from your client, she will gain clarity through scriptures such as these. God created us all for unique assignments, and he gives us different gifts, talents, and abilities to accomplish his plans. These can also serve as a hint to one’s life purpose.
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After your client has written his purpose statement, he can move on to writing a vision statement. For example, a life vision is the bigger picture of what a person believes God created them to be and do. The process of writing the life vision will help your client have a clearer picture of who they really are and why God put them on earth.
The vision statement will guide them for the rest of their life, so this should not be rushed. A life vision will also help clarify specific visions, such as what type of work the client should pursue, the type of relationship they desire, or how to overcome a particular obstacle.
Encourage your client to take some personal prayer time to ask God for clarity of their purpose and vision.
Encourage your client to look to their Bible for direction and focus.
Help your client to be as broad and general as possible when writing down their life vision. Then you can help her develop specific visions and develop goals and steps to accomplish what she has in mind.
Writing the Mission Statement
A mission statement should be written after the purpose and vision have been written, so it is important help your client to differentiate between vision, purpose, and mission.
Purpose is the answer to the question of “Why?” in the client’s mind.
Vision is the answer to the question of “What am I trying to accomplish?” Keep in mind that each person’s vision will be unique to them.
Mission is the answer to the question, “How do I accomplish my life vision?”
Your client might feel that the purpose and vision statements are sufficient. However, you should help them realize that having a vision is great, but without a mission statement, they will not have action points that can help them to effectively pursue the vision. In fact, many Christians may have defined their purpose, and many more have a life vision, but very few have followed through with a mission statement. The mission statement is the commitment that is needed to make the vision a reality.
A good example is when President John F. Kennedy gave America his vision of putting an American on the moon by 1970. As soon as the president communicated the vision, his government set up the Apollo Mission program. The Apollo Mission worked night and day with the aim of fulfilling the president’s vision of sending an astronaut to the moon in a decade or less. If a mission had not been crafted, the president’s vision might have never seen the light of day. While this happened over 40 years ago, the NASA Program is still going strong today.
You can help your client to write their mission statement by giving them a worksheet such as this:
I plan to accomplish my life vision of being a _____________________by doing the following:
1. ______________________________
2. ______________________________
3. ______________________________
Writing Your Life Values
The word value is defined as: “the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something; a person’s principles or standards of behavior; one’s judgment of what is important in life.” Here is a good question to ask your client to help them know what their values are: “What is the most important thing to you?”
Ask them to ponder this question when they get up in the morning, when they go about their day, and before they close their eyes at night. What do they think about the most? What motivates them to choose one event or one person above another one? What or who can inspire your client to sacrifice time and money?
The truth is that we all only have a handful of values that we live by. It is possible to adopt multiple values for a short time, but no one can live for long with values that are of real importance. It is, therefore, best to help the client understand which values are most important to him.
Writing down life values can be a really fruitful exercise. The process of someone reflecting on their relationship with God, family members, friends, colleagues, and more can help them discard lesser values that are of no consequence. As a Christian life coach, it is worth your time to help your client understand the importance of godly values.
Help your client to match each of their life’s values to something they believe in or believe to be true. For instance, if one of their values pertains to Bible study, the life belief can be something like, “The Bible is my manual for living, and I will read, meditate, memorize, and study it daily.”
As you may notice on all Christian life coaching websites, Christian life coaches in an ICF Certification Program are not meant to guide, counsel, or direct their clients. As a Christian life coach, you desire to have the mind of Christ and the gifts of wisdom, discernment, and knowledge for direction. You don’t just help your client “get through” life, you help your client fulfill the vision God has for them.
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different gifts, talents, and abilities to accomplish his plans. These can also serve as a hint to one’s life purpose.
A good example is when President John F. Kennedy gave America his vision of putting an American on the moon by 1970. As soon as the president communicated the vision, his government set up the Apollo Mission program. The Apollo Mission worked night and day with the aim of fulfilling the president’s vision of sending an astronaut to the moon in a decade or less. If a mission had not been crafted, the president’s vision might have never seen the light of day. While this happened over 40 years ago, the NASA Program is still going strong today.
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