Start with a problem you care about, then create a project that helps solve it. Let’s assume you’ve found a problem in your community or beyond that you care enough about to get involved. Maybe it’s “Violence in my kid’s school,” or “Ugly sprawl taking over my town.” You’re eager to take action, but what’s the best response to this problem?

Start by learning all you can about it. How widespread is it? What, if anything, is already being done? What resources might be available?

The next step is to create a specific project that helps solve the problem—something you can achieve with the time and resources you’ve got or can get. “Creating a conflict resolution program in my kid’s school,” and “Getting the town council to pass an anti-sprawl ordinance,” would be possible projects in response to the problems cited above.

A solid project has a vision, goals, a timeline and a budget. Swinging into action with only the problem burning in your heart, but without a defined project, could have you all over the map and having little impact. On the other hand, launching a project that isn’t connected to a problem you really care about leads to half-hearted work and—again—poor results.

Here are steps for creating your project

Don’t expect to have all the details in the beginning; you’ll refine your project as you go forward with it.

Create a vision of success.
A vision is a mental picture of the result you want to achieve—a picture so clear and strong it will help make that result real. A vision is not a vague wish or dream or hope. It’s a picture of the real results of real efforts. It comes from the future and informs and energizes the present. Visioning is the most powerful tool I’ve witnessed in over twenty years of helping organizations and individuals get the results they want.

Here’s why:
A vision inspires action. A powerful vision pulls in ideas, people and other resources. It creates the energy and will to make change happen. It inspires individuals and organizations to commit, to persist and to give their best.

A vision is a practical guide for creating plans, setting goals and objectives, making decisions, and coordinating and evaluating the work on any project, large or small.

A vision helps keep organizations and groups focused and together, especially with complex projects and in stressful times.

Not every picture is a vision. Your vision should:
Be clear—so sharp and so detailed that you can see, smell and taste the smallest details. Be positive. Acknowledge the difficulties, but don’t try to motivate yourself or others with a vision of bad things that might happen if you don’t succeed. A vision based on fear may help fuel immediate action, but it can also limit your results to damage control rather than getting to positive change.

Be big enough. Create a bigger picture of the effects of your work than just solving the problem at hand. A vision that’s too small may not provide enough inspiration, or generate enough energy, to get you past the tough spots. It might even close your mind to what you could achieve. Include changes in attitudes. The challenge you see in front of you is only the part of the problem you can see—the rest of the challenge is deeper and often involves personal attitudes that may be strongly held. Include a clear picture of your personal role, not just that of your organization, if you’re in one. This isn’t about ego. It’s about you taking full responsibility for helping achieve the results you want.

Come from the heart, not the head. Don’t try to think your way to a vision. To create a vision that’s exciting and compelling, you’ve got to give yourself the freedom to dream—to use your imagination to see and feel what does not yet exist. A vision is not the same as goals or objectives; those come from the head. A vision comes from the heart.