How to write a vision letter

Sometime last month I wondered if people could benefit from me doing a template for a vision letter. I thought of this because I’ll encourage someone to write one because I’ve seen things I’ve written down coming true and they choose not to do it. This baffles me because if you knew you could dream something, write it down and live to see it, why would you not want to do that? I thought maybe it appears to be a daunting task, hence the template idea.

Minutes after thinking of doing a template for a vision letter, I received a message on my phone from a friend and she was asking if I would consider doing a template for a vision letter. That’s when I knew it has to be done. So although this is not a template per se, it’s guidance to writing a vision letter that I think anyone interested will find helpful. I even give examples at the end from some of my vision letters.

What is a vision Letter?

It is a letter that you write to someone or yourself and date it 5, 10, or 20 years from now, or however long you wish. In this letter you describe what your life is like, where you are, what you’re doing, who you’re with and a whole host of other things, which I will show you later. You would have to be as descriptive as possible as you write the letter.

January of 2017, I wrote my first vision letter. In it I wrote describing my life 10 years from then. I wrote about things that hadn’t happened yet. Some of those things have already happened. Let me share some of them with you:

• I said I’m a writer, at the time I hadn’t written anything, I hadn’t even started blogging. Now 3 years later, I’ve written and published 4 books.
• I wrote I’m a motivational speaker, when I hadn’t done that yet. Now I get to do this on a regular basis.
• I wrote I inspire people, especially young women. Now I have an inspirational blog, inspirational books and some of my speaking engagements are to young women.
• I also wrote I get to travel, at the time I’d never traveled anywhere, except South Africa because I studied and worked there. Last year I went on vacation to Bali, Indonesia.

Now that I know writing down my vision works, I’m sharing publicly because when all I’m writing happens, I can refer people to where I’ve written about it.

Why write a vision letter?

The whole point of writing a vision letter is to allow yourself to dream big. It’s to give you an idea of what your future will look like. You don’t have to worry about how it will happen. God’s got that part covered. Your part is to dream it, believe it and when the time comes, to act. For example if you include in your letter that you own a restaurant even though you’re not a chef and 3 years from now you meet a great chef who tells you he wants to start a restaurant but needs a partner, that might be a sign for you to act.

What you can do in the meantime is prepare yourself, however that looks like for you. For instance if you dream of running a profitable business, you could read books to help you learn all you can. You could also watch videos of interviews of people who’ve done what you want to do or listen to podcasts of the same.

Visualization

After writing your vision letter or letters, imagine what the life you’ve dreamed on paper will be like. I believe imagination is a form of prayer. How will you feel as you live that life? See it clearly in your mind and experience it as if it’s already happening. If there’s something you can do right now to give you an idea of what your life will look like, do it. For example, I watch Architectural Digest homes on YouTube because the house I now dream of living in is nowhere to be found around where I live.

Questions to answer in your vision letter:

1. Where are you at the time you write the letter? Country and or city.
2. Where do you live? Country and or city.
3. Who do you live with? Husband, wife, partner, children, friends, alone, with a pet or pets?
4. If you live with a husband, wife or partner, what are they like? (This could be a whole vision letter of it’s own.)
5. If you have children, how are they educated? Public school, private school, home schooling (by you or hired tutors?)
6. What are you doing with your life? What do you spend your time doing? Who do you do this with? Business? Career? What’s your life like exactly? Be as descriptive as possible.
7. What did you achieve in the last 5 years, 10 years or 20 years?
8. What are you known for? What do you do well? What do you leave people with? (For example I like to leave people I encounter feeling hopeful or having faith.)
9. How have you been recognized for your work? Have you received any awards? Have you been featured in any publications? Who have you been interviewed by? Where have you been interviewed? Have you appeared on any TV shows, radio shows or podcasts?
10. Who do you hang out with or rub shoulders with?
11. Who are the people you want to impact or reach through your work?
12. What is the state of your finances?
13. What is your health like?
14. How do you look and feel about yourself?
15. What kind of neighborhood or area do you live in? A farm, a family friendly suburb, a town house, an apartment, a safe neighborhood, a quiet area, a vibrant area, an area with an active nightlife?
16. What kind of house do you live in? How many bedrooms? Is there a dining area, a lounge, a study or a prayer room? Is there a games room, home theater, swimming pool, hot tub or anything else you may want? Is there a gym or tennis court or anything like that?
17. What car do you drive? Do you drive yourself or are you chauffeur driven?
18. What’s your lifestyle like?
19. Are you doing any traveling? Once in a while or often? Do you prefer to be in one place?
20. Do you employ any people, whether for your work or for your home?
21. What does a typical day in your life look like? What do you do from when you wake up until you go to bed?

Examples of portions of a vision letter

The general part

Vision letter from 2029 me, to 2019 me. (Even if you’re writing your letter as though you’re writing it in 2029, make sure you also write the date you actually write the letter to refer to when it has happened.)

Dear 2019 Sibo,

If you knew my life right now, you’d be smiling. Things are about to change in your life. God is about to catapult you in ways you never imagined. So much will happen in such a short space of time your head will swim!

As I write this I’m at a coffee shop in Paris. It’s not the first time I’m here. I do this just to center myself and remind myself that I dreamed about the life I now live. My husband is at the hotel because I told him I just needed to be alone as I wrote to you. Do you know that as I sit here writing this and you sit there reading, we’re both doing that at the same time? Both events are happening simultaneously. So you can smile because everything I’m writing to you now has already happened.

I mentioned a husband didn’t I? Yes, you’re married to the love of your life now. He’s more than we could have ever imagined because as you know, God knows us better than we know ourselves. He’s everything you hoped he would be. Thank you for dreaming him for us. I know you worry about this, yes he loves you as you are and he thanks God for you every day because you’re his dream come true. We’re happy together. We are so compatible. We have two children that we adopted some years ago. God has turned us into just the right parents for our kids. They are healthy and so whole. You would love how much they love Jesus. We couldn’t have asked God for a better life.

I currently live in Los Angeles, California with my husband H and our 2 children, Timothy and Nomzamo. We are a close knit family who loves each other and we live to serve God above all else. We enjoy spending time together which is why when we travel, be it for work or on vacation, we do it together. (Except when H and I set aside time away just for us:-) We can travel together because the kids are home-schooled/privately tutored.

I’m living in my purpose of bringing people closer to God. I do this in many different ways. One way is through Hosea Women International. Another is through the Hosea Foundation. I speak and preach at different events and churches all over the world. I go into the nations and find myself on international stages just like God said I would. Different countries and organizations come to me to be assisted in a strategic advisory capacity and for my problem solving capabilities.

You’ll be glad to know that I still write! I write books that lead people closer to God and introduce them to Him for those who don’t know Him.  There’s a bit of pressure now because people expect a lot from “Sibo.” I don’t let that get to me though. I still write to share my experiences. I still learn and teach. That hasn’t changed in my writing. The only difference is that more people read now. Our books impact millions and millions of people.

People still marvel at how everything you wrote about, I have lived to experience. How amazing is God that in just 10 years I’ve experienced almost everything you dreamed of?! So keep dreaming my love because I’ll get to experience it. I’m only turning 47 next month and a movie has been made about my life! God is just so great. The movie’s success was beyond what anyone could have expected.

Like God said, relax and let Him work, because His work is something special. Relax my dear and enjoy where you are right now.

In case you’re wondering, yes Sibo, I’m successful. My success is beyond measure. When God said He would make you successful, I never imagined He meant this! The success He promised you, I’m living in it and every day I marvel at where He has me and what He’s having me do and experience. Child, God really does love us! Let Him love you.

My darling Sibo, there’s so much I could tell you but let me leave you to experience the rest as it happens like I’ve been doing. Thank you for being such a dreamer and for believing the seemingly impossible because now I’m living in your God ordained dreams. I love you so much, more than you could ever think possible.

Forever yours,

Sibo of 2029.

The home part

It is a beautiful, artistic, big house that looks like a hotel with a family feel to it. It’s a 2 story house. It has a resort style pool with comfortable pool chairs. It has a tennis court/basketball court. There’s also an indoor water feature. There is a gym as well that H and me share. Sometimes we work out together. I like to watch him work out lol.

There is a home movie theater where we watch movies as a family. There are 2 lounges. One big one and a smaller one so that when there are visitors, the kids use the smaller one and we use the big one. There’s a dining area. The kitchen is a state of the art kind. We eat breakfast there or on the patio.

There’s a games room with a pool table, foosball table and an air hockey table. There are board games too. There are sofas and a TV for when we’re entertaining. The house is especially turned into a home by our pictures around the house. It’s also decorated with different pieces of art that give it an artistic and creative feel.

The house has 5 bedrooms. One for us, one for each of the kids and 2 guest bedrooms. All bedrooms are en suite. There’s a laundry area.

H and me each have a prayer closet. Mine has a jumbo fluffy bean bag and a sofa. There’s a table with my Bibles and my journals. The walls have Bible verses and what God says about me written on them. It’s done in an artistic way. I have a prayer box and an answered prayer box I go through to remember what God has done.

We also each have an office in the house. Mine has a jumbo fluffy bean bag that I can sit on and read or use my laptop on. It also has a typical work area with a chair and table. On one side of the wall are my business/investment/life rules. It’s done artistically. On another wall are my vision boards that have been beautifully framed.

H has his own car/cars. I have a Mercedes-Benz and a Bentley. I get driven around by my driver so I can work or read in the car.

(If you’re feeling adventurous, you could accompany this part with a vision board. Below is one of my dream home.)

The husband or wife or partner part (if you’re single)

What I love about and see in my husband:

1. His love of Christ
2. His beautiful heart
3. Loves me as I am and gets me
4. Leader I can trust
5. His care for those who need it
6. He is very supportive, even when he doesn’t understand why I’m choosing what I’m choosing
7. Trustworthiness and honesty
8. Passionate
9. Faithful
10. I’m attracted to him and he’s my dream come true

Your turn

With the above questions as guidance and my examples, do you think you could write your own vision letter? You can turn your vision into different letters for example a general one, one for your house, one for your love life, one for your typical day. You could also have one for 10 years from now and one for 20 years from now, It’s up to you how you do it.

There are also different ways that you could turn your vision letter into a creative one. You could write what your Wikipedia page will look like 10 years from now like I did in one of mine. You could also write it in the form of a newspaper article or in the form of an award acceptance speech or any other way that makes it exciting for you.

I truly believe everything I’ve ever dreamed of and written down, I will live to see, so when I write a vision letter or do a vision board I take my time so future me can thank me later. I’m so certain my dreams will come true that I’m willing to share my vision letters online so that when the time comes, I’ll proudly refer doubters to such letters.

A saying that was popularized by J.C.R. Licklider, is, I believe worth mentioning because your dream will test your resolve: “We overestimate what can happen in a year and underestimate what can happen in 10 years.” In other words, be patient for the fulfillment of your dreams.

A vision letter is not something you want to do in a few minutes. Take your time crafting your letter or letters. What if someone told you everything you write down will happen? How much time would you spend on it then? Will you write your own vision letter or letters? Let me know in the comments.