Sharing Your Vision

Your vision is your hope for your future. If you've seen a need in your hood, the item to bring the good to change it, then your vision is really what the world looks like when you have.

When Good for the Hood first started we realised that it would be hard to know we were on the road to achieving community change unless we know what that really looked like. So for us it meant, focusing on our vision of communities sustaining people, place and planet.

Why in the world?

Sharing your vision helps you communicate your purpose and makes sure you’re collaborating with allies who understand and align with that purpose.

Some of our favourite visions are the simplest. Like the Parramatta River Catchment Group who believe Sydney deserves a world class river.

Who could possibly disagree with that?

Or Oz Harvest who want to build a world with zero food waste, and free of hunger.

It’s easy to see what they are trying to work towards.

What about Clean Up Australia's vision to empower communities to reduce the environmental impacts of waste?

All of these organisations have a clear idea that they can’t see large scale changes while working alone, so their vision is a way of unifying their allies along the way.

Gotta know it, to show it.

Your first step as you embark on the journey towards a good ‘hood is to define and understand what your vision is.

Developing and defining your vision is about visualising a clear image of the future you want, is it a community that’s thriving, a safe place to live, cleaner streets, a healthy habitat for your non-human ocean neighbours?

Whatever that vision is, it’s important you are able to explain it to people and not just in terms of you how you do it, but what it looks or feels like when you arrive.

Think about it like mowing the lawn (we’re going somewhere with this, we promise)– you don’t mow the lawn because you simply wish you had shorter grass. You do it because you want your lawn to be safe for your kids to play on, or your yard to look inviting for that neighbourhood BBQ.

It’s really the same for your project, when it comes to your vision it’s not what you do so much as the world you creating that shapes your vision.

How, now?

By now you probably want to skip to how you can share your vision. Maybe you’re stumped by the idea of making your vision sound compelling enough to get allies on-board? Or perhaps you’re wondering what your vision even is, that’s ok, you got this. Whatever stage you’re at, we have three simple ideas to help you Share Your Vision.

1.Simply Specific. This is a key step to making sure allies and potential stakeholders fully understand your vision by making it crystal clear. The trick is to keep it short and no more than two simple sentences while making it specific enough. If its too broad you’ll sound vague and it'll leave things open to interpretation. Are you working with a particular suburb or region? Mention it! Are you working with a particular species of animal? say so. And always frame it in the positive, a vision is aspirational when it's framed in the affirmative.

2.Ambitiously Bold It’s easier to get excited by a big vision and something exciting, but keep your vision focused on the next 5-10 years. Anymore and it’s too hard to picture and too far away to know if our actions now are working towards it.

3.Sharing When you communicate your vision to your network and they eagerly join-in, remember that every single Good Doer is bringing their own awesome skills, expertise and visions. When you listen and take their ideas on-board, it’s going to grow into a stronger, more nuanced aspiration. And with this, it’ll become much more than your vision. It’ll become a shared vision!

Now you’ve heard how connecting your allies through a shared vision will keep you all connected on the path to good you can join our crew of people with a shared vision for more regenerative, sustainable and caring communities, join the Good Hood today.