Who do you say you are? Have you ever pondered over what drives you in life? Have you ever wondered why you behave the way you do? Have you ever asked what your assignment on earth is? Have you ever paused to ask yourself what you are on earth to accomplish? Have you ever considered what is most important to you in life? What will you stand up and defend with your life? I believe these are crucial questions we should be asking ourselves daily if we are to understand ourselves better, and appreciate why we do the things we do.
I would like us to explore how our beliefs and values impact our lives and the attainment of our vision or the state of our desired future. It is said that beliefs are the assumptions we make about ourselves, about others in the world, and about how we expect things to be. These assumptions determine the way we behave and make decisions. Our beliefs are the foundation of our actions, behavior, and character. Values are the ideals or principles that guide our behavior. You demonstrate your values every day by the way you speak, the words you use, the way you act, and the way you behave.

What is your dream? Where do you see yourself in the next five to ten years? What is your personal vision? What do you want to do, have or become? Have you clearly defined your desired future and planned out how you will get there? Your values will play a very crucial role in determining whether or not you will achieve your vision.
Let's take a driver who is driving from Accra to Kumasi. Now, Kumasi is his VISION; that's where he wants to get to but hasn't gotten there yet. The individual is the driver of the car, the vision bearer. Along the road however, are speed rumps, speed limits, sign posts etc. that he's expected to oblige in order to safely get to Kumasi. Failure to observe these sign posts, road rumps, road signs etc. may prevent him from getting to Kumasi.

These sign posts, the limit of speed he's supposed to keep on a road, the road rumps etc. are the values that guide his journey. So the vision is well defined - Kumasi. The road is well known. But observance of the sign posts, road rumps, and road signs which are the values; or failure to do so will determine whether or not he will get to his vision or destination being Kumasi.

So in essence, none of these; vision and values can stand on their own and take you to your destination. If you know your vision like Sampson, but lack the values to take you there, you will miss it. And you may also know all the values and observe them, but if you don't know your vision specifically or the kind of future you desire, you'll never live up to your God-given potential.

The import of this is that, it is not enough to have a vision and it is not enough to have values. We need both vision and values to get to our desired future. Values build our character, and character is what takes us to the top and keeps us there. As a matter of fact, VALUES are the principles that we need to build CHARACTER to help us achieve our VISION.

You cannot achieve your vision in life and have good success if you are not living the right values. Sadly, many young people hit the roadblocks in the pursuit of their vision. And because they don’t have the right values, they are not able to bounce back and keep going. Have vision, but more importantly, have the right values that will help you build the character to achieve your vision.

May God help you to achieve your vision!

"Patricia Abena Konneh is an HR Professional and a Personal Development Ambassador. She's the author of the highly acclaimed book titled, "Uncovering the Hidden Self – A Rare Insight Into Personal Discovery and Development”." She's spoken in major youth conferences in Ghana."