“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” –  Declaration of Independence of the United States of America. 

Let’s just keep this in mind as we discuss developing the correct attitude while developing your vision statement.

We tend to think that we owe it to ourselves to be happy, but we must take it one step further and acknowledge that our happiness is tightly inter-connected with our employees, co-workers, vendors and customers happiness.  Happiness and unhappiness are both contagious.

There has been tons of research that prove that true, long lasting, and satisfying happiness is not solely based on the amount of material things you accumulate over your time on this planet.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s good to have things, but it’s not the single element to fulfilling happiness.  You’ve all heard the axioms:

• no one ever wished for more things when they were on their death bed
• if happiness was due to money, why are so many rich people committing suicide
• if fame was the main ingredient of happiness, why do so many famous people have depression problems
• would you rather live to 30 and be rich or 100 and be healthy with a great family

Then there is another important variable in creating an environment of Mutual Benefit…appreciating what you have at this moment.  We must look at what we have now, as well as looking into the future for our vision.  Our vision must not be that once we have more profit, or more customers or better processes, we will implement Mutual Benefit, we must see the opportunities that are right before us and acknowledge the parts that are already in place.  We will never achieve our goals if we are always waiting for some time in the future to begin our journey.  We must also realize that many parts of our vision of Mutual Benefit is already happening in our company, so celebrate them now!

Your vision should include time spent listening and handling various situations that develop in any company.  Most situations are based on only three general conditions that must be brought out in the open and addressed, if we are to truly understand how our success is based upon everyone’s success and happiness.  The three conditions to keep in mind when you develop your vision for your company based upon Mutual Benefit are:

1. Event Condition – these are events that have happened over the past week that are considered to be memorable.  They can be either positive or negative, however, you must identify why you chose that event and why you feel the way you do.
2. Gratitude Condition – you should develop a plan that will teach or enhance your team’s ability to identify and discuss what has happened in the last week that they truly appreciate and are grateful for.
3. Hassle Condition – we all know about these, and we love to complain about them.  These conditions are usually important issues and waste most of the time in a company through re-work or just time complaining.

The only way to successfully develop your vision is to understand that people that lack humility, are consumed with the feeling of self-importance and cannot attain a true understanding of Mutual Benefit.  This is because whatever they achieve or possess, they feel as though they deserve it all, even if it comes at the expense of others!

Let’s work on your vision, identify what true happiness means to you, and let’s identify the three conditions in your company or team.  Most importantly, let’s look inside ourselves and acknowledge that we need others, it’s not all about us!