I’m currently reading the book Fire Them Up! by Carmine Gallo (disclosure: I received a free copy of the book). One of the chapters talks about the importance of vision and how to have a vision with impact:
For a vision to have impact, it must be simple and profound. How do you attain both? By keeping your vision to ten words or less. The folks at Sequoia Capital, the prominent venture firm behind such companies as Cisco, Google, and Apple, call it “the one-liner”: a concise statement that tells people what you do.
Why should the vision be short? Here it is:
Condensing the statement, or vision, into ten words or less reflects your command of the business and your market. As one venture capitalist told me, “If you can’t say it in ten words or less, I’m not investing, I’m not buying, I’m not coming on board, I’m not leasing you space. Period.”
To give you clearer description, here is the one-liner of Sergey Brin and Larry Page from Google:
We deliver the world’s information in one click.
And here is the one-liner of Sandy Lerner and Len Bosack from Cisco Systems:
We network networks.
Very concise, aren’t they? While the book mainly talks about business vision, I believe the same principle also applies to personal vision. If you want your personal vision to have impact, you should have a “one-liner” for your vision.
So I look at myself and here is my one-liner:
Helping as many people as possible live the fullest of life.
I’ve mentioned it several times in this blog (such as in this post). The problem is, it consists of eleven words! Ouch. Maybe I should change “as many people as possible” to something which is shorter but has the same meaning.
I believe that reading other people’s one-liners can inspire and motivate us. It can motivate us to have big dreams and to package them in a concise and sharp way. So I’d like to ask you: what is your one-liner?
Your answer will help and inspire not just me, but other readers as well. And, if you still don’t have a one-liner, this is the perfect time to think about it and write down yours. Believe me, it’s well worth the effort.
Comment by Jeffery P.
#1 8. December 2007, 2:18 pm o'clock |
Guiding others towards a thinking process used to guide themselves.
Comment by Randy
#2 8. December 2007, 2:31 pm o'clock |
Just shorten it to 7 words: “Helping people live life to the fullest.”
Comment by Jon
#3 8. December 2007, 3:06 pm o'clock |
I’m in the information security field. The one liner I’ve been using for years to explain to non-technical people what I do: “I make computer hackers miserable.”
Comment by Steve Nguyen
#4 8. December 2007, 3:53 pm o'clock |
“Helping People Achieve Good Emotional Health and Be Their Best.”
Comment by Tamlyn
#5 8. December 2007, 4:35 pm o'clock |
helping others live a stressfree, blissful life
Comment by Carlos Castellon
#6 8. December 2007, 8:51 pm o'clock |
“Adding Value With Every Interaction.”
Comment by HP van Duuren
#7 9. December 2007, 2:20 pm o'clock |
When I read your post about ‘One-Liners’ and about formulating a ‘Vision’ impactfull simple and profound It immediately made me think about how a ‘Vision’ for – for example – a (big) ‘Film Project’ needs to be ‘High Concept’ (as they call it) if you want to ‘Pitch’ your ‘Vision’ for a movie idea to a Hollywood Producer.
I actually read about a special ‘Formula’ for it:
- *Title*, is about …., *Name of Hero (+ description of Hero)* , who, after *New Opportunity* wants to *Outer Motivation* by *Method fo Accomplishing Outer Motivation*, We will know *Hero* has succeeded when *Hero* has *Accomplishment That Represents Success* .
For example:
‘The Day I visited ‘HP’s Happy Blogspot’ , Is a story about ‘Blog reader’ a Website visitor (that’s active on the Internet) who after ‘Visiting a fantastic site’ wants to realise a great Vision by applying great ideas he or she found on a fantastic site. We will know that the website visitor has succeeded when he or she posts great comments on this fantastic site.
Nevertheless If you like to read about an interesting ‘Vision for a Happy, Healthy & Rich LifeStyle’ you can find a Free Preview via a certain fantastic site :)
All the Best,
HP
Comment by Rory Parle
#8 9. December 2007, 3:26 pm o'clock |
“Enabling others’ happiness.”
You could even cut out the word “others’” if three words is too long.
Comment by Elmer Thomas
#9 9. December 2007, 7:14 pm o'clock |
“All Your Base Are Belong to Us”
But seriously:
Consultant hat:
“I help businesses and professionals increase productivity and revenue”
ThemBid.com hat (to a requester):
“We make businesses compete to serve you.”
ThemBid.com hat (to a business):
“We provide targeted leads.”
FrontPageBids.com
“We help you monetize Digg traffic.”
Comment by Aaron - Personal Development Partners
#10 9. December 2007, 7:24 pm o'clock |
I teach people that THEY are in charge of their lives!
Comment by gale
#11 10. December 2007, 8:29 am o'clock |
“approach all things with confidence” would be my one-liner :)
Comment by Donald Latumahina
#12 11. December 2007, 1:06 pm o'clock |
Thanks a lot, everyone! All your one-liners are great! I am amazed by the way you pack your visions in such a compact way.
Randy,
Thanks for shortening my one-liner to seven words. I appreciate it.
Jon,
I have some background in information security so I know how sharp your one-liner is.
HP,
Thanks for the example.
Rory,
Your one-liner is the shortest so far!
Elmer,
Very comprehensive examples. Love it.
Aaron,
Yes, we often forget that *we* are in charge of our lives :)
Comment by rn-elizabeth
#13 13. December 2007, 3:03 am o'clock |
Caring.
Community.
Commitment
Continuity.
Comment by j.twilite
#14 15. December 2007, 12:02 pm o'clock |
“To live my life to the fullest with confidence”
Comment by GreatManagement
#15 18. December 2007, 9:02 am o'clock |
Hi Donald,
I hope you are well.
‘Give more than you receive’
That’s mine.
All the best.
Andrew
Comment by Donald Latumahina
#16 18. December 2007, 10:27 pm o'clock |
rn-elizabeth, j.twilite, and Andrew,
Thanks for sharing your one-liners!
Andrew,
Glad to meet you again! I’m doing well here. Great one-liner, by the way.
Comment by Thomas Clifford
#17 23. December 2007, 6:13 pm o'clock |
“Moving people to action with remarkable corporate videos.”
Thanks for a great post!
Tom
Comment by Donald Latumahina
#18 24. December 2007, 11:05 pm o'clock |
Nice one-liner, Tom!
Comment by Kristen
#19 3. January 2008, 9:08 am o'clock |
Personal one liner: Be grateful!
Professional one liner: Help people appreciate great literature!
Great post — thank you!
Comment by Donald Latumahina
#20 3. January 2008, 2:11 pm o'clock |
Thanks for sharing, Kristen! Your one-liners are very concise.
Comment by Ryan
#21 22. September 2008, 10:55 pm o'clock |
Put other’s first.
Comment by Eric
#22 1. December 2008, 10:41 pm o'clock |
People ask me why I chose the field I did. My usual one-liner is
“It takes one to know one”
I deal with people in a state of crisis. I’ve been through a few of my own. I’m a psych nurse, and I have ADD and OCD,
My patients tell me I’m the easiest to connect with of all the nurses they try to talk to.
Comment by Ridwan Jaafar
#23 8. February 2009, 11:16 am o'clock |
My life’s one-liner will be:-
Put First things First
Comment by Ted Berry
#24 24. June 2009, 1:18 pm o'clock |
Here is yours in just ten words:
“Helping as many people as possible live exceptionally fulfilling lives.”
Now, to go write my own. The trick is that you can only summarize what you have crafted at some length. Only after you have filled the page with *everything* can you know what the really important pieces are.
Comment by Donald Latumahina
#25 26. June 2009, 11:48 am o'clock |
Ted,
Thanks for the suggestion. It does take time to get the right one-liner so there is no need to hurry.
Comment by Randall
#26 13. August 2009, 4:22 am o'clock |
Helping the most people possible live the fullest of life
Or
Helping the most people possible live the fullest life
Comment by Tracy
#27 21. September 2009, 12:37 pm o'clock |
Maintain resilience and passion throughout Life’s Journey!
Comment by Stefanie
#28 31. October 2009, 7:30 pm o'clock |
how about…
“Helping the most live their best.”
Comment by Donald Latumahina
#29 1. November 2009, 8:23 pm o'clock |
Stefanie,
That’s great! Thanks.
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# 11. December 2007, 12:24 pm o'clock |
[...] good way to create a strong message is creating your one-liner. A one-liner is a statement of your vision in ten words or less. It allows people to quickly grasp [...]
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#1 5. July 2008, 10:54 am o'clock |
[...] good way to create a strong message is creating your one-liner. A one-liner is a statement of your vision in ten words or less. It allows people to quickly grasp [...]
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#2 9. September 2008, 10:12 am o'clock |
[...] of what your life purpose is, you should write it in a mission statement. Ideally, it should be a one-liner: ten words or [...]
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#4 20. April 2009, 9:39 am o'clock |
[...] finding your life mission, you should create a one-liner out of it. The one-liner summarizes your mission in a concise form – ten words or less. It will [...]