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 gale
12 10. December 2007, 8:29 am o'clock |
“approach all things with confidence” would be my one-liner :)
Comment by Aaron - Personal Development Partners
11 9. December 2007, 7:24 pm o'clock |
I teach people that THEY are in charge of their lives!
Comment by Elmer Thomas
10 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 Rory Parle
9 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 HP van Duuren
8 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 Carlos Castellon
7 8. December 2007, 8:51 pm o'clock |
“Adding Value With Every Interaction.”
Comment by Tamlyn
6 8. December 2007, 4:35 pm o'clock |
helping others live a stressfree, blissful life
Comment by Steve Nguyen
5 8. December 2007, 3:53 pm o'clock |
“Helping People Achieve Good Emotional Health and Be Their Best.”
Comment by Jon
4 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.”
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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 [...]