3. Vision: What Are You Actually Building?

Vision clarifies what you are working toward so that daily decisions have direction.

You have spent two weeks working on identity. You have been asking yourself: Who am I as a steward? What do I value? What does integrity look like in my work? Those are foundational questions, and if you have been sitting with them, you probably have more clarity now than you did two weeks ago.

But identity alone is not enough. You also need vision.

Vision is the answer to a different question: What am I actually building here?

Not what you think you should be building. Not what would be impressive or what other people are doing. What are you, specifically, working toward?

Why Vision Matters

The book describes Creative Agency as “a navigation system for recognizing when capacity is under pressure and responding with clarity rather than force.”

Vision is what gives that navigation system direction. Without it, you are just managing difficulty without knowing where you are trying to go. With it, every decision has a reference point. Every challenge can be evaluated against a clear destination.

Here is what vision does: it turns “I should probably work on my family history project today” into “I am building a collection of stories that my grandchildren can return to, and today I am going to add one more piece to that collection.”

The first version is vague and easy to avoid. The second version has direction and meaning. Same work, but the relationship to it changes when vision is clear.

What Vision Is Not

Before we talk about what vision is, let’s clarify what it is not.

Vision is not a detailed plan. It is not a timeline or a list of specific projects. It is not a set of metrics or goals you need to hit to prove your worth.

Vision is broader and more durable than that. It is the picture of what you are building over time. It is the answer to: If this work goes well, what will exist because of it? What will be possible? Who will it serve?

A plan can change. A timeline can shift. But vision holds steady. It is the North Star that helps you make decisions when everything else feels uncertain.

The Playbook’s Reminder

The Playbook tells us: “Vision clarifies what you are working toward so that daily decisions have direction.”

Think about how much easier decisions become when you have a clear vision. Do you accept that collaborative project with the tight deadline? Well, does it move you toward your vision or away from it? Do you spend this month’s research time going deeper on one ancestor or broader across multiple lines? What does your vision ask for?

Without vision, every decision requires renegotiation. With vision, decisions get simpler because you have something to measure them against.

Reflection Prompts for Vision

Here are some questions to help you clarify your vision. As with identity, you do not need to answer all of them. Pick the ones that resonate and spend time there.

About what you are building:

If my family history work goes well over the next year, what will exist because of it?

Who will benefit from this work? How will it serve them?

What would I want someone to say about the body of work I have created when they encounter it years from now?

About direction:

Am I building breadth (covering many ancestors and lines) or depth (going deep on fewer people and stories)?

Am I creating work for family members, for a broader audience, or primarily for myself?

Am I prioritizing preservation (getting the stories recorded) or craft (developing my skills as a writer and researcher)?

About legacy:

What do I want to be true about this work when I can no longer do it?

What would I regret not creating if I stopped today?

If I could only complete one aspect of this work, what would matter most?

What Gets Clearer

When you work through these prompts, vision starts to take shape. You might discover:

You are not actually trying to research every branch of your family tree. You are trying to create a rich, detailed portrait of your maternal grandmother’s immigrant experience and the community she built. That clarity changes what you prioritize.

You are not trying to become a professional genealogist. You are trying to preserve stories for your children and their children. That changes what publishing looks like and what standards are appropriate.

You are not building a comprehensive family encyclopedia. You are creating a curated collection of stories about resilience and migration. That changes which ancestors you focus on and how you tell their stories.

None of these visions is better than another. What matters is that your vision is yours, and that it is clear enough to guide your decisions.

When Vision and Identity Work Together

Here is where it gets powerful. When you know your identity (who you are as a steward) and your vision (what you are building), they reinforce each other.

Your identity shapes how you work. Your vision shapes what you work toward. Together, they create coherence. You stop feeling pulled in every direction because you have internal clarity about who you are and where you are going.

The book reminds us that misalignment creates friction. When what you are doing conflicts with who you are or what you are building, the work becomes exhausting. But when identity, vision, and action are aligned, the work becomes generative. It still requires effort, but the effort feels purposeful rather than depleting.

Take Action This Week

Sit with the vision prompts above. Write down what comes up. Do not worry about getting it perfect. Vision can evolve as you work. What matters is having enough clarity that your decisions have direction.

Once you have a draft of your vision, try this: look at your current commitments and projects. Do they move you toward your vision or away from it? Are there things you are doing out of obligation that do not actually serve what you are building? Are there things you have been avoiding that are central to your vision?

This is not about changing everything at once. It is about noticing where alignment and misalignment are showing up so you can make adjustments over time.

Next week, we will move into Creative Agency itself. You will learn about the Four Domains, the ecosystem that supports your creative work, and how to recognize when one part of that ecosystem is under pressure. Identity and vision are your foundation. The Domains give you the map for navigating difficulty when it arises.

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Over the next few weeks, you’ll receive a series of posts designed to introduce you to Creative Agency as a framework for sustaining your work as a family history content creator. If you would like to read the book, Creative Agency: How Family History Content Creators Can Navigate Creative Difficulty and Build Lasting Capacity or access the Creative Agency Playbook, the Notion System Template as you go through this series, you can find it at https://a.co/d/bbeINYN Or…when you become a paid subscriber of GenStack Coterie, you’ll get access to the ebook at no extra cost.

Join the GenStack Coterie

This framework is most powerful when you have support to work it in practice. The GenStack Coterie provides the structure, community, and guidance to help you navigate Creative Agency over time.

Inside the Coterie, you will find:

• The Creative Agency Playbook as a working system in Notion

• Guided support for recognizing which Domain needs attention and choosing the right Strategy

• A collaborative space to share what you are learning and receive feedback from others doing this work

• Ongoing resources that help you sustain your creative practice across seasons

Creative Agency is not meant to be navigated alone. It strengthens through practice, reflection, and the support of others who understand the particular challenges of family history content creation.

If you are ready to continue this work with structure and community, learn more about the GenStack Coterie at www.genstack.org.

The Playbook is waiting. The path is clear. And the community is here when you are ready to take the next step.

References

Book: Creative Agency, Introduction and Chapter 4 (The Creative Agency Navigation System)

Playbook: P L A Y B O O K, Vision and Planning sections