Any business can work as long as the person or people behind it have passion and intensity, and are willing to be flexible enough and adjust when necessary. Business takes a lot of energy if you’re going to make it successful. That energy will deplete over time if it’s only physical or emotional. You need to have a reason and a vision of something you’re truly passionate about, where you are serving more than yourself. This will give you the energy to keep going regardless of obstacles.
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The best way to develop a compelling future is to focus on your outcome. What are the results you are really after? If you are clear on the outcome you want and deeply connected with your why, then you can accomplish anything. Most people don’t spend enough time on the outcome they actually want. They start with action items or a ‘to-do’ list. We call this getting stuck in the “tyranny of how”.
The “tyranny of how” does nothing but create overwhelm, stress, and frustration because asking “how” creates a state of uncertainty. If you are clear on what and why, the how will come. That’s why we start with outcomes first. And notice I didn’t call them goals. Goals are aspirational. They aren’t musts. Outcomes are results. They are musts. Program your brain with outcomes or results, not the how. Starting with the how creates failure because it is based on uncertainty. Starting with outcomes creates success because when our brain knows the what and the why, it will often find a shortcut to get there.
The other thing we notice is that most people overestimate what they can accomplish in 12 months and underestimate what they can accomplish in a decade.
Do this with me.
Close your eyes and take a deep breath. What does a year from now look like if you really focus on the foundations of your business, are clear on the outcomes you want, and you mindfully approach it every day? What outcomes and results can you see in 12 months? If this is a new business for you, have you fully launched? How many clients do you have? Are you breaking even? Do you have a little extra for investing back into your business? What have you learned? What are you learning? If you’ve been around for a while, are you taking advantage of new opportunities? Are you even more comfortable with how you are serving people and feeling connected to your customers and clients on a whole new level? Are stable now or even growing in the current economic environment? Is a small tweak starting to pay off? What are people saying about your business? Are you totally excited and completely in love with what you are doing every day?
Now look forward 3 years. What could you achieve in 3 years that would really excite and inspire you? Are you continuing to grow? Are you reaching people you never thought possible? Have you released a new product or service that serves your client in a way you never thought imaginable? What does net income look like? How many hours are you working a week? How does this impact the lives of your customers or clients? Your employees? Do you have any employees? How many? How does this impact the lives of the people you love? How are you spending your non-working time?
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See it in your mind. Really step into it. Feel it in your body. Sit with that feeling for a second. Feel what that feels like.
Take another deep breath, open your eyes, and grab a piece of paper.
What is your outcome? Write it down. What is the outcome or the results you want to see 3 years from now? What is not negotiable? What will you not compromise in that future? Why is it compelling? What does it feel like? Who have you become in the process? Who have you impacted? How do you spend your days? Who do you spend them with? What is your ripple effect?
Take your time.
Working backwards, what does 1 year from now look like? Where will you need to be in 1 year in order to make your 3 year future a reality? What is that outcome? What will really inspire and excite you? What is not negotiable? What will you not compromise in that future? Why is it compelling? What does it feel like? Who have you become in the process? Who have you impacted? How do you spend your days? Who do you spend them with? What is your ripple effect? Again, take your time.
Now, what is one, small, immediate step that you can take today to commit to this compelling future? What will you do right now, before you ever get up, that will immediately move you in the right direction? Decide. Commit. Then take immediate and massive action. What is it? What will you do to ensure the future you so vividly imagine becomes a reality? Who do you need to become today to make your future self a reality? Write it down and do it right now. And if you can’t do it right now, write it down and schedule it in your calendar for execution. This is the point of separation. This is the point where the talkers are separated from the doers.
Plant your feet and decide, then do. This is usually where I hear my clients start to work the word “try” into their language. We’ll, I’m going to try to…fill in the blank. Try means giving some effort but not all. This is not the place for try. This is the place for do. Those who try never get it done. Those that do, and then make adjustments if it doesn’t turn out the way they want, always get it done. One way or another, they get it done.
Go ahead. Write it down. What do you need to do now to create that compelling future? Brain dump without judgement. Pick the 3 – 5 things you need to do to thrive. Schedule them. Do them. Then measure and review your results weekly.
Put your compelling future where you can see it every day. If you are visual, create some images/vision board that represent your future. Review it every day when you sit down to work. Connect with that compelling future. Just don’t read the words or look at the pictures. Connect with it. Step into it and feel it as if it has already happened. That connection will fuel you. It will keep you moving forward when you don’t feel like it. It will remind you of why this is a must. Why all of the hard work, long hours, and sometimes sleepless nights of being an entrepreneur is worth it. Because it is worth it.
STACY OLDFIELD
After nearly 25 years in Corporate America, Stacy launched Minerva Management Partners as a way to combine those years of business experience with her life coaching certification and love for coaching women. Minerva Management Partners is a business coaching practice designed to support women entrepreneurs committed to launching and growing their business. Also, as a Results Coach with Robbins Research International, Stacy helps business women to focus their ideas and efforts and holds them accountable for achieving their goals. Whether it’s helping women discover creative solutions to their business challenges, coaching them to be clear and decisive, or helping them see and take action on new opportunities, Stacy guides them to achieve the business and career results they are seeking. Stacy is also the creator of the Minerva 3-Day Networking Challenge and the Network Like a Boss Lady On-Demand training program. Stacy has been invited to speak to many audiences within South Carolina including the Center for Women, Women Entrepreneurs of Charleston, the Women of the Workforce program of the Naval Information Warfare Center (SPAWAR), Charleston Women in Business, Association of Fundraising Professionals, SCANPO, graduate classes at both The Citadel and the College of Charleston (CofC), and Leadership CofC. She currently serves as a mentor through the Women of Excellence Program at Xavier University and previously served on the Board of Directors for the Beautiful Gate Center and on the advisory board of the SC Women’s Business Center.
