Posts Tagged ‘vision’

 In my posts last month I looked at clarifying one’s vision and developing relevant goals to realize that vision.  I also offered a practical tools for capturing the creative genius in what can be an amorphous process.
 

This month I want to talk about the second stage in the creative business development process, a stage I call “current reality”.
 

Back when I coached in the wealth building industry, I often met with clients who had exciting and motivating visions: start a charity for cancer patients, purchase property on a lake and open a therapy clinic, buy a sail boat and circumnavigate the world.  These big dreamers would begin the wealth coaching process with a monetary goal of, say, $20 million dollars. They would set a time frame. Allowing two, maybe three, years to accomplish their monetary goal and then turn to me, their coach, and ask, “So, what do I need to do?”
 

“Learning reality is an ability that is important to master and yet human to avoid.” Robert Fritz

So Far So Good

 
Of course I applaud their vision. I support them in their path.  Still, often the next step would stop them in their tracks. This next step makes it or breaks it. 

The answer to the question,” So, what do I need to do?” depends on your current reality. To discover what to do next – the path to the realization of your vision – you must first take the measure of your current reality.
 

Harder than is Sounds

 
Robert Fritz, a trained artist who has made a career out of applying the artistic creative process to life, points out that as humans we develop a self protective strategy of not looking a reality for fear we won’t like what we see. Raise your hand if you were one of the many people who stopped opening the statements from their 401K when the economy tanked.

On the other hand, we are human and as such we are naturally creative.  We seek to control the changes in our lives in order to create the best possible outcome for ourselves.  Think again of the process of buying and selling stock.  While it might be painful to discover the value of your stock has dropped, it is important to know that painful reality in order to make a wise decision about what action to take.

For my coaching clients, the ones with the big dreams, the current reality exercise often revealed ordinary but challenging constraints.  Painful realities like overwhelming credit card debt, the trap of a low wage job, or the human choice to provide care for an ill loved one. All these realities appear like impossibly high mount ranges or vast, dry desserts between them and their dreams.
 

WhenThe Going Gets Tough

For the brave, clearly seeing current reality doesn’t preclude the eventual realization of dreams but clearly seeing reality does often disclose a path of hard work and tenacious determination.

“In the end, not everyone will choose the heroes path.  Not everyone will brave the pain.  The choice is a free one.”

With my optimistic wealth building clients, this reality check often caused them to leave coaching. The sheer hard work involved in getting from here to there would cause them to stop showing up, stop returning phone calls, and stop pursuing their vision.

 It is possible, even probable, that their optimism did not diminish.  It may be that they just moved on to some other high price, big name,  wealth building guru.  These are the people that are always learning, always dreaming.  These are the ones who choose to avoid the pain of reality. The price they pay is they never take productive, realistic action toward their goals.

Practical Tools

In my blog this month I will present several concrete, reality based tools to help you establish the currently reality of your business.  You don’t have to use them; you don’t have to do the work of pin pointing the numbers that are your business reality. But, without knowing where you stand, you will not know what direction to take to get to the profitable, satisfying business of your vision.

Image by Flickr user Mateomon1, licensed under CC 2.0

“Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is simply passing the time. Action with vision is making a positive difference.” Joel Barker

The process of clarifying your vision, establishing the details and writing it down is by far the hardest part of business leadership.  It is also the most important.  Here are five shockingly simple questions to help you get clear.

But First – Begin at the Beginning

What do you want?  And, more importantly, why do you want it? The rule here is: it must be expressed in the positive not the negative.  Don’t say. “I want my competition to stop stealing my customers”, instead say, “I want to expand my customer base by 20%.”

How to Manifest Your Vision

Say out loud what you want for your business, your personal life, your planet.  And then ask why?  If you were to expand your customer base by 20% what would it get you?  What would that a get you?  Try the exercise below to drill down till you’ve uncovered you core value.

Exercise: The Five Whys

This is an exercise created by a Japanese inventor and industrialist and used successfully by Toyota Motor Corporation to develop their manufacturing process. Originally, and still, considered an engineering tool, I find the thought process evoked by this tool to be equally useful for uncovering the core values represented by a business vision.

Decide What You Want

You have a vision for your business or your life, what is it?  If you aren’t sure try this:

• Review your small business plan (You have one, right? If not, contact me.)
• Make up a vision, be spontaneous (Taking this too seriously can create blocks)
• Borrow one that sounds good  (Be invited to appear on Oprah is a popular choice)
• Use my Vision Statement Work Sheet available, for free, on my web site
• Or just make up your mind to make an effort to lead a  meaningful life and then make it up as you go along

Now For the Good Part

Pick a vision, any vision. The first version of your vision is not all that important because we are going to deconstruct it until the truth lies revealed like a precious piece of beach glass.

Step One:  The First Why

Why do you want this vision? Or, to put it another way, if you had it, what would it get you?

For example one of my clients, Rachel, envisions a business that will produce the same or more income than she is currently making by providing her career counseling services on-line.

Her “Whys?” include:

• To gain more free time by eliminating office hours
• To capture her career counseling knowledge and experience
• To allow her to work from home, wherever that home may be.

Steps Two, Three and Four:  More Why’s

Take each of your answers and ask “Why?” about each one.  The expected outcome here is to trace your vision back to its source.

Why #2:  What Would Why #1 Get You?

As Rachel examines her vision she realizes she wants to be free to purchase property on a lake outside of town.

Why #3:  And What Would That Get You?

Rachel’s answer: a sense of accomplishment and independence. 

The Back Story

What this answer revealed to Rachel was the back story that was, unconsciously influencing her choices. The house on the lake was a vision shared with her former fiancé.  When the relationship failed, Rachel lost not only her vision but she also discovered financial challenges that caused her to work more hours than she wanted.

Why #4:   What Would That Get You.

Rachel realized that buying the lake property would signal that she was no longer injured by the demise of her relationship.  That sense of accomplishment and independence was the thing she needed to move on and build a new life without her former lover.

Why #5:  What Would That Bring You?

Rachel’s answer:  happiness.

By articulating the root cause of her business vision, Rachel was able to recognize that the lake property and the self generated money to purchase it, was not the final goal of her vision.  Her core value, the real vision, is a sense of satisfaction and happiness with her life as it is. Knowing this, the path she can choose to get there opens to many possibilities. 

Self Realization Rocks

Like Rachel, you too are motivated by forces and perceptions you may not fully recognize. If your intention is to build a business that satisfies your soul, self knowledge is freedom. As you work this exercise with each of your life or business goals, you will probably find you keep coming back to the same few primary goals.  These few goals are you core values. When you are able to wake each day to a task list that promotes these values, your life will have meaning and joy. And, when your business promotes these values to others, it will be profitable.

Please let me know what you think.  Is this process too simple to be useful?
 

I am not doing the holidays this year.  My refusal to do Christmas is a radical action I’ve been considering for some time.  Just around Halloween, as the 2010 holiday season dawned, I announced that I would not be participating in Christmas this year.

So far the reaction has been positive, supportive and even enthusiastic.  The advantage of my rebellion is just beginning to reveal itself to me.

• In the drugstore picking up a prescription for my dog, I saw an enticing display of bathrobes.  I stopped to check the quality thinking: “Does my daughter need a bathrobe?”, and then I remember, I don’t “have” to buy her a present. 

•  I spotted a flyer posted in the locker room at my gym announcing a holiday sale of craft baskets. I was thinking, who do I know that would like a basket,  and then I remembered: I don’t need to spend my creative energy trying to find  good gift for people who already have everything.

I admit to feeling some guilt.  I believe in small business and many small businesses depend on the Christmas season. But by not participating I have completely changed my view of the season. I am actually looking forward to it. By eliminating shopping and cooking and wrapping and decorating I might actually create a season of peace.

As the year winds down, we here at Working Miracles will be preparing for the New Year by revisiting our vision and mission.  The first rule of creating a motivating and meaningful is, begin with total honesty.  What does a satisfying, meaningful life look like to you? Never mind what the rest of the world is doing. Never mind social convention and family pressure. Never mind your personal responsibility to rebuild our consumer economy– what is it you want?

Santa won’t bring it but, once you know what it is, you can create it.

Image by Flickr user Peter Hilton, licensed under CC 2.0