If you go on a journey, the first thing you need to know is where you are headed.
Yet most businesses don’t have a clear idea of where they’re going, so it’s not surprising that so many fail to attract more ideal clients. There are two elements to success in this area:
- Knowing exactly where you want to go (having a vision).
- Being committed to that exclusively (staying focused).
Being clear on your vision
Taking time to set a clear vision for your business and defining your ideal clientsis very valuable. Without clarity you lack direction; it becomes hard to make decisions, and your results end up being average at best.
On the other hand, clear objectives provide some certainty as a basis for good future decisions. So setting a clear vision and direction can be worth a fortune to you and your business. Research has identified two important factors in setting a successful goal, objective or vision:
- You must write it down.
- The more specific your goal, the greater your chance of getting it.
So if you’ve not set a clear direction yet for your business, create one now and make it powerful by following the SMART formula:
- The more specific it is, the more chance of you reaching it; to help you stay focused, it needs to be simple.
- It needs to be measurable so that you know you’ve reached it; it should be meaningful to you – not to impress others.
- You should set it “as if now” – expressed in the present tense, it should be achievable i.e. physically possible.
- Your vision needs to be realistic in that you believe it will happen and it should be responsible – having no negative impacts on you, others or the planet as a whole.
- It must be timed with a specific date when it will be achieved; and should be moving towards what you want, not away from what you don’t want.
While it’s important to aim high eventually, it’s best to start with small steps.
One of the ways of getting your big goals is to follow a process of breaking them down into smaller, more manageable actions.
You need to earn $1 before you can earn $1 million! If you have a new business, the first $500 you earn is life-changing – so aim for that. Then gradually move the bar up towards bigger goals.
The secret is dream big, think small and act now!
Remaining focused on your goal
Are you a light bulb or a laser? A light bulb sprays light everywhere. A laser can focus the same amount of energy on one single spot with very powerful results. A successful business is like a laser.
- If you are strategic, you know exactly where your business is going and you’re able to proactively identify opportunities that will help you to get to your vision.
- Opportunists change direction because the latest new idea seems more exciting than the last one. They’re not sure which to take up, so they dip into all of them and spend the day evaluating opportunities and taking no action.
If you want to be successful, you need to be strategic. So make sure you set a series of goals and milestones to encourage and measure your progress towards your vision, following the SMART formula.
If you’re not getting the results you want, review how you spend your day and check your “to-do” list.
If you’re spending time on things that are not helping you get exactly what you want, maybe it’s time to drop some things you are doing.