Easy? Hardly. Important and Essential – Totally!
Making Things Happen
It is not WHY; it is, WHY NOT!
Think back to your first memory as a child who wanted something – anything. Did you fail? Of course, not, otherwise you wouldn't be here.
If you were hungry, you did anything to get food. If you wanted clean clothes, you let your caregivers know in no uncertain terms that you wanted clean clothes and got them. When you wanted to reach something, you did everything in your power to get that item and if it was important enough you got it.
Think back about learning to walk – that seemingly impossible mountain to climb. At least that is what it seemed like at the time. Did you fail? NO! Was it easy? NO! You tried to stand and then fell and it hurt. Did you stop there, NO! You tried again and again and again and again, maybe you had to try 10 times, 100 times, a thousand times but you didn't quit. You achieved the most important goal in your life. Baby steps, those magic moments. Everyone around you cheered and clapped and laughed and you were the star of all stars. Would you like that feeling again? Let's Do it.
Congratulations, you've taken the first step. You have made your conscious decision to be successful. You've now entered a completely new level of contentment and satisfaction, more than you could possibly imagine.
By taking this first step, you have started taking "action". All successful entrepreneurs agree that "action" is critical to our success. The action steps taken within a successful strategy creates the desired results. A. L. Williams said it best when he coined the slogan "Do It." That's what it is all about: taking the first step, then the next, and then not stopping till the job is done. There is no other word for success and there is no other way to success than taking one step after another and not quitting!
Part of a successful strategy is creating for yourself a definition for your success. This definition includes what you believe in, what you stand for, and at the same time maintains your integrity. Do you know what tops surveys of what most people want in life? It's happiness. We do things to bring others happiness, and of course, we want happiness for ourselves. Your definition needs to bring you happiness. You and only you oversee your happiness, so start thinking about:
What is your product, service, or ideas? Describe them completely.
How do you want to provide them to your client? Have a store, bring it to them, or online?
Are you going to do this alone or with a team?
How much do you want in revenue this year, in five years, in 10 years?
How much time do you want for your holidays; what times of the year, how often?
What are surroundings going to look like; high end, comfortable, utilitarian?
What is your definition of success? What makes you happy?
As you go, so does your business. This process will give us the framework to formulate the type of organization, planning, methodology, marketing, accounting, servicing, and renewing, that will need to be done. In the next little while, we will be looking at these areas and redefining the "Authentic You". You will define the way you really want to be and provide the framework for true contentment and happiness in the profession you choose and love.
What we are doing is what I call CREATING YOUR CASTLE IN THE SKY. Some would say that it is a recipe for disaster; but I would rather fall short of perfection but be farther ahead than I ever thought possible by having a dream.
But what now, you are wondering? It all seems so confusing and difficult! Don't worry; we will be taking a step-by-step approach to each aspect of you and your business.
The only thing you need to do to succeed, is to do exactly what successful people did. When you go through all the information below you will acquire the mentality of a successful person and this will help you reach success.
Step 1
We start at the beginning with creating a list of all the things that you love to do and a list of what you are good at.
Finding what you love to do will give you motivation along the way. Imagine being forced to do a triathlon when your true passion is chess. It would be difficult, wouldn't it? Now imagine the opportunity to participate in a chess tournament. It's much, much easier to persistently chip away at your intention if your intention is something you enjoy doing.
There are two reasons for making a list of what your good at. First reason, often you are your own worst enemy. Truth be told, you can't berate yourself into a better version of yourself. And even though I know this, I sometimes still fall victim to my own negative thinking. Sometimes I'm downright rude to myself. I make a mistake, or fall short of my own expectations, and now I treat it as a learning opportunity.
Second, by knowing what you are good at, you will have a better chance of knowing what you are not good at. The adage of work on your weaknesses is not always the way you want to go. I believe that rather than plodding your way through a self-improvement program, it's far easier, faster and more effective to surround yourself with people who are strong in areas where you are weak and allow them to fill in gaps. That way you can focus on what you're good at (and probably what you like doing) and the team will be much more effective, stronger, and happier. If building those skills is important to you personally, then you can watch them work and learn from them, but don't slow down your company or your team because you want to learn on the job.
Step 2
What is your big idea, you're WHAT? I would like you to describe in as much detail as you can, your perfect "castle in the sky" - what you would like your business or outcome to look like. From there we will create the pillars to support your castle.
Think about the main components of your castle, including:
1. Your Unique Value: the quality you transmit to everyone you encounter, and the real reason why your clients will love you;
2. Your Big Why: your reason for doing this work instead of anything else you might be doing;
3. Your Deepest Intention: the heartfelt, way-down-deep impact you want your work to have in the world; and
4. Your Core Hello: your compelling answer to "So, what do you do?", your powerful introduction, drawing people to you who want to know more, want your business card, and want to talk about working with you.
There you have it, your assignment is:
1. Create a list of all the things you love to do.
2. Create a list of all the things you are good at.
3. Craft your "Castle in the Sky" – explain in as much detail as you can what your successful business is going to look like.
You can do this. Ask yourself, what will the pain and loss be if I don't do this?
I would love to see what you wrote, please send it to me.