Here’s the last post from the Wire blog:
So, Carrie asked me to do a blog post for you guys on “Thinking Big” and “Keeping Moving Towards Your Big Dreams”. These two subjects are really close to my heart as they are the reason I am a coach! One of my favourite things in the world is getting to the centre of what drives people, what they are passionate about, what they love and where they want to go…and then helping them to get there. Delightful.
So let’s start with thinking big. You may have heard of SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely), and although this is sensible and logical, it is also BORING! When I take my big ideas for my business and run them through this method of goal setting, I lose most of the OOMPH behind them. Business plans have the same effect. They take the inspiration out of your ideas and make them tedious. Thinking big won’t always get you to be Mistress of the Universe, but thinking small DEFINITELY won’t, and being realilstic, logical, sensible cuts your ‘big ideas’ down to a size that has no juice left for you! Bleurgh.
So let’s talk about SMILE goals instead (I just made this up by the way!) – does your vision for your business make you Smile? Does it have a touch of Magic about it? Is it Inspiring to you? Do you have Lots of enthusiasm for this? Does it give you Energy? If yes, Woohoo! Go get em Tiger! If not, what is your biggest vision for your business? To find that big vision, try these exercises:
Imagine that you have a time machine and you can go 5 years into the future – everything has gone better than you ever expected…what has happened in your business?
Sandy Grason of www.sandygrason.com suggests you set a timer and try the writing prompt “Your Perfect Day” – what would that be like? What would your perfect business day look like?
What is the best you can imagine for your business and your life? Don’t worry about the ‘how’ for a moment, just allow yourself to dream big.
Spend a bit of time thinking about what your big vision would be. Most of us only allow ourselves to think about modest goals…and most of us are capable of achieving far greater. Many people believe that if they don’t have big dreams, they can’t be disappointed. Unfortunately, when we keep ourselves small that disappoints us more than trying and failing ever could. And the joy is in the journey – it really is. If you have a big dream, a big vision, a big idea, you will grow and learn and develop so much you won’t be able to recognise yourself! Whether you reach that big goal or not. I was once told to set the goal of being a millionaire. Not for the money, but for what I’d learn along the way.
Get a vision that excites you! Get a vision that delights you…in fact, I say ‘get’…but you already have that big vision inside you. Let it out. You wouldn’t have it if you couldn’t do it. Ok, it is possible that you may not reach your ‘big vision’…but you just might! And you may well get a lot further than if you stay safe, stay small and stay sensible, realistic, timely, blah! And maybe the reason you don’t reach that big vision is because along the way the big vision changes – mine has changed beyond recognition in the last 5 years. I’m glad I never got my 2005 version ‘big vision’ because it sucked! My 2010 big vision however, ROCKS!
Now, once you’ve got your ‘big vision’, how do you achieve it? There are 3 vital parts to achieving a big goal: 1. Be flexible 2. Keep a sense of humour and 3. Keep moving. The first two are important – I can guarantee that there will be days you think you’re never going to get there, days when things go horribly wrong, days when every door seems to have shut in your face, days when you doubt yourself, days when you wonder how the beep you’re going to do this. On those days, you will need flexibility and a sense of humour!
Clients often feel there is something wrong with them or their big vision because it’s not as easy as they thought it would be. Unfortunately in my experience it never is “easy”! When we see people who have achieved great things, we almost always gloss over the fact that they have worked for 20 years to get where they are, or the sacrifices they had to make to get where they are, or the days they thought they couldn’t do it. And let me tell you that everyone who has achieved something great had doubts, bad days, crises of confidence and moments (sometimes thousands of them!) of failure. It is not ‘just you’.
The difference between those who get there and those who don’t is the 3rd vital part. Keep moving. Step by step by step by step by step by step. Breaking your next move down into baby steps and moving. For example, creating a website might be a next move…but it is more than one baby step!!!! To break it down, you might say step 1 is brainstorming what you want your website to be – a brochure, a lead-catcher, a force to be reckoned with? Step 2 might be writing the copy for the home page. Step 3 might be deciding on the names for the other pages. Steps 4-12 might be creating the copy for those pages. Step 13 might be to find a web designer (or this might be step 1, depending on what feels right to you).
50 steps later, you have a website. And you’re ready to take the next step. Most people get stuck because they try to take those 50 steps in one stride, then fall flat on their face. An absurd and unrealistic undertaking! This is one of my achilles’ heels (I have many!) – I try to get way ahead of myself, and then just end up falling behind. But when I remember to decide the next baby step and do that, then decide the next baby step and do that, I make progress. I stay flexible, I keep my sense of humour…and every now and again I remind myself of that vision that makes me smile, has a touch of magic, inspires me, gives me lots of enthusiasm and energy – and that big vision pulls me forward into the next steps.
You cannot climb a mountain in 2 leaps – it takes thousands of small steps. This may be disappointing to the impatient among you (like me!) but actually it should be encouraging – you keep putting those small steps together, keep flexible, keep a sense of humour and you will conquer that mountain!
Love
Donna.x
With thanks to Carrie of the Blonde Marketing Goddess and Wire for featuring me! xx