Where are you going???

Can you imagine packing your bags, saying good bye to your friends and family and setting sail on a yacht out to sea without a navigation chart of where you are going or how you are going to get there?  How can you negotiating rocky outcrops and submerged sand banks, understand the currents and utilize the wind, all required to move a yacht from where you are, to where you need to get to if you don't have a chart.  If you don't have a plan?

It's the same in business.  Sailing unchartered waters is akin to starting a design business, or any business for that matter, without a clear understanding or where you want to take your business and how you’re going to get there.  Not the best idea.  Just ask any sailor or navigator and I’m sure they’d give you the same answer, so why would you do it in business? 

But this is exactly what many business owners and corporations do.  And you know what…it’s natural, because it’s not easy to keep focusing on a positive end when the here and now is hard.

I don’t think I’m saying anything new, or anything you haven’t read in other books or books on motivation of achieving success.  Stephen Covey the author of The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People talks about “beginning with the end in mind” and focusing on what you want, desiring what you want and manifesting that in the here and now.   The basic premise is that what you think about, what you focus on, you will head towards and ultimately achieve.  It is a concept that has been popularised by Rhonda Byrne in The Secret and by Harv Eker in his book Secrets of the Millionaire Mind.

So, how do we set our goal, define our end?  The following is a good start:

1.       Identify your strengths, your point of difference, your passion and where you want your business to be;

2.       Once you’ve thought about where you want your business to be….think bigger!  We are really only limited by our imagination, so don’t sell yourself short!

3.       Establish a strategy of how to get from here to where you need to be.  AND WRITE IT DOWN!  Don’t worry if it seems a stretch or unachievable.  Just like a yacht setting out from the wharf, you at least need a plan.
4.       Tell people about what you’re doing, share the enthusiasm, share your passion, the more you talk about it, the more you visualise it, the more it will become a reality;

5.       Finally, remain positive and enjoy the journey!

All that sounds easy right….?  Well it’s not as easy as it sounds, but there are a few things you can do to help you along the way.  

Firstly, speak your goals in a positive way each day.  As Henry David Thoreau once said: “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavours to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”  Studies have shown the effect of positive affirmation on achieving what your mind has set itself on, so focus on where you’re going and positively affirm your direction each day. 

Secondly, reward yourself each small victory.  It is said that success breeds success and as Donald Trump puts his spin on it: “The old saying that “success breeds success” has something to it. It's that feeling of confidence that can banish negativity and procrastination and get you going the right way.” So back yourself, if you’re not going to, then who is?

I hope the above has been a useful read.  Trust in yourself, it is within your grasp, just believe you can reach it and stretch out your hand…