You need to know where you want to be in personal and business terms. So you need a vision.
Lets take a real life example of a vision:
My partner’s daughter decided at the age of about five that she wanted to be a doctor. She loved music and competitive sport yet managed to combine both with consistently working hard at her academic subjects. She got good grades in the subjects that would get her into the college of her choice. She continued throughout medical school in this vein and has become not only a doctor but a qualified surgeon.
She had her one major goal and, even when times got really tough, she didn’t waver from it. (By the way, she also rowed for her medical school [as in using oars, not arguing!], and is an accomplished piano, saxophone and clarinet player). She now works as a general medical practitioner.
Now back to you:
If you’re in business you doubtless already have a vision, but it’s worthwhile revisiting it and making sure it still works for you. It’s a good idea to get together with the key players in your company and have a “way forward” brainstorming session. Get excited about it, visualise it and believe in it!
Okay, now we’ve had the excitement, it’s time to get practical: You need to agree to pool your skills and work together to secure any business that will bring you closer to your vision.
Next you need to set goals that focus on achieving the growth that will gain your company its desired position.
Goal setting:
Let’s take a small sanity check.
The idea of setting goals is hardly new. But for some reason, whilst most of us are quite used to targets and goals being set for us when we are working for someone else, it’s a different kettle of fish entirely when it comes to setting them for ourselves. How many times have you said or heard "If only I knew what I really wanted…" ?
If you are at all unsure as to the value of defining you vision and your goals, read the following statements.
1) The common denominator amongst the most successful people in the world is that they all have a vision and they all set goals for themselves.
2) It is said that only by setting goals, believing in them and visualising achieving them will you have a hope of making them happen.
3) Less than 5% of people ever set goals - which, as someone else said recently, is a bit like going out for a walk without a map and with no destination in mind - you’ve no idea about or control over where you will end up.
So get cracking on setting your goals. Make sure that your goals are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.
One more point before you do so:
Your goals can and will change but they must be in complete harmony with your core values which are set in stone (see related article: Brand Matters) - a kind of "to thine own self be true".
To sum up:
Decide on the vision that works for you first. Then work on the goals that will help you achieve your vision, otherwise it will never become reality.
This article is an abridged extract from our Comfort Zone Gold course at http://www.sellingforbusiness.com
Your Vision - To learn more about this author, visit Linda Mattacks's Website.
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Linda Mattacks
(Visit Linda's Website)
"Linda Mattacks is one of those rare
professionals who combine deep
strategy-awareness with a thoroughly
practical approach to business marketing.
What's more, she is as much a hard-nosed
and sales-driven results seeker as she is
an intuitive people person who understands
what makes everyone tick. She has built a
wealth of experience in sales training,
business research, marketing campaign
planning and project management. Linda has
helped organisations of all types and
sizes in the UK and Europe to learn more
about their customers and markets, and
turn that knowledge into revenue. Her
mature and human manner has won her both
business partners' and colleagues'
complete trust, which has opened many new
opportunities for all involved.” - Jaakko
Alanko - MD McCann-Erickson, Business
Division, London, England ... Linda
Mattacks M IDM (the Institute of Direct
Marketing) is a trainer and mentor. She
has developed Selling For Business, a
course that combines the sales, research
and contact marketing skills that enable
individual entrepreneurs and small
businesses to compete successfully with
large organisations. Please visit www.sel
lingforbusiness.com for more details
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