“Once you have a clear picture of your priorities – that is values, goals and high leverage activities – organize around them.”

- Stephen Covey

Over the years I attended a lot of training from many sources.  Whether the training was related to business or personal development, it was always clear a well developed vision can make a real difference in guiding your path and keeping you focused.  Often time there was a leap between the definition, value and need for a vision straight to examples from successful companies.  The examples often provided clear visions that were from a few words to short paragraph long.

When I tried to make my vision look like the examples I always struggled to make it clear and meaningful in a way that would drive my behavior and the behavior of my team.  I have since discovered the magic of the steps that go between the concept and the final abbreviated product.  My personal and business visions are now much more effective in driving my planning and behavior.

So what is the missing link?  I learned my vision starts out much, much longer than any of those examples and, for my purposes, stays longer.  I learned it should be written for a future date and should read as if it were actually happening today.  It should contain emotion and invoke all our senses with the words we use.  It should play like a movie of that future moment in our lives when we read it. 

Let’s take a look at some of the steps to getting an effective vision for our business in place.

- Start by thinking about what is important to you.   If making money is the only thing important to you in your business you may very well miss out.  Is it important for you to have a passion for what your business does?  Do you help others in some way?  Do you add some kind of value to society or your community?  Are you a key part to a bigger product or process?  What values do you want your business to hold?  Do you take great pride in the quality of your work?

- Next imagine what your business will look like in the future, 1, 3, 5 years from now.  With that picture in your mind begin to create your movie scrip.  You and your business have the starring roles.  Your plans have been effective and your business looks just like you imagined.  The day begins; it is May 1, 2012.  You get up in the morning excited about what the day holds.  After you finish an enjoyable breakfast with your family you head out to work.  When you arrive at the office or store you notice how professional yet inviting it looks.  You wonder what your clients or customers might think when they approach.  They must be remembering what a pleasant experience it was when they did business with you last. They are probably looking forward to seeing you and your team again.  Your team arrives refreshed and ready to work.  They have great attitudes, are trained, skilled, equipped and ready to begin their day.  You take comfort in knowing they are just as dedicated to your values and goals as you are each day.  The first customer arrives and they are quickly greeted in a warm and friendly way, they feel welcome, sure they came to the right place.  Your customers notice that you and your team listen to them, truly hear their needs and then help them to find the product or service that fills that very need.  The customer leaves happy and anxious to share their great experience with friends and family.  Most of the new customers in your business come directly from just this kind of unsolicited testimony of satisfied customers.  When the day ends you feel even more energized than when the day began.  As an added bonus you find the bottom line financial results are matching the upbeat energy that filled your day.  You are able to go home and enjoy your family and personal time without the burden or worrying over your business.

- Now it’s time to add the details.  Tell what you had for breakfast, how did it taste and smell.  Tell what you talked about with family over breakfast.  Tell what you heard as you left the house and as you walked up to your office or store.  Describe what you saw as you approached your office or store and what you saw as you entered.  Tell what you heard your team member say as they greeted that first customer of the day.  How was your team dressed?  You are getting the idea.  Add the details that make it real.  Remember to try and include descriptions that trigger all your senses, taste, smell, hear, see and touch.  Include how you felt.

- Your movie is ready to play!  You will play your movie when you write it, each time you read it and when something in your routine day triggers one of those senses you included in your vision.  For example if you talked about having pancakes for breakfast, every time you see or smell pancakes it will remind you of your vision.  You will be routinely thinking about where you want to be and that will help you stay on track with your plan to get there.  This is what makes your vision powerful!

Now here are few questions for you to answer:

• Do you have a vision?
• Is it written down?
• How often do you read it or think through it?
• Does your vision bring out positive emotions when you read it?
• Is your vision driving your actions each day?

Now is the time to move forward if your vision is absent or is simply not helping you get where you want to go.  The sooner you have an effective vision, the sooner it will begin to drive your actions toward the end you want.  Start moving forward today.

If you go through this exercise I would love to see how it came out and hear if you are finding it effective.  You can let me know through email at B.Collins@TheGrowthCoach.com.

“Reduce your plan to writing…  The moment you complete this, you will have definitely given concrete form to the intangible desire.”

- Napoleon Hill