Small Business Saturday Blog

It’s because a stretching goal forces you to take big stepstowards it, rather than just continuing to do what you’ve done before. Itpushes you to think outside the box, and to make a shift.

I know, because I did it last year.

As a business coach, I work with small business owners. Ayear ago I was focusing exclusively on 1:1 coaching. Then I set myself a goalto “help 500 small business owners in 2017”.

I wasn’t going to achieve that simply by 1:1 coaching. Ineeded to reach groups of people. That led to me running workshops, writingguest blogs, sending a weekly newsletter to my mailing list, going outnetworking and giving talks.

I would probably never have done any of that without my BIGgoal.

So how do you identify your goal?                           

Rather than a goal, I prefer to think of it as a vision. Forme the word ‘vision’ conjures up something much more exciting and inspiring.Something that you can really connect with emotionally and get motivated towork towards. 

There are lots of ways to come up with your vision. Theleast effective way is to sit down with a blank document, write or type VISIONat the top of the page and wait for inspiration to strike!

It’s far more effective to access the more creative parts ofyour brain. You could:

If you’ve never used visualisation, I can recommend it!Start by closing your eyes and taking a couple of deep breaths to release anytension.

Now imagine that it is 12 months’ time, and you are lookingat your business as it is then. It has evolved, grown and changed. It isthriving, and so are you.

Let this business take shape around you.  What do you see around you? What are youdoing? Who else is here?

What can you hear, and smell? If you reached out and touchedsomething, what would it be?

What’s important here? Soak this environment up with all ofyour senses.

Once you have completely immersed yourself in your futurebusiness, you can open your eyes. You’ve just ‘seen’ the vision of yourbusiness a year from now. 

Did I achieve MY vision last year?

By the end of the year I wasn’t really concerned whether I achievedit or not. I was more focused on the benefits that had flowed from aiming forit.

These benefits included:

All of these contributed to an increase in paid work, both1:1 coaching and workshop attendees.

And actually yes, I did achieve my vision too!

More About The Author:

Amanda Cullen is a business coach who helps small businessowners to grow their business and run it better. She provides 1:1 coaching,either face-to-face in London and Surrey, or by Skype or phone nationwide. Shealso runs monthly workshops in London.

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Facebook: @businessmadesimpler

Twitter: @AmandaCcoach

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandacullencoach/

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