Archive for the ‘Visioning & Goal Setting’ Category
The problem with many small business owners is that when they get started they’re all gung-ho and working hard, but after they reach some disappointment, they lose sight of their vision and often stop trying as hard and peter out. To run a successful business, it is essential to keep your vision alive.
The first step in keeping your vision alive is to have a clear vision in the first place. If you haven’t already, try sitting down and writing a clear vision statement, for your business and yourself. Think about why you started your business, and what you hope to achieve. While it’s important to have a vision statement, you have to keep it in mind if you’re going to actually achieve it. Having an idea of what you want doesn’t really matter if you throw it in a drawer and only think about it once every six months. Try posting it somewhere in your office or having it written down where you will see it regularly.
It might also help you to do more than just post your vision. Most people know the phrase that a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, why not use this to your advantage? Find pictures that make you think of what you want and what your goals are in life, and post them in places you’ll see. If may be posters around your office or even just your computer desktop. They’ll serve as a constant reminder of what you’re working for.
To keep your vision going, it’s important that your work reflects your vision. That means not only working towards your goals, but associating with people who feel the same. Sure, you’re not always going to be able to choose who you work with, but you can still try to make business contacts who have similar vision and beliefs as you. These people will help you stick to what you want and become successful. It’s a generally accepted fact that if you’re surrounded by negative people, you’ll probably start thinking negatively eventually. Attitude is something that permeates to the people around us. To help keep your vision on track, surround yourself not only with positive people, but with those that share your vision, or a similar one. They will help keep you on track when you get discouraged.
If you’re having trouble focusing on your vision statement, maybe it’s not you that needs help, maybe it’s just your vision. You are not the same person you were when you opened your business, so why is your vision statement the same? If your vision statement doesn’t reflect what you want anymore, considering reviewing and revising it. Just be sure not to do it too often, or you’ll find yourself going from focus to focus without actually accomplishing anything.
What’s most important is not to lose faith in yourself and your business. Great businessmen aren’t the ones who have never failed, they’re the ones who failed and kept on going.
Deanna Maio, Business Development Strategist & Speaker, teaches women business owners how to grow their business significantly while still having time to live a great life. For FREE tips on how to get more results without working harder, attract more clients, and grow your profits, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
If you go into any large, successful company and look at their employee materials, somewhere you’ll probably find a vision statement, or some similar form of guidance or goals for the company. That’s because a vision statement is one of the most important things a company can have. When you think about a long race or long project, which part do you think is the hardest? Which part do you think is the easiest part to just give up? Logically, you would think it was the end, but if you think harder, the end is actually pretty easy. That’s because, even though you’re drained you can still see your goal in sight, which pushes you to keep going. The purpose of a vision statement is to keep yourself going when you’re tired, but not even close to achieving your goals. A vision statement reminds you that there is a point, there is an end in sight, and if you keep pushing you’ll get there. Vision is what keeps us from giving up on our dreams.
So how do you make your businesses vision statement? Basically you just have to sit down and figure out what you want. Sounds pretty simple, but if you’re ever actually tried to accomplish this, you know it’s a bit more difficult than it sounds. To write your statement, think about what you want - from your life, from your business, and for your family. If it helps, you might want to write separate statements for your personal life and your business. While having a vision statement is great, the simple act of writing one is a benefit in itself. It causes you to sit down and think about what you REALLY want out of your business, and out of your life. This is something many of us have never actually done. While it is beneficial to have an all-encompassing vision statement, it also helps for it to be fairly short and concise. This may take a while to do, but is worth it in the long run.
Once you have your vision statement, be sure to keep it in mind. It doesn’t work to push or motivate yourself if you forget about it completely. Make sure to put your vision statement in some form, whether it be the whole statement or just key words and pictures, where you’ll see it on a regular basis. This way it will keep you motivated and pushing for your dreams. If you have a business with employees or where customers and business partners come to your office, it could be beneficial to post your vision statement somewhere that everyone can see it. This will help motivate your employees and let your customers know what it is you’re about and what you’re committed to.
It may take some time and some thought, but a well thought out vision statement can be a fantastic tool for your business.
Deanna Maio, Business Development Strategist & Speaker, teaches women business owners how to grow their business significantly while still having time to live a great life. For FREE tips on how to get more results without working harder, attract more clients, and grow your profits, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
There are very few people, if any, who long to be unsuccessful. You don't just wake up in the morning and decide that you want to be mediocre. Most people long for more, but only a small few actually achieve the success they want. Just the same, successful people don't just become that way by accident. They have to work for it.
So what makes the difference between success and failure? What is it that successful people have that helps them get where they are? Here are just a few key traits of successful people.
Goal oriented
When you are sifting through piles of work, or are hit by a setback, it's easy to feel distraught. If you can't look forward and see why you do what you do, you're going to be more affected and more likely to give up.
Persistence
When you talk to successful people, you'll find a common theme. It's not that successful people don't fail, it's that they don't give up when they fail. They keep going and keep trying until they make it. Even if things go well for you in the beginning, eventually, the odds are you're going to fail eventually. You've just got to dust yourself off and keep trying.
Self-aware
In order to be successful, you need to know what you're good at. That way you can direct your path towards your positives and exploit them. It's also important that you be aware of your weaknesses, which is something that's a little harder for most people. By knowing your weaknesses, you can figure out how to avoid them faulting you, or you can take steps to improve on them.
Positive thinking
Have you ever noticed that when you're around someone who's excited and happy, you feel happier? And if you're around someone who's always depressed, you start to feel sad yourself? We are affected by what we are surrounded with. And the same goes internally. If we fill our minds with positive thought, we eventually start thinking more positively. And if you believe you are good at what you're doing and can accomplish your goals, you're going to try harder and longer to get them.
Creative thinking
There are thousands of businesses across the country and millions more across the world. These are all people competing for the same money you are. In order to make yourself known, you have to do something different. That will require you to be creative - through product ideas, marketing, customer support, or even in how you organize your office.
So, you're maybe thinking that you don't have most of these attributes, but that doesn't mean you can't become a successful person. The good news is that these behaviors can be learned. If success is something you really want, you just need to get the systems, support, and focus so you can stop working so hard and start working savvy.
Deanna Maio, known professionally as The Savvy Strategies Coach, teaches business owners simple, powerful processes to stop wasting time, start making more money, and create a business that acts as a vehicle for living the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to increase your income and use your valuable time more wisely, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
Deanna Maio joins Stephen Covey, Les Brown, & Dr. John Gray in a new book,
GPS for Success!
Goals & Proven Strategies from the Industry’s Leading Experts
SEVIERVILLE, TENNESSEE— Deanna Maio, keynote speaker, business coach, and author, has been selected from a nationwide search to be featured in GPS for Success; a highly successful book series from Tennessee based Insight Publishing. The book features best-selling authors Stephen R. Covey (Seven Habits of Highly Effective People), Dr. John Gray (Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus), and Les Brown (The Power of Purpose). Deanna Maio, Covey, Gray, and Brown, are joined by other well known authors and speakers, each offering time-tested strategies for success in frank and intimate interviews.
Deanna Maio is the Founder of SavvyGals Coaching & Consulting, LLC in Portland, Oregon. Her specialty is teaching women business owners how to stop wasting time, start making more money, and live the life they deserve and desire. Known professionally as The SavvyGals Coach, Deanna started coaching in 2005 to help business owners people get the information, systems, support, and accountability they needed to deal with the sometimes overwhelming prospect of growing and running their business while still having a fulfilling personal life.
Prior to starting her own business, Deanna spent over 10 years as a manager, instructional designer and workshop facilitator. An unconditionally supportive coach and sought-after speaker and facilitator, Deanna is known for her passion and dedication to helping her clients create better results faster and easier than ever before.
You can learn more about Deanna and her programs, coaching, and do-it-yourself products at her website, http://www.savvygals.com/ For more information on Deanna Maio and to order your copy of GPS for Success, contact: Deanna Maio 503-922-2688 or support@savvygals.com http://www.savvygals.com
