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6 Steps For Making Business Wishes Come True

Bad Christmas GiftDo your family members write a Christmas Wish List for each other? Mine do. Ever since we were children we made a wish list for Christmas. As kids, it fit right in with writing our letters to Santa. And now that my family members live across the country from each other, the annual wish list is a tool for helping us shop for each other.

When writing letters to Santa was no longer a thing, I started resisting this exercise. I resisted because I thought people should know me well enough to know what I’d like. But I was wrong. On the years when I “forgot” to share a wish list, I got lousy gifts. On the years I shared my list, guess what? I got what I asked for! No more tacky Christmas sweaters and no more black socks….when I ask for what I want it tends to show up!

Do you do the same for your business? Do you have a wish list, a business plan for what you want in your business in the coming year? Too many business owners put off this thinking until well after January 1 (if they ever do it all). Don’t wait! While you’re making your Christmas Wish List for Santa, take some time to make your Business Wish List too!

6 Tips For Writing Your Business Plan:

1) Acknowledge your wins.

What did you accomplish this past year? What results did you create? What are you most proud of?

Too many of us only focus on what’s wrong and what needs doing next. This mindset keeps us in constant state of angst, always looking for the next problem. Take a moment to reflect on your successes! Acknowledging your wins helps you see what’s working so you can set goals to build on this in the coming year.

2) Focus on your top goals.

Write down your most important objectives and outline the steps to make them happen. This makes your goals attainable and easier to focus on. You will start to see how to achieve them by just taking one small step at a time.

3) Prioritize your goals.

Give a higher priority to the goals that mean the most to you, and the goals that will make the biggest positive impact on your life. Even when they are long-term goals, ensure that you work towards them a little each day.

4) Have a clear plan of action to make your goals real.

Key Step! Consider how much time and effort each step of each goal will take to complete! Then, transfer each action into your calendar throughout the coming year. It’s not enough to think about WHAT you need to do, you have to plan WHEN you will take each step to achieve each goal.

5) Measure the progress of your efforts.

Keep a list of your accomplishments as you achieve them. Then, share them with the world. Be proud of every moment and movement knowing that success builds on success!

6) Take your planned action step when you’re most alert and productive.

We all have a time of day when we tend to do our best work. Plan your actions for this time of day (mornings often work well). You’ll feel great taking an important action and getting it out of the way before your day gets busy. And this successful step will lead to another and another.

 

Business planning and execution is one of those important but not urgent tasks that often fall off track. That’s why I offer a FREE business planning e-book. To get your free ebook, visit: venturecoaching.ca/free-stuff   You’ll find lots of helpful, free resources here. 

 

And if you want to look your specific situation, I offer a FREE Breakthrough-Now! Coaching Session.

In this powerful session, you will leave with:

* new awareness of a blindspot that’s holding you back
* a renewed sense of energy for your business and leadership
* a key “next step” for moving forward

Click this link to my Calendly to book your session now 

 

Laura Watson, ACC, MSW is the founder and lead business coach at Venture Coaching International in Calgary, AB. With over 25 years of counselling and business coaching experience, she helps owners and executives across N. America to improve their personal, communication and leadership effectiveness. Laura helps you:

> Uncover blind spots
> Regain focus and traction in your business
> Accelerate your results

If you’re interested in taking your business to the “next level”, call Laura at: 403 669 8684 or book a meeting directly on Calendly.

Develop a Leadership Platform: What’s Your Vision?

“People don’t buy what you do, they buy what you stand for”, Simon Sinek

I love this quote from Simon. It reminds me that business is about way more then just making money. I believe business is about being in service to your customers and making a difference for them.

Most business owners want their business to grow (duh!) In fact, if we’re not growing, we’re dying. I see many owners go about growing for growth’s sake wanting to become bigger, faster, thinking that “bigger has to be better”. They do everything they can think of just to grow. Their decisions and actions often follow many different tangents which is exhausting for themselves and frustrating for their staff. It’s frustrating and exhausting because the decisions and actions seem haphazard and not based on a solid grounding with a sound direction. This type of growth feels like you’re flying by the ‘seat of your pants’ and is often unsustainable and doomed to implosion.

Successful, sustainable growth requires us to base our growth plan on a solid foundation. Like a house, you can’t build walls and a roof without a strong foundation. If you do, the house falls down. A successful business is the same, it needs a strong foundation to stand on. Once defined, this foundation becomes the ‘measuring stick’ from which an owner and his team can make strategical and tactical decisions and take sound action. This ‘measuring stick’ is called a Leadership Platform.

Like a simple house with four corners, a Leadership Platform has four elements; Vision, Purpose, Values & Goals. These four elements, once defined, create a strong foundation for your business to be built on.

This post is the first of four, designed to help you define your Leadership Platform. Check out the following video to understand more about building a leadership platform and to start defining your vision for your business:

Lead To Succeed: What’s Your Vision? from Venture Coaching on Vimeo.

Have fun working on your vision! Play with it and make it GRAND! Your vision should represent an exciting (and somewhat scary) possibility you see for the future of your life and business.

I would love to hear about your discoveries, so please comment on this post to share your experience.

Remember, this post is the 1st of a 4-part series. If you’d like to continue developing your platform check out Part 2: Defining Your Values.

If you enjoyed this post, you can also sign up for my FREE Lead to Succeed Email Course and these posts will come straight to your inbox. Just click on the banner to the left, sign up and stay connected!

NOW Is The Time To Do

Richard Branson was posting recently about the importance of making lists and resolutions and there was an overwhelming response from people keen to reach their goals in 2016. It’s great to see such enthusiasm – and practical planning – for making positive changes from people all over the world.

Planning is extremely important, for any adventure in or out of business. But even more crucial is the will to simply get out there and do something new.

Dr Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, said: “All human beings are born as entrepreneurs. But unfortunately, many of us never had the opportunity to unwrap that part of our life, so it remains hidden.”

He touches upon the potential within us all to bring new ideas to life. For those of us fortunate enough to have the chance to see their dreams come to life, it is foolish to waste our opportunities.

Another perceptive point comes from Seth Godin. On his blog, he wrote about the challenges of initiating any project. “Not enough people believe they are capable of productive initiative. I don’t think the shortage of artists has much to do with the innate ability to create or initiate. I think it has to do with believing that it’s possible and acceptable for you to do it.”

As Mr Godin suggests, it is absolutely possible for you to create, to take chances and to allow your ideas to flourish. While he is referring to artists, the same applies for the art of business.

“Now is the time to do” doesn’t just apply to starting businesses. It applies to relationships, to fitness and all aspects of your life.

Nobody else is going to start and grow your business for you. 2016 is the time to put your ideas into action. Now is the time to do.

If you’re feeling stuck in your current initiative or if it’s not unfolding the way you want it to, working with a business coach can help! A business coach will bring fresh perspective and enthusiasm to the table, while helping you plan your next steps and holding you accountable for following through. If you’d like to experience, first hand, the benefit of coaching, click on the Contact Us link for a sample, FREE session!

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