Have you ever started a new project, product, idea or even a business, then have gotten into the middle of it and realize you aren’t really on the right track? That you aren’t even close to your original vision of the idea? Or perhaps you feel stuck because things have gotten complicated, convoluted and you feel totally overwhelmed.
As entrepreneurs, we love the next “big idea”. It’s what keeps up going, keeps us excited and can keep us broke if we’re not careful. Too often, we get a great idea, and start right off trying to implement it without a clear picture of the end in mind.
When I was a little girl, I loved watching my grandmother sew, and I really wanted to learn, so she taught me. I used to love to go to the fabric stores and look through the pattern books at all the pictures of the beautiful clothes that you could make.
This is a great example of having the end in mind, before you begin. You must visualize or have a picture, or a concrete idea of what that something is, you are trying to create, looks like in the end result.
For example, I recently worked with a client who was struggling with creating a speech he has to deliver to a large organization in a few months. He wasn’t sure where to start, but had a lot of information, (too much information) he was trying to put into the speech-which would inevitably have become a “long, rambling” speech. As a homework assignment, I asked him to think about the three things he wanted his audience to walk away with and remember from his speech and build it from there-with only three points-not the ten he was cramming into a 30 minute speech!
Another client of mine, along with one of her colleagues, is creating a new networking of health professionals that serve cultural creatives. She wants to create some structure and guidelines of operation for the group, that includes plenty of flexibility, but wasn’t exactly sure how to go about it without ending up with a rigid set of rules.
I suggested that she and her colleague start with the end in mind, by visualizing what this group would look like when it was fully operational. What kind of people were in the group, how often did they meet, what made up the content of the meetings, were members there for every meeting, etc. Then work backwards creating the boundaries and structure that would most likely support that vision.
This notion of starting with the end in mind is why vision boards work so well in helping us reach goals, manifest, or just get clearer on what we want.
So the next time you find yourself creating a new idea, project, speech-whatever-start with the end in mind and get really clear on the end result. You’ll find the path for creating what you want will be easier, clearer and you’ll end up with a successful result!
 Mandy works with talented, bright, high energy self employed professionals and very small businesses who struggle to market their business effectively, stretch their capacity and play a bigger game. Mandy’s client’s receive proven, specific information on what they need to do to get more clients and grow their business. As a result, those who coach with Mandy increase their business, get more clients and make more money, faster and easier than they ever would have on their own. Sign up for her free Cd “7 Productivity Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs” at www.mandyschumaker.com. Or contact her at 207-653-6977 |
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