Follow A Vision, Not A Plan

Follow A Vision, Not A Plan

There’s a famous quote from Winston Churchill during the second World War, where he said, “You can create the best plan, but soon as the first shot is fired, you throw it out the window.”

The point being, however great the plan, it cannot account for everything that is going to happen or all of the obstacles you are going to encounter when you start to go after the goals that you’ve set. Instead of focusing on detailed plans, one of the most effective ways of getting what you want out of life is to focus on CREATING A VISION.  A vision of what you want your life to look like. If you think about it, as a business owner -- 

Why did you go into business in the first place?

Why aren’t you an employee of a company? Why aren’t you working for the government?

The reason is, somewhere at the back of your mind when you started the business, you told yourself you wanted a life that is better than what a job could provide. Therefore, you wanted a business for yourself that would give you a life that is better than most people will have.  But if you look at your life on a day-to-day basis --

How much time do you spend focusing on that type of life that you want to live?

For most people, they focus no time on it at all.

For most business owners, and for most contractors specifically, the whole day is spent simply chasing and putting out the fires that come up in the business.  When they do find time to focus on something, let’s say they sit down and create a business plan. They try to determine how many clients they need, how much money they need to make, and on and on.  

Now if you’re completely focused on the goals of the business, the question you have to ask yourself is…

How motivating is that? How exciting is it?

For most people, constantly focusing on the business itself is actually a draining experience. Because you are dealing with all the problems of the business, the clients, the employees, the material issues.

When you have handled all the problems on the first day, then what do you find yourself doing when you wake up the next day? The same thing, right? You do the same thing over and over again.

The far more effective method is to focus on why you got in the business in the first place. Develop a very clear vision of what type of life you wish to create for yourself and your family. Remember the purpose of your business is to give you that life. There’s a model that we created for just this purpose.  Let’s walk through what that model looks like.

The first thing that you must understand is that you and your business are separate entities. 

This is you, and this is your business. They’re not the same. Often for people who are involved in their business on a day-to-day basis, this can be confusing. Still the truth is, you are not your business.

You are separate entities, even legally. The key thing to understand is, who is going to build the business to the level that you want? It’s obviously you, the business owner.  Here’s the key point to remember --

Between you and the business, who should come first?

Whose needs should come first? If you’re following this, then you know it’s your needs. However, what does reality look like? The needs of the business tend to take over the owner’s life.  

As we suggested earlier, when you focus on the business, you end up focusing on the business goals, and then you’re just working in the business all the time. You start living a life in which you’re constantly working and have no personal life.

You didn’t go into business to focus on business goals, you went into business to meet your personal goals.

So what will happen if you start focusing on your personal goals?

Personal goals are typically centered around the lifestyle you want to live. The type of house you want, the amount of money you want to make, the type of vacations you want to take. Maybe you want to provide for your family, your children, or have a mission or charity that is important to you.

If that became the focus of your life, what do you think will happen to your motivation level? For most people, it would go way up. The purpose here is to have your personal goals drive your business goals. Then the business will generate the income that gives you the lifestyle that you’re looking for.

When you look at all of these factors, your business is just a tool to generate the necessary income. That is why it is imperative to ensure you have a very clear vision of what you want your life to look like. For most people, they let the tool take over their life. And in the end what suffers is their lifestyle.

If you want to know how to create the life that you always wanted, book a 30-minute call today with a Master Business Coach.