Article by YREC Director Anthony M Turner
Ever wondered why some people take off and most others seem to trudge their way through life?
After working with hundreds of business owners, I’ve noticed that only around 5% start with a crystal-clear vision of what they want to achieve. The rest have a dream just the same as the 5% but quickly get caught up in all the work without defining a “big picture” for how they want life to be and end up with their dream becoming a nightmare.
When running workshops, I often suggest to participants that think of their life and/or business like a road trip. So let me explain…
If you were to hop in your car today, most likely the first thing you’d decide is your destination. Once you know where you’re going, you can map out the best route, pack what you need, and plan your rest stops (if taking a long trip) to stay refreshed.
Your life and business works in exactly the same way!
Once you’ve picked a destination, you have the two most important pieces of information needed to plan for success. From here, it’s just about breaking the journey down into manageable milestones, much like choosing refuelling stops along the way.
Sometimes, setting a big new goal can lead to what I call “mind snap.” Think of your goal like an elastic band—if you stretch it too far, too fast, it snaps. Our minds often do this to either protect us from disappointment or to keep us aligned with fearful self-beliefs that keep our goal out of reach from where we are today. To keep your “elastic band” intact, we recommend creating an itinerary that breaks the bigger journey into manageable stepping stones:
- Define your “Now” and your “Destination.”
- Identify your halfway point, then your 1/4 and 3/4 marks.
- Start by focusing only on the activities needed to get to that first 1/4 mark.
- Work your way up the ladder, adjusting goals and activities to suit the then current situation
By focusing on these smaller stepping stones, the journey becomes more achievable and exciting.
Just remember– once you reach your destination, that becomes your new “Now” and the perfect time to pick an even more inspiring place to reach next!
To help you get started, ask yourself “what is the one big thing you want to have accomplished for your life/business in 12 months from today?
If you would like a tool to help create YOUR Big Picture road map, simply join YREC as an online Member to access this and all the other tools, templates and support materials freely available in our Member Resources Library.
