What will your business look like one year from today?

We all you that setting goals is important but for most people this is an example of simple, not easy.  We all know we should do this but do we all actually do this?  Do we really write down our goals for the next year, 3 years, 5 years and even 10 years?  Writing down your goals is the start of a business plan.  It’s the start of a vision.  It is the critical first step to success.

Success without planning

Confucius said “Any road will get you somewhere”.  The question is the road that you are on, the one that will get you to where you want?

I’ve met a lot of successful people who do not plan.  The work hard in the business but never spend any time working on the business.  Imagine how much more successful these people could be with a little planning?  The problem is success means different things to different people.  For some success is about making as much money as possible;  for others success is about growth; some value balance and time with family.  Whatever the case may be, to have a plan, you need to start with a vision.

That’s why I always ask business owners to think about their business to try to describe what the business would look like in 1 years time to be more successful.   To do the planning properly, you will also need to ask yourself the same question for 3 years, 5 years and event 10 years.

The secret to success

How many times have you set a goal and forgot about it?  Goals are meaningless unless you actually takes steps to make them happen.  I’ve always said the best idea is the implemented one.  There is no shortage of goals just like there is no shortage of great ideas so the secret to success is implementation – or in the words of Nike . . . Just Do It!

Doing something is better than nothing.

Implementation is what makes winners.  Implementation is the difference between exceptional and mediocre.  Implementation requires a few key ingredients:

1. Change. The definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results.  If you want different results, chances are you need to so something a little different.
2. Conscious awareness.  It’s is critical that you take action but equally critical that you take action on the right things.  This happens when you are consciously aware of your goals, your plans and your actions.
3. Discipline.  Habits are hard to break.  Both good habits and bad ones.  Without discipline, it is so easy to fall back into ‘comfortable’ habits of the past.  Part of making change happen is having the discipline to carry it through.

Planning is all about making the future as predictable as possible.  To do that, you must look into the future to not only see where you are going to more important to define where you want to go.  Take some time in your busy lives to work on your business by establishing some goals and vision for the future.