In practice building (and getting clients) it seems to be
that most self-employed people just hope for the best. They
simply keep doing what they've been doing and don't have a
strategy for creating the practice they'd be truly and
deeply happy with. This is a big mistake in my opinion.
I used to write down my goals each year, but it never
really worked for me. I just didn't feel really excited
about my new goals. They didn't seem to propel me in motion
and so I kind of viewed them as being useless. I never
really looked at them, probably because they seemed like
"shoulds" rather than "really-meaningful-wants."
Then I came across the concept of creating 3-year visions
instead of just a list of goals for the upcoming year. This
visioning wasn't just about business goals, but also
family, financial, spiritual, and relationship goals. It
became a "holistic" way of looking at what you wanted in
your life. All the pieces looked like they would work
together, but only because you were compelled to make it
all work together, which was the first time I'd done that
in such depth.
The coolest thing about visioning 3 years out came to me
after I started doing this regularly. I noticed that ONE
year goals were never too much of a stretch. They seemed
like timid goals, goals that didn't really get me excited.
But having to create a vision of what 3 years down the line
would look like allowed me to REALLY think BIG.
Inhibitions dropped. My creative side started going and I
really took time to see, "Hey, what WOULD I want my life to
look like in 3 years, if I could have time to create it?"
SHAZAM! I felt like I'd hit the jackpot.
The 3-year vision was a way for me to create something to
strive for that REALLY spoke to me. Something that made my
heart beat a little faster after I read it, excited to get
going, and just a little bit scared of the thought of me
reaching it. Now THAT would propel me into motion the way a
yearly list of goals wouldn't be able to do. (By the way,
my deep down secret is that I strive to reach these in 1 or
2 years, not 3, and that's usually what happens.)
So, each year, around this time, I create a 3-year vision
of what I want my practice to look like. I write it in the
present tense, as if it were 3 years later, that same day.
For example, this past year I wrote mine on January 4, 2007
as if it was January 4, 2010, and I talked about all the
things that had happened since 2007. All the things I'd
accomplished in my business, with my finances, my
investments, my family, and myself over the "last 3 years,"
which obviously hadn't actually happened yet.
Such a cool exercise and it really gets the blood flowing
when you read it back to yourself, now and over the year.
"When you can clearly see yourself being there, you can see
much more clearly how to get there. You can imagine the
path to your dreams, and then start to actually walk it.
Play an active role in your own future. Imagine with
passion and detail how you'd most like it to be."
—Ralph Marston, http://greatday.com
You see, I've figured out that it's not just about goals.
Yes, goals are important, but the way I look at it, it's
about focusing on what you REALLY want for your life, not
the "shoulds." It's also about putting into effect the Law
of Attraction in a big way. When you know what you want for
your life, when you can imagine it with passion and feel
what it feels like to have it, it's almost guaranteed to
come to you.
So, this weekend, I'll be taking a couple of hours to work
on my own 3-year vision. I wouldn't dream of not doing it.
My success depends on it and it does for you too.
YOUR CLIENT ATTRACTION ASSIGNMENT:
Your turn. Sometime this week, create a 3-year vision dated
January 4, 2011. Your 3-year vision must be one that will
literally PULL you into your future, will scare you just a
little bit, and make your heart beat a little faster than
normal whenever you read this.
Make your 3-year vision very specific, realistic, and a big
STRETCH (that's what's going to move you forward quicker
than you would if you didn't have it). If you're right
brained, use bullet points for categories such as business,
finances, personal, family, spiritual, fun, health, etc. If
you're left-brained, then write freely, and remember to
keep it all grounded in the specific, with lots of
MEASURABLES and TANGIBLES thrown in there so you can keep
track of your progress over the next 3 years (that's what I
do).
Be sure to write in the present tense as if it were 3 years
from now... If it doesn't scare you just a little bit or
get your mind racing, then it's probably not enough of a
stretch. By the way, I just looked back to last year's
3-year vision and I was SHOCKED to see how many of the
goals in my 3-year vision I'd already achieved in just a
little over a year. This stuff really works!!
----------------------------------------------------
Once you've done your 3-year vision and are ready to get
marketing in a big way for 2008, invest in your success by
getting yourself the Client Attraction Home Study
System™. It's all step-by-step, not a big mishmash of
things. So, you do step one of the system, and when you're
done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. You
can get it at http://www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com .
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