Clarity of Vision and Your Bottom Line

In my 30+ years of working with small businesses owners, I’ve noticed that what holds most of them back is themselves. They flounder for years, not taking concerted, productive action because they keep getting in their own way. One of the biggest culprits is old limiting stories about who they are and what’s possible (or not possible) for them. But, primarily they don’t take effective action because they lack vision. They don’t know who they are or where they are going. They focus too much on the “how” when they don’t even know the basics of “who” and “what.”

For example, can you answer these questions?

• Who am I?
• What makes my soul sing? What brings me joy?
• Who do I aspire to be? At the end of my life, what would I like people to say about me?
• What do I desire to accomplish in my business? How will it improve lives?
• What type of work will I be doing day-to-day when my business is doing what it’s destined to do?
• What’s my life going to look like and feel like when I have built the life and business I desire?
• What’s my vision?

The Power of Vision

I’ll share a little story to illustrate the power of vision. When my husband Dave and I were first married, we began working on our home, property and business, doing what we each felt we needed to do each day, doing our own thing – letting the Spirit guide with a limited over-arching vision. We got things done, but we’ve made so much more progress since I wrote Z, which articulated our overarching long-term vision for the property in novel form. Since then, we’ve been significantly more effective, but not really all that collaborative in the way we worked.

The real power of vision came within in the last couple months as I felt a strong impression to put in a garden, but only had 3 days between multi-week trips to do it. I knew the weeds would take over in the 2.5 weeks we were gone, I prayed about it and got a clear vision of our lush garden with woodchips in between the rows to form a weed barrier. I told Dave what I saw, and he added his how-to insights. Together, in 3 days we put in the entire garden using the system I saw in my mind. Normally, that would have taken us several weeks.

We worked our tails off to make it happen, but we were effective, efficient, highly collaborative; and we made it happen in the window we had available before leaving town. Sure, there were some small sections we didn’t get to, but I released those knowing we’d done the best we could.  We would trust that God could send enough rain, and keep the pests off, etc. While we were gone, I focused on that vision whenever I thought about the garden and trusted it would be fine. It was… it turned out fantastic.

Do You Have a Clear Vision?

I have noticed that new business owners usually don’t have a clear vision.  True, most times the vision doesn’t come all at once… and you have to do what the Spirit tells you to do day by day until the vision unfolds (like we did with our property and business). The thing is, you have to actually DO SOMETHING! When the Spirit tells you to do something, GET ON IT!  You must trust that the Spirit knows where you’re going, and you have to move your feet and trust that it will coalesce into something eventually.

Are You Feeling Overwhelmed?

There is so much fear, self-doubt and confusion that many small business owners remind me of my little boys with their messy room. I’d fuss at them to clean it, and they’d stand there immobilized. Not because they were lazy, but they were utterly overwhelmed. If I got in there and broke it down for them (pick up the trash, now pick up the dirty clothes, now pick up the toys), they would work; and we’d have it cleaned in no-time flat. While they didn’t have the vision of a clean room, I did and I could break it down for them. Somebody’s got to have the vision!

What If You Have Lots of Interests and Passions?

Many business owners have so many interests, passions and past experiences that they can’t choose one. You’ve probably heard that you need to niche, but the thought of locking yourself into one path feels like someone is cutting off one of your arms (and perhaps a leg or two). You end up trying to pursue multiple paths and feel divided, confused and inefficient. And your bottom line shows it!

My strong suit is seeing the patterns in people’s interests, life experiences, and knowledge to find the common threads and possible overarching focus that blends them into a strong, solid business.  If you feel like you’re walking multiple paths based on multiple interests, the answer is to fuse your favorite interests into one over-arching vision. Until you do, you’re probably going to keep feeling divided, overwhelmed and confused.

Retaining the Vision

Bottom line, you absolutely need to get that big vision of who you are becoming and where you’re going. And once you have it, TRUST it and RETAIN it. It’s amazing how easy it is to get amnesia about who you are and what you’re doing! So, when you get that vision, write it down, read it frequently, post it on your wall, and tell a friend or mentor who will hold you accountable.

Obviously, I can’t get your vision for you, but I have learned to recognize indicators. In the end, it’s up to you to tune into your own soul’s song. Until you do, you’ll flounder around inefficiently, ineffectively, and constantly in your own way. And most likely, your bottom line will suffer.

Clarity of Vision Simplifies Marketing

I work with a lot of self-help and holistic business owners. Most of them despise marketing. Here’s the secret to good, simple marketing … catch your vision! Your vision is the underpinning of good marketing/branding. If you don’t have your vision and direction, you won’t attract clients/students. If you’re clear about who you are, other people will be clear about what you offer and the solutions you provide to their deepest challenges. 80% of branding, marketing and business success is CLARITY! Conveying what you solve for people clearly and succinctly facilitates sales.

If you’d like to get more clarity and vision, consider enrolling in my Spirit-Led Life Masterclass. It’s a comprehensive free course I offer in an online and group support setting to guide you through discovering your mission, your vision and your pivot point for your business. If you’d like to work with me individually, book a free 20-minute strategy session with me here.