I tell my clients all the time that it takes 3 things to grow and maintain a small business. Being a visionary for yourself and your business is one of the three traits. You might not see yourself as a visionary, but you are. To see yourself as a business owner rather than someone who works for pay is to have a vision. The problem is, to build and maintain your business over the long haul, you have to flesh out that vision with a lot more detail. You have to see and feel a full vision for yourself that is so strong you are drawn to it, are willing to change your life to have it. Your vision for yourself has to be strong enough to sustain you, get family and friends behind you, and serve as the focal point for those who work with you in your business. That's a lot of vision – a strong vision – and you are that vision keeper.
How do you tap into your visionary self? Here are a few ways:
- Create vision boards for yourself and your business.
- Journal all your thoughts and dreams about your business.
- Write stories describing how you want your life and your business to be (write them in the present tense for more visionary impact).
- Share your vision with others (speaking it aloud helps to create a fuller vision).
- Reserve regular quiet times and personal retreat times for yourself so that you can hear and see your visions clearly.
- Surround yourself with objects that inspire you – music you love, fresh flowers, favorite pictures, art you love.
I do all of these things. In the last few years I've gotten clear that I need the quiet times so that my visions can be seen, felt, and heard. For me, early morning quiet time is fertile time for visionary work. So are personal retreats. And now that spring has come to my part of the world, it's a great time for you to be thinking of a personal retreat. Your mind is probably already turning to vacation. Vacations are a good thing, but a visionary vacation can be even better!
One way to boost your visionary energy is to give yourself a change of environment. Here are 5 steps to ramping up your skills as a visionary.
- Pick a place you like to go, clear your calendar for 3 days, and get going. Alone is best, but with someone is OK so long as there's space for alone time built in.
- Pack up visionary materials – a journal, colored pens, your computer if you work best that way, a camera, a comfortable folding chair, whatever you need to be comfortable and record your visions.
- Take along at least one new book you've bought but not yet read (business or fiction, it doesn't matter).
- Give yourself 3 full days, no cheating with travel on days 1 and 3.
- Set an intention to rest, eat well, and do whatever you like to let your mind wander (visions come into open minds).
Maybe you didn't realize that being self-employed means becoming a strong visionary. Maybe you don't think of yourself as a visionary. You are, and the more you train your inner visionary eye the stronger you'll feel as a small business owner. The word recreate, taken apart, is re-create. Your business owner status makes it necessary to rest and re-create your vision from time to time. You'll be clearer, those who work with you will see, feel, and work more productively toward your vision, and those around you will better understand why you so much want to work for yourself.
The visionary you – who knew? Spring clean your visionary self and watch your business grow.
It’s amazing to me to see how much a change of space opens you up to creating. I also am amazed at how much it rejuvinates you when you go to a retreat and get the creative jucies flowing
Wonderful advice, Sue! This post is one of my favorites. Entrepreneurs often forget that they are visionaries and get caught up in the day to day. Thank you for the reminder and great tips!
Sue,
These are great! I need to print this checklist off and do it immediately. Thanks!
Kiyla Fenell
I know you, @Kiyla, you are a visionary anyway!
Great article, Sue. It so important to be quiet and become clear where you are now and where you see your business in the future.
Great reminder to keep your vision clear, Sue. Loved your tips! I totally agree that a chance of environment is important–at home it is too easy to get caught up in chores or distracted, and at the office there’s always stuff to do. Personal retreats are fabulous–keep me posted on what you plan for fall!
Great article Sue – very timely for some discussions I have been having with my mastermind group too – I have sent them the link to your article.
In particular I love your suggestion of “Write stories describing how you want your life and your business to be (write them in the present tense for more visionary impact). and Share your vision with others (speaking it aloud helps to create a fuller vision).” I do both each year in the form of writing a gratitude letter for the year ahead and then I share it publicly on my website and with all my clients! see it here htp://www.leadingvalue.net
Love it Sue! I really really like this – Surround yourself with objects that inspire you – music you love, fresh flowers, favorite pictures, art you love – for me it’s being in nature…I feel SO inspired!
Thanks – Trudy
Wonderful idea Sue. What do you do with someone (me) who feels that three days is a *huge* amount of time to be away? Guilt, guilt! Would love to know how you do it!
Hi Mary Ellen,
If 3 days feels like a huge amount of time, it’s probably based in fear of letting go, and the issue is controlling too tightly. Sometimes we are afraid to drop the daily things because we have a sense that what is lurking behind that will be troubling and emotional, too. Just ease into it, and remind yourself that there is productivity and creativity in silence and change of page.
Sue
Fortunately, or unfortuately – I have been able to surround myself wit hthe things I love, fabric, thread, my longarm sewing machine and frame…However, my business is constrained by several “if onlys” like my 4 year old son…so I have to stay away from my studio on the days that my son is home with me – because it is almost impossible for me to go down there and not to create : D…
Very inspiring, Sue. I’m already doing some of the steps you mentioned but I NEED to do them all. This is a great reminder, and excellent tips I hadn’t even thought of. Thank you 🙂
Hey Sue–
Great ideas for going on your own retreat. This was a hard lesson for me to learn — that I, as a biz owner, need business planning time as much as I did when I worked for someone else. And, a more difficult lesson to learn — that I need to reserve time for biz development where I am fully alert and present and not give myself the castoff time when I’m not doing something for clients and have no energy.
Thanks for the reminder!
Oh how nice a three day vision day would be. Thanks for this, I’m going to make sure to plan something in the next couple of months. Something by the ocean maybe.
Sue..I LOVE this article so much! I have a vision board for my business and for my family. I love your ideas on how to tap into your visionary self…so nice to have a reminder. Great read!!!!
Great suggestions, Sue,
I need to carve out some “me” time to do some serious visioning. BIG things are brewing. I find when I unplug and step away I’m more creative and the ideas flow effortlessly.
Write on!~
Lisa Manyon
Lisa,
The bigger the brew, the more the retreat time is needed, my take. 🙂
Sue
There’s another item on my list: surrounding myself with visionary people IN PERSON and listening to their stories.
It’s easy for me to get caught up in my day to day stuff and not take the time or make the space to explore my vision, and the steps you’ve listed above help me to carve out that time and space.
But while I’m getting better about thinking bigger, it’s not always easy for me to think outside my box or see past my next few steps. Being in a room and listening to amazing stories – some coming from the stage and some coming from the person sitting next to me – inspires me and humbles me and gives me that little kick in the tail that can make me take a bigger step in a different direction.
I’m sitting in my hotel room winding down from Doreen Rainey’s Get RADICAL conference, since my flights home are tomorrow. I’m jazzed, I’m motivated, I’m exhausted – and I’m journalling like crazy.
Sometimes my spring cleaning needs some help from an outside cleaning crew!
Win
Hi Win,
Journaling sounds great – go home, get some rest, and see what your vision is.
Sue
I completely agree that personal retreat time is important and I love your suggestion to take a full three days. It often takes me a full day just to unwind and be present with my alone-self. In a bit of a twist on a personal retreat, I was just speaking with a colleague the other day about how challenging it is to “create” in my office. I know some women who have rented office space for their scrapbooking activities. Five of them each pay 20% of the lease and they meet twice a month to scrap. They each have a key and they can leave all of their supplies and projects out on the workspace until they return. My friend and I talked about finding a space so we can “get away” and get work done, create, and host small group coaching gatherings.
Yvonne,
Wowzers, I’d love to be in on a scrapping place like that. How very cool! I’m thinking of hosting a “get away” visionary retreat in the fall – I’ll keep you posted.
Sue
Great post, Sue. Every time Bob and I went to Maui, those first few days when I wasn’t working at the Writers Conference, was time spent on the beach, by the pool resting, reading, napping. Inevitably, in the course of that time, new perspectives on my personal and creative life popped up. I always returned refreshed, renewed, and with a new vision for my work.
OK, now you’ve made me long for Maui…
Paula,
Well, maybe not Maui, but how about the Smokies in the fall? 🙂
Sue