- Snowflakes
- Diamonds
- Fingerprints
- DNA
- Entrepreneur’s definition of success
All totally unique – no two are alike.
Give it a try. Ask 100 women in business to define what success means to them and you’ll get 100 different answers. Okay, 100 may sound daunting… try 2, 3 or 5 and you’ll see.
Unfortunately, a lot of entrepreneurs make statements like “I want my business to be successful” and leave it there. That’s like saying I want to go on a trip without choosing the destination. Kinda hard to plan beyond that.
Before you can get anywhere, you need to know where you are going.
That’s why when it comes to getting what you REALLY want, the first step is to define – specifically – what YOU want in your life.
Being specific is critical when it comes to getting what you want (a.k.a. setting goals and achieving them) for several reasons:
- General idea = general plan = general results
- Being specific accelerates success. When you know exactly where you’re going decision making becomes fast and easy and you’ll be able to steer clear of bright shiny objects, confusion and indecision asking yourself “does this take me closer to or further away from my goals?”
- Being specific paints a vivid picture in your mind. Once your mind can picture it, it’s much easier to achieve it. Your imagination is a powerful tool. You can even take this up a notch or ten by tuning into the emotions of your vision.
If you’re struggling to create a vivid vision of your dreams, here are some questions to ask yourself:
- What does it look like – in full techno-color detail?Sidebar: A few weeks ago I watched a Wayne Dyer presentation where he described how the first thing he does when he decides to write a next book is have a cover design done and actual dust jacket created. He then takes his forthcoming book cover and wraps it around a real book. He set’s this representation of his forthcoming book in front of him on the desk and approaches the writing of the book as though it already exists – he’s just writing it all down now.
- How will you know when you’ve achieved it it?
- When do you want to achieve this goal?
- What does it feel like, taste like, smell like?
- What would a day in your dream life be like, from the time you get up until the time you go to bed?
Write these answers down and revisit them frequently to see if they’re still true, and to remind yourself of what you’re working towards – and why.
“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.” ~ Jim Rohn
Remember, you’ve got to know where you’re going before you can get there. Knowing what you really want your life to be like creates YOUR entrepreneurial compass and decision making filter so you can design your business to support it (not sabotage it as so many do).
The next step is to reinforce this vision by declaring why it’s so important to you.
How you “show up” in life, what you believe and what you know for sure must become infused into the work you do, from your website to the content you create.
When your message gets lean, mean and radically honest friends fans and followers become loyal advocates. Your declarations become the common ground for a community of like-minds and your undeniable distinction elevates you to prominent new heights.
Do you have a bigger message that is aching to break free?
Are you ready to define and declare your own “precious declarations”? (Yes, I’m a Collective Soul fan!)
If yes, join me for a free tele-class on Thursday January 26th at 2:00 p.m. Central Time.
Topic: Create Your Manifesto: Write your own rule book to play your bigger game!
The day I declared to the world that I am a Rebel’preneur – along with what that means to me and why it’s so important to the work I do and the women entrepreneurs I attract… EVERYTHING changed.
On this call…
- I’ll tell you how and why the Rebelpreneurs Manifesto unfolded for me;
- What a manifesto is and why it matters to YOU;
- how to create yours (and how to get it working for you!)
- Plus details of my brand new coaching program for 2012
Creating a manifesto is one small part of what I call “climbing the clarity ladder” and the first step to getting your virtual ducks in a row!
And, before you go, I have a fun challenge…
Make a precious declaration in the comments below by summarizing – specifically – what success in business means to you in one or two sentences.
Absolutely Gina, this goes with my “Actions” week…LOL I would add that we also need to know where we start from. Like any “navigation device” we need both to unfold the path. I won’t miss that class! Thank you
Christine´s last [type] ..Are you killing your Marketing Efforts?
Hi Christine! You are so right! I call this radical self-honesty i.e. You are here (like it or not). And it’s definitely part of climbing that clarity ladder. So often entrepreneurs have the proverbial cart before the horse and it’s almost always the result of these two things… 1) not being honest about where you are now + 2) not having a clear destination in mind (so “anything” seems like movement but the activity isn’t necessarily moving them in the right direction). Oh… there’s SO much more we could talk about here. I’ll be expanding the conversation in forthcoming posts and yes, on the Create Your Manifesto call too! xo
Hi, Gina. I love this suggestion to make it as specific as possible. A while ago I did write down my “ideal day” from start to finish (In my dream day I was living in Paris.) I “meant” to go back to that assignment and implement what I could (like serving cocoa in beautiful cups.) Thanks for the reminder.
Jennifer Boykin´s last [type] ..I’m Not Playing … er, Brooding
Hi Jennifer, ooooh, Paris sounds lovely! Also love the idea of serving cocoa in beautiful cups… kind of like using the china for everyday use rather than saving it for ‘special” occasions. LOVE IT. xo
Gina, I love the idea of a manifesto. It’s like standing up in front of the entire world and declaring who you are and what you stand for. That takes bold courage and an audacious knowing of self.
“If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”
I think it all begins and ends with clarity. Would you agree?
Hi Miki, it definitely requires courage, trust and honesty. Staking a claim and letting the chips – or in this case, prospective clients – fall where they may can be scary. It’s definitely a cure for being vanilla
and feeling invisible in business! Clarity is definitely a catalyst… the premise being that, like entrepreneurship itself, clarity is a journey rather than a destination 
I love that quote Miki. Is it yours? And I agree with you, it all begins and ends with clarity….it is the light in the dark, like the moon over the forest…lighting up the path ahead.
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What an insightful article. Thank you! In particular, I love the idea of the manifesto — it’s so concrete and I do believe in the power of words. Having a tangible document that outlines your manifesto not only gives you clarity, it has an energy to it as well.
In terms of my definition of success — I want it ALL. I want a multi-million dollar business that is focused on teaching women around the world how to more deeply love and accept themselves. I want to have plenty of free time to relax and enjoy myself. I want everything thing I do to be grounded in play and fun. I want to cultivate and sustain meaningful connections with a partner, children, friends, colleagues, and clients!
Just writing this made me smile!
-Ann
Greetings Gina!
You go girl! You are such a Rebel! So many people need to “hear” what you wrote Gina: define what you really want (not what others say you should want) then get super clear instead of being vague, and make it happen.
I love that you mentioned “tuning into the emotions of your vision”. It’ VITAL to get your emotions involved in the goal. I find this is best accomplished by getting still from time to time (lay on the couch with eyes closed) and visualize a detailed scenario of yourself living within the setting of what you want: imagine the sounds of people talking & what is being said, the smell of the coffee & the look of the cup you are drinking from during a day in this “new” life. Imagine the phone ringing & your assistant taking call after call, and people coming up to you at events to gain some of your wisdom. Visualizations like these are powerful emotional motivators that work with your subconscious mind to get you exactly what you want!
I love your rebelpreneur way of not only challenging your rebelpreneurs to write down what the goal is generally, but to write down what HAVING the goal actually will look like IN DETAIL! Yahoo! POWERFUL! Talk about clarity that will motivate (and keep the distractions at bay)!
Gina I am thrilled that you are supporting the creating of the Manifesto for every serious business rebel, and inspiring them to take the leap with their (in your words) “bigger message that is aching to break free”.
Wow, Gina! Keep kicking it to the curb!
Love & Hugs!
Margo
Margo DeGange´s last [type] ..Color the Success in Your Work Environments and Marketing!