I push my prospective clients to define a vision for their business. I ask, “How can you advocate for yourself if you don’t know what your ideal vision looks like?” Many business owners don’t have an answer to this question. In my industry they often rely on the existing technology solutions and systems that have been handed down to them; many of which are inefficient, antiquated, and broken.
It reminds me of flossing. My biological parents didn’t know much about oral healthcare themselves. I remember one of the stories I heard growing up was that my biological mother couldn’t remember a time of going to the dentist prior to meeting my biological father. For years, I repeated the habits I was raised with. Many of these habits are not in alignment with my values or a reflection of what MY 100% looks like.
I had to unlearn the habits of a broken family system. These systems are generational.
To live an exceptional life we must define it for ourselves. Unfortunately, many of the systems we’ve been raised with create followers not leaders.
Knowing our 100% and advocating for ourselves can be foreign for a lot of us. I know it was for me and sometimes still is.
Once we define our vision, we have to build and enforce boundaries around it which don’t come naturally. Here are a couple of exercises that helped me define my 100%.
Brainstorm: Find some time along with a notebook and a pen, go out into nature, take yourself on a picnic, or head to a coffee shop (if it's open). Isolate yourself to hear one voice; your own. And brainstorm every possible silly dream you’ve ever had.
Remember this is for you and no one is going to read this.
It’s terrifying to wake up next a person you aren’t meant to be with. When I started my journey the vision I defined did not reflect my life. My relationship didn’t align. My habits reflected the broken family + social systems that raised me. I had to look myself in the mirror and make changes that were going to grow me in a direction which left ‘life as I knew it,’ behind.
I was carrying around deep painful shame. When your body is out of alignment it fucking hurts. Something as simple as a strained back can have us immobilized. Yet, we rarely acknowledge when our minds are out of alignment and the immobilization that it causes is insidious. When shame is present, progress stalls triggering our nervous system, building or enforcing unhealthy neurological pathways that result in stagnation.
It’s brave to consciously identify and brainstorm your needs.
Next Visualize: I did this at a Rachel Hollis Conference. I closed my eyes. I saw where I wanted to be in 10 years. If I pursued my personal, career, and health growth, what would that life look like? What would I be wearing? How would my body feel? Where do I live in 10 years from now? Do I have a family, am I living in a foreign country? What does it smell like?
Whatever is true for you will come up. I took that visualization and I broke it down into actionable goals.
What would my top 10 pursuits in the next 10 years look like? Here are three examples:
I’m an exceptional partner and mother
I am a New York Times bestseller
I help run a billion-dollar company
If they seem audacious, well, these are my dreams, not yours… so back off. And then I started to reverse engineer it. What does it look like in 5 years?
I’m an exceptional partner and mother
I’ve written 5 books
I help run a 100 million dollar company
In three years?
I’m an exceptional partner
I’ve written 3 books
I help run a 10 million dollar company
In one year?
I am committed to building healthy habits both mentally and physically so I can show up for others.
I’ve written one book
I help run a multi-million dollar company.
Did you know that if you write a 1,000 words a day for 90 days, you will achieve 90,000 words and by golly my friends that is a fucking book.
Want to be a millionaire? A million dollars divided by 12 is $83,000 a month; divided by 30 days is $2,778. Divided by 100 is approximately 28. If you can sell 28 items a day at a $100 price point. You my friend, could net a million dollars a year.
I’m not saying it's easy….I’m clearly not a millionaire, but when we break big ideas down, they don’t feel so far out of reach. Spend some time identifying what your 100% looks like and work your way backward.
I believe in you! And if you have any questions DM me on Instagram, hI will be happy to ping pong around ideas or jump on a short zoom. We are in the middle of an industrial revolution; we have more access to information than ever before, and I know, with a little grit and personal growth, each and every one of us can achieve their own 100%