One of my favorite shows is FRIENDS. In a very early episode, the girls are all sitting around and Phoebe is asked if she has a plan. She responds, “I don’t even have a pla-.” So, what is she actually missing to move forward in her life and get the whole plan? It may be the same things you’re missing in your life and/or business to move forward.

The first thing you need is a vision for what you want to create. This includes financially, emotionally, and energy inputs. When you attend a vision board workshop or create your vision for the future, these are the variables you are working to create for yourself. 

Then you need to have goals. It used to be that businesses were asked for their 10-year goals and 5-year goals. Now I think having a 5 year goal to move toward is great, but realistically in this ever-changing business world, I think having a good plan for 12 months and revisiting it quarterly is probably more accurate to achieve. 

The only downfall to this is what Bill Gates alluded to when he said this: “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.” You might feel like you failed if you only base your outcomes on your 1-year goals. So that’s why I say you should have longer big goals to move toward, with shorter-term goals to push you toward achieving the big goals. This creates a pivot and win-win environment that maneuvers easily.

Next, you have to build a strategy. This is the calendar of activities that will drive you toward your goals. Strategy is important to the overall success of your business. It drives all of your activity throughout the year. 

For example, let’s say you want to launch a group program in March. That is the first strategy toward your goal of, let’s say, increasing your clients by 25% this year. To do this, your strategy is to hold a free Masterclass in January and February and drive sales into this group program. Get these masterclasses on the calendar, too. 

Then you need to develop the plan. These are the tasks associated with each activity in your strategy (activity) calendar. 

Business owners often do these out of order. They try to plan without vision, goals, or a strategy in place. This is where failure occurs. Throwing marketing on social media for a last-minute masterclass will not produce the results you desire. 

Take the time to plan your business, not like it’s a side hobby that gets second chair in your life but like it’s important and loved and honored. You will reap the rewards when you take the space and time. It will feel like you’re going slower or “not doing enough” but don’t let the feelings stop you. It will result in full development and execution of your strategy. You can then track the data and make adjustments for the next activity/plan according to what you discover and learn. 

Then do it again and again and again. You will find that your 5-year goal comes at a faster rate than you expected, if you go through all the cycles of implementation, discovery, and slight adjustments as needed. 

I did a training this month on how to track your year and it came with tools and templates to use. Want a copy? Get it here: https://services-foryou.com/from-leads-to-sales