Your dreams deserve more intention than they’ll get by aimlessly meandering through life hoping to stumble upon success.

Just like an athlete needs a clearly defined end goal in order for a coach to adequately support them, you need a clearly defined vision for your life and business in order to reap the full benefits of the systems and processes taught through our programs. I’m here to be the professional level mentor you’ve been waiting for to push you to your next level, but I can’t do that if you’re not clear on what that next level looks like for you… Capeesh?

As we dive into this concept of having a vision, keep in mind that vision does not equal purpose. The world is constantly driving this idea that you have to have a “purpose” in life, but rarely does anyone actually discover what that purpose is at a young age. Potentially one of the most significant ways we can impact the world is to stop pressuring this idea of “finding your purpose”, and start helping people discover their individual unique abilities. When you understand how you’re hardwired from birth and you’re actively utilizing those unique gifts to move towards a clearly defined vision, your purpose will naturally come to you.

At its core, the framework for developing a meaningful vision is really quite simple:

When you’ve never clearly defined what success would look like for you, you have no way of determining whether or not you actually achieved what you set out to accomplish…

If you told me your dream was just to own a manufacturing company, your outcome could potentially look very different than if you specifically told me you wanted to build a $10Million per year, Tier-1, Boeing-direct Aerospace & Defense manufacturing company that specializes in machining. Do you see how critical it is to be extremely clear about what you’re actually pursuing? If I were to connect you with someone who was looking to sell their pharmaceutical manufacturing company, technically you could still own your own company... However, you’d probably be a bit disappointed if your mind was already set in a very different direction.

Once you’ve defined what you want, the next step is defining when you want it. This will help you understand what resources you need to tap into – time, money, people, ideas– to make it happen based on your timeline. If your business needs to purchase a $3Million GROB G550 by the end of the month, the strategy for leveraging your resources to own or lease that equipment right now may look a little different than a year from now.

Building clarity around what you want and when you want it will help expose your why. Why do you want to own this particular piece of equipment by the end of the month? Is there significance to the date, such as a business anniversary or important company milestone? Without a clear understanding of the end goal and a deep enough why, you’ll never find the emotional strength to face and overcome all the roadblocks life will throw at you along the way. Meaning, if you arbitrarily decided you want this new G550 just because it looks cool, and you want it by June 30th because that just happens to be the date you came up with, then there’s no underlying connection or significance to your vision… It’ll be far too easy to give up in the face of adversity.

However, let’s say you want this machine on June 30th because on that date a year ago, you nearly had to file for bankruptcy and could have lost everything. To celebrate another successful year of business, you’re now ready to upgrade some old equipment to support your new work statement.

Can you feel how this why carries significantly more emotional connection that’ll keep you far more engaged and committed to your vision?

Deep, emotional connection is almost always our most powerful motivator, but never underestimate the importance of having the right people in your corner to support and guide you along the way. This is where you should refer back to your resource base – time, money, people, and ideas– to identify who can either help you directly, or connect you to someone who can. Maybe you have a friend who can help you get a loan, or a relative who can get you a good deal because they happen to be a GROB representative. Maybe you know someone who can help you grow your current business and resource base so you can buy that brand new G550 outright. Or, maybe you don’t have any direct connections at all, but your buddy said his uncle out on the east coast knows a gal from college who could help you out. The point is, it’s critical to understand who you can confidently lean on to help you along the way.

I should also note that it’s equally as important to understand who’s holding you back. The reality is, not everyone is going to be on your side… Not everyone is going to understand why on Earth you would need a brand new G550 when you already have other machines that can do the job. Not everyone has the ability or willingness to dream on your level, or see the bigger picture… That doesn’t necessarily make them bad people, it just means you need to take their input with a grain of salt and continue surrounding yourself with people who do understand and support your vision.

When you have these four things in place – what, when, why, and who – the how will work itself out. This is where the rubber meets the road, as they say, and the physical work and execution come into play. Now you start putting together a game plan with consistent, intentional, and measurable action steps, based on your current resource base and the “thing” that’s driving you. As long as your why is strong enough, and you follow a logical plan, you’ll earn your G550 in due time.

Having a clear vision is the most important first step to anything and everything you want to achieve in your life because when you define something bigger than yourself, you’ll find a way to develop the emotional strength to see it through.

When you’re young and didn’t grow up with all the cool stuff, it’s easy to let “stuff” become your main driver in life. You pour all this energy, effort, and desire into attaining this “thing”, and that’s okay, but by the mere nature of growing through this process, you’ll find that many of the things you thought you wanted aren’t really what you’re after. Give yourself room on this journey and don’t be afraid to adjust along the way… You may come to realize that the G550 you thought you needed really isn’t the most practical piece of equipment based on your work statement.