STAYING ON TRACK WITH YOUR SMALL BUSINESS GOALS

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By thinking big, you will give yourself the ultimate carrot to keep you moving towards your goals. Think big, dream big and go big. Your business goals should inspire you, stir your soul, even bring tears to your eyes when you think about it. What, exactly, do you want to accomplish?

A Goal is Great – Vision is Better
It’s great to have goals, but once they’re achieved, what is left? By using a vision or a dream to steer your business instead of just a simple goal, then you have something to go after that will keep your business going long after you’re done with it. It’s relatively easy to say something like “I want to earn a six figure income every year”, and once you’ve attained it, you can stagnate. It’s much more impressive, and inspires continual growth, if you set your visions – and your plan – much higher.

Consider these visions which inspire people to work and become more than anyone thought they could be: world peace, one laptop per child, universal human rights. These are all huge visions, not simple goals. And they keep people moving to better themselves for decades. In turn, these leaders are seen as mavericks in their own industries – wouldn’t you like that to be you? There are many reasons not to think big, and there are arguments against them. Here are just a few of them:

It’s Too Hard, I’ll Never Achieve It
A goal is meant to be achievable, but not a vision. A vision is meant to inspire hard work and betterment. A vision is the pursuit of perfection, of excellence. Your vision should inspire you to work harder, to get up every morning and to do your absolute best. You may know that you can never, ever achieve the vision, but you know that you want to try. You try because every step you take is one step for humanity, and one day, someday, someone will achieve your dream.

It’s Unrealistic
A business vision that inspires you, stretches you and makes you and those around you better people, by definition, has to be unrealistic. Consider the visions up above such as world peace. There is no conceivable way that in today’s society they can be achieved, but they are lofty goals worthy of trying. These visions inspire people, every day people, to grow and get better. They inspire us to be better as people, as neighbours and as nations. By making your grand vision more realistic, you may as well have no grand vision at all.

It Intimidates My Friends and Family, People Will Look At Me Funny
Great change, great visions are meant to inspire confrontation and challenge the status quo. The most noble visions of all have done exactly that. Take women’s rights, or the racial equality movement in America. If no one had challenged the status quo, if everyone had worried about what people would think about them, then these positive changes never would have come about. By challenging what people believe and how we live our lives, we create positive change in the world. If you’re not willing to challenge the norm and be a leader, then you’re better off following along for the ride.

It Detracts From My Doing Business, It Stops Me From Doing My Work
If these are your excuses, then your business and your vision are obviously not aligned. People around the world work toward a grand vision every day. Developers at Google are working every day to create a more open computing environment. Their vision is to one create an open, accessible and easier computing environment around the world. It’s not feasible right now, and it’s an epic vision to carry, but every day people at Google are doing their part to work (successfully) toward that vision.

A grand business vision should not hold you back. Quite the contrary, it should make your work life easier. You can ask yourself questions like “Does this fit with my business vision? Does it get us closer to the goal?” If the answer is no, then you’re doing something wrong.

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