“Start with the end in mind.” ― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Destination mastery is all about creating your plan by knowing your destination. And, without a destination, how do you know when you’ve arrived?! As a business owner, it’s crucial to have an end goal for your business in mind.
But what if you are like a lot of owners, and don’t have an end goal? Or your destination is too vague and you’re feeling lost?
Well, first, you need to start with the ‘why’.
Ask yourself; “Why do I do what I do?” and “Why did I go into business in the first place?”
Your ‘why’ is personal and essential to reaching your destination. This will allow you to have the right mindset to create your vision, which is the next step to knowing your destination.
A vision is a vivid mental image based on your goals and aspirations. So, what is your vision? As you are here, I can only assume that your vision is to have a successful business…? Is that right? Fantastic! But what does a successful business look and feel like to you?
Now, creating a vision isn’t as easy as merely closing your eyes and imagining your dream company. As much as that can be beneficial and fun. There is quite a lot more to delve into. The best way for me to explain is to paint a picture, metaphorically, not literally.
My vision is a lovely family vacation in the south of France. The weather is warm but not smouldering, and the ocean is the perfect shade of turquoise…
So, how do I achieve this? How do I get that vision of a perfect family getaway?
Let’s start with my purpose, my motivation. Why do I want to go away so badly? Well, my purpose is to have some quality time with my loved ones, away from the stresses at home. I have been working very hard and a break is definitely deserved. That is my purpose; that is what will drive me to succeed and get results.
Are you inspired yet…? Yes? Great! Now we need to create our mission statement. A mission statement is the road to get you there – how are you going to achieve your vision? For the sake of the analogy, our mission statement is the route my family and I will take to arrive at our destination. Our route has to be planned- what is the quickest, most efficient and effective, and in this case the nicest route to take? I program the route into our Sat Nav and we are ready to hit the road….
Keep in mind when writing a mission statement, you must make sure to incorporate your values. For instance, one of my values on my journey to paradise would be to stick to the speeding limit to protect my family and keep them safe, and luckily for me, my car automatically does that for me. However, you won’t have that figurative machine when putting together your mission statement, so really take the time to analyse your values, having those will make setting your goals much simpler.
Next, we need to set our goals which are the staging posts along the way. When you set goals, they need to be smart; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results, Timeframe. For example, my goals are to have the car packed by 8am, and to reach the tunnel by 10.30am. I have planned a place and time to have lunch as well as an overnight stop. Does that make sense…? Perfect!
Now let’s move on to culture. What are my points of culture for my family’s journey? Well, as the driver I need to be focused, and organised so I can achieve my goals and values. I also want the journey to be fun so the experience is more enjoyable. This also effects the people on the journey, they need to share my values and points of culture, or else achieving the vision won’t be as easy.
Without my mission statement, my family may get lost. No goals would have been set and we would have missed our train. I wouldn’t have been focused, and tension in the car would have built. Long story short- no beautiful, seaside vacation. No VISIONARY business.
I hope my fictitious car journey helped to explain the importance of creating a vision and knowing your destination. If you want a more in-depth exploration of destination mastery, book a complimentary 30mins coaching session here or join our webinar, Before you can achieve your vision you have to create it….
Finally, you can also email us for your free copy of Creating a Vision and Mission Statement.
