DREAM! DREAM! DREAM! As an entrepreneur we must learn to take time to dream. If you are not naturally a visionary, and you have a business, you must practice this. It is so important to the continued growth and success of your business. When you "see" something, you don't see it through your eye lens first you see the image in your brain. I find this so fascinating that our brain is designed so that when we look at something, we see it with our brain first and our eyes second. Of course, this happens very quickly. The brain picks up the signals from your eyes of the light they see, and that determines what your brain envisions. Please understand this is the layman version and I'm oversimplifying it for sure. It is a very complex subject, but it helps us to really begin to understand the importance of dreaming and having a VISION for your business and life.
I want to challenge you to DREAM- Dare, Reach, Emerge, Accelerate, and Multiply your business. Are you ready to push the limits of your own thinking? Are you willing to let go of what you know today and begin to reimagine your business? Most businesses fail, not because it isn't a great idea, but because business owners forget to dream to continue to grow and build. It is one thing to start out small, it is another to pigeonhole yourself into that forever. To grow, you must dream.
Dare- Do you remember playing truth or dare when you were a kid? Personally, I always selected truth. I wasn't afraid of the truth; it was the unknown that scared me. What if someone dared me to do something out of my comfort zone. Daring to step out of your comfort zone, gives you the capacity to expand. That may be in your mindset, your business, your life, your career. Every success requires moving out of your comfort zone. Once you've done that you then grow, and the process happens again. You will always have those opportunities to take that leap of faith, the choice is yours. If you dare to color outside the lines, leap into the deep, or simply say YES, the lessons and satisfaction that will follow will be amazing. There may be times, that you need someone to coach you to take that leap, but it is always worth it. Remember, we win or learn we never lose.
Reach- When I think about reaching, I think about my struggling to grab something that is on a top shelf. Something that causes me to stretch beyond my normal capacity. I am also reminded of my children reaching up for me to pick them up. In either scenario when you are reaching you are trying to get to another level of sight. When you are reaching you can see it, but you need to be stretched to get to the next place. When you can stretch high enough or are lifted, then your vantage point is completely different. So, a reach, is used to stretch you, to move you in a different direction. After you have dared to take the leap of faith, you are going to have to reach, which will be a stretch in a different direction. You are reaching towards something you don't have yet. In business we always are stretching to reach goals that need to be accomplished to drive our success. In our lives, there are times we are stretched to move us into a new direction. Reaching is powerful because you can reach forward, but you can also reach back to help someone else that is coming up behind you. As you are reaching forward, remember that you can pick someone up, like you do your kids, to help them see what things look like from your current vantage point.
Emerge- As you dare and reach, the next step is emerging into another place. I'm often reminded of the butterfly and how when it is a caterpillar it is only able to see what is in its eyesight typically from a lower point. When it begins to emerge out of the cocoon, it is a completely different insect. It is no longer walking but flying, its wingspan is greater than it could have imagined. It can move faster and see things from a much broader perspective than before. To transform into the beautiful butterfly that it is, it had to dare to go through the process, of the cocoon and then reach its capacity inside the cocoon to then emerge in a new form. In business there will be times that you will need to emerge out of where you currently are into a futuristic state so that you can grow and develop your business to the next level. You can't stay the same and emerge into a bigger and better business. It is going to take you going through the process of DREAM to get there. You will find that there are situations and scenarios that you will emerge from through each phase of your business. This may not always feel like a good thing, but when you come out on the other end, you will see that you have found efficiencies, and streamlined your business beyond what you imagined possible, and each situation causes you to grow and learn.
Accelerate- Going back to the butterfly you will find that once they emerge, they now can fly which allows them to accelerate the pace in which they are able to move about. The same should hold true for your business. Once you have emerged from the place of planning, preparation, change, you will begin to see that you can be agile and move faster than before. You should be able to produce at a different level and your business overall should accelerate. Now this doesn't happen by chance with no direction, in fact if you think about the car accelerating it only goes as fast as you will allow it to go, or it was made to go. During the time prior to emerging, you need to make sure that you have created the business in a manner that can sustain the acceleration. It can move as quickly as you desire for it, but that means you must scale it properly. You must understand and have the systems in place that will help you scale your business for continued success.
Multiply- When you go through the process of dreaming you will find that not only does your business multiply but your ideas, and strategies. You will begin to identify ways of multiplying your approach, your sales teams, possibly even your business. You should be ready to multiply what you are currently doing so that you continue to grow. Business has to be able to grow continuously in new ways, and forms for it to stay viable, and relevant. Understanding your business trends, marketing strategies, and systems will help you to multiply at a greater level. One thing that is true, as you continue to grow you don't want it to be a business of adding new businesses, or ideas, you want multiplicity. This will ensure you are able to reach a broader audience. You will be given the opportunity to build a stronger structure to impact more people through your products and services.
If you want your business to be sustainable, you must take time to DREAM. You can't get so caught up in the tactical work that you forget the power of vision and dreaming to accomplish more. You need to build dream teams that will help you build the business for greater impact. The vision must always be bigger than anything you can accomplish, then you will find the power in partnership, and strong leadership. Don't be afraid to dare to become bigger and better than where you are. Dare to think differently to have a greater impact. Dare to take a leap and trust the process. Don't forget to reach for things that seem impossible. Those things that appear unattainable with a little help can be within your reach. When you've stretched and found yourself, in a higher elevation, don't forget that you have a team that is reaching with you that need your support along the way. Emerging can be a difficult but exciting time for you and your company. Be willing to emerge in style and allow the push to get you through that process. You will need to test and try some of the ideas, solutions, and systems in this phase. Once you emerge, you will be ready to accelerate because you are in a different space, you are moving at a faster pace, you have found a place of acceleration that will help your business grow. Multiply in all areas of your business. Continue to grow partners, leaders, and strategies that will help you to continue the growth process within your organization. Don't stop at merely adding something multiply for greater impact. Stretch beyond your limits so that you will see what is possible when you remove the limits off you, your staff, and your business.