YOU WhitewaterHAVE A POWERFUL VISION:  You’re going to save the natural river with your ice cream business.  You’re putting together your plan, things are pulling together, but then you have a nagging feeling.

You’re losing sight of your vision.

Sure, the passion’s still there, but you’ve realized that you’re spending the bulk of your time just doing all the logistical stuff.  Health department requirements, suppliers, inventory, opening a new location, advertising … it’s pretty overwhelming.

How are you ever going to have time to save the river?

This is a common phenomenon, so don’t lose hope.  There’s lots of great ways to keep your vision alive and core to every action you’re taking.

Some coaches may introduce you to a useful tool called daily intentions.  The idea is to spend a few minutes every day immersing your mind and emotions in the positive future you’re trying to build.  Imagine that you have a picture on your bathroom mirror of this vision, and you spend two minutes pondering:

  • Why is this important to me?
  • What steps am I going to take today to make progress?

It’s a very simple technique, but quite powerful.  For some people it’ll be the name of the company itself (“Whitewater Ice Cream & Smoothies”?) or the words on the wall of the conference room.

Another wonderful tool is to structure your business plan, execution, and monitoring around your vision.  How does your marketing plan save the river, and what results will you see when it actually happens?  When you hire your next employee, will you have criteria around their passion for your vision?  What other resources can you align with – partners, suppliers, whoever – who will help reinforce your deep passion rather than drag you away from it?

For me, one of the most important tools is to make commitments based on your objectives.  Standing up in front of your employees and declaring, “By July 1st we will donate $20,000 to the Save The River Foundation” is a powerful motivator.  Not only for them, but for you too.

It’s the kind of accountability that you want, because you’re achieving your vision.  That’s the point of having a values basis for you company, right?