Yesterday, I visited the Berlin Wall exhibit in Rapid City, South Dakota.
To say I was intrigued and surprised is a gross understatement.
I grew up before the Wall came down, heard all the stories, and saw the pictures of deadly endings to attempts to escape from East Berlin.
I imagined a wall much thicker and bigger than the concrete exhibit I saw.
The most powerful impact the wall had on me was the image of how people limit themselves with imaginary mental walls. Walls that they imagine as real, when in fact they are not real at all.
For a quick, and surprising, look at the wall, check out this short video I put together here.
In the business world, we have a vision. It started early before we decided to take the plunge and open our own business. We were excited about our vision and it drove us to action.
Then the realities of owning our own business set in. In many instances, we actually ended up with a job and not a business. A huge number of owners get stuck here and don’t understand how to go from job to business.
Most of this is mental. We build huge walls in our thinking that we can’t find our way around. We don’t see solutions, only a never-ending task list.
It’s only a business when it does not require all of your time and energy to keep the doors open, and you are not constantly looking over your shoulder for the next sale.
At this point, there are lots of things the business owner can do, but it all depends on your vision.
Task #1 is to get real clarity on the vision. Your vision for your business.
The acid test… Is your vision in writing, in print? NOW is the perfect time to get this done. If you do have a printed vision statement, when was the last time it was updated?
Once the vision is clear we can talk about how to keep it alive, hour by hour, but first, it has to be crystal clear.
A word of caution, the vision does not have to be long, but it needs to come from the heart, and not modified by perceived realities.
Set a timer for 20 minutes, grab a pen, or a keyboard, and get it done.
Want a few minutes of help, at no cost to you? I am continuing my free 30-minute conversations for a couple of more weeks only. You can sign up here.
Remember, you only get results when you take immediate action on your ideas.
