Get the Hell Out of the Hourglass – Part 6

Get the Hell Out of the Hourglass – Part 6

You’re getting antsy now to crawl out of the hourglass. On Monday, you wrote your primary aim; today, we’ll tackle a vision statement.

It’s time to write a 3-year business vision. The vision statement for your business has to be in alignment with your primary aim, in that order. Otherwise the business will run you instead of the other way around.

I paint out exactly what my business will look like in three years. I explain how many people are involved, how much revenue is needed, and what resources are required. I convince myself this will happen.

Then, I do a gap analysis. The purpose of a gap analysis is to divide up what has to be done over the next three years. This is the other half of your primary aim. Easy peasy. (Please ensure you don’t become a tyrannical leader who demands an unreasonable amount of work from your team and yourself, creating a bad or stressed out culture. Stressed, angry, and overbearing is not part of anybody’s primary aim.)

The priorities change as the years go by. As soon as they do, it’s time to write another primary aim. Of course, this will inform the new business vision. Start with a primary aim, and then do a business plan. 

Repeat this process every few years. This practice will keep you from slipping back into the hourglass. Be sure to include the different things that affect you in your current season of life. For example, the most challenging part about my business right now is preparing to leave it; this is very emotional for me. So, I try to address that in my latest primary aims. It is good emotional therapy.

To get your wheels working, take a look at my Vision Statement 2020 below. Then get your pencil out and do your own. You’re literally paving your way out of the hourglass.

See you Monday. Build muscle.