Get Clear on What You Really Want from Your Business
Business Vision Clarity
If you have trouble setting or achieving business goals, it may be that you are missing a clear business vision. Use The Retirement Party Exercise in this article to help you focus in on what you really want from your business.
Do you ever have trouble setting or achieving business goals? Perhaps you set an income target or decide to create a new product or service, but lose motivation or get sidetracked as you work towards your goal. You might start to wonder whether a particular goal or project is in fact meaningful to you or worth pursuing.
If you do not hold a clear vision for what you really want for and from your business or work in the long term it is very difficult to set and work towards relevant goals. Without a vision you are more likely to be influenced by the goals or agendas of others even when these are not aligned with your needs or values. Your business vision helps focus the hopes and dreams for your business so you can develop a suitable plan and take relevant action.
So how do you get clear on your business vision? There are various exercises that can help you develop a clear vision for your business or work. This article describes ‘The Retirement Party Exercise’. It is one option to help you gain clarity right now, and can be revisited whenever necessary. First, we will briefly review a frequently applied Life Vision exercise.
The Rocking Chair Exercise
When coaching someone regarding their Life Vision, the ‘Rocking Chair Exercise’ is often used to assess if a person’s goals are in line with what is most important to them. In this exercise, you are asked to imagine yourself sitting in your rocking chair towards the end of your life. You then consider questions about things like what you did and who you connected with and what you are most proud of to help you see what shines through as really valuable to you. The purpose is that you can take the insights you gain from imagining your ideal future and transform how you live now. You can set and work towards goals that align with the reflections and feelings you most want to have when you sit in that chair when you are ninety years old.
So how does this exercise fit with goal-setting in your business? A few tweaks to the ‘Rocking Chair Exercise’ and we have the ‘Retirement Party Exercise’.
Note: If you have not recently reviewed your Life Vision, try The Rocking Chair exercise. Take the time to reflect on that before you do a Business Vision exercise. Your business vision and life vision are not the same, but they are complementary. The values and hopes you have in life may be different to those you hold for your business, but they wouldn’t conflict with or be in opposition to them.
The Retirement Party Exercise
Activity
Imagine you are retiring from your business. You may have sold it, be handing it on to a family member or something else. You are having a party and reflecting on the years you were in business. Now consider each of the following areas and questions. Get a free printable version with space for your answers here.
Personal Growth & Learning
As you worked in your business through the years, what did you most enjoy learning?
What major business decision do you wish you had made sooner?
What major business decision do you wish you had made differently, and what would you have done instead?
Community & Connection
One of the richest aspects of life is the connections we make with other humans. Our work life offers opportunities to connect with others and our values will inform the type or importance of these connections.
Who did you serve in your business that left you feeling most fulfilled?
What partnership or collaboration brought you the greatest joy?
Projects & Creations
Fear and self-doubt can be barriers to imagining your success. We can hold ourselves back from setting some goals. At times that is because we don’t know where to start. Sometimes we hold back because we’re not confident we have the resources to achieve what we want to do. This exercise shifts our perspective to a time when we can proudly look back on the achievement. In other words, it doesn’t matter what we know now or have now or what resources we believe we can access. The exercise assumes that the ‘how’ was addressed.
What project did you most enjoy working on?
What service or product did you create that gave you the greatest satisfaction, or which was your favourite?
Finances
Sales, revenue, profit. Your business is not a business without them. The financial goals you set and the goals you achieve because of your financial success are an important part of your life in business.
How much personal income did your business provide you with?
What profit did your business make in total, or annually?
What did you do with the money that your business generated?
Giving Back
Many people are grateful for the opportunity to give back, whether to friends and family, or to strangers.
How were you able to give financially because of your business?
What goods or services did you give and to whom?
In what other ways did you give back?
Legacy
You may have created your business knowing you want to pass it on to a family member. Whether you sell your business, pass it on, or close it down when you retire from it there are people who are impacted by what you created. The legacy of your business could benefit your clients, your community, and your family for years or even decades after you are no longer part of the business.
What will continue after you retire or no longer operate your business?
If you could choose only one thing, what about your business are you most proud of?
Final Reflections
When you look around the party who and what do you see?
How do you feel?
What do you most value about the contribution you made by means of your business?
What do others most value about your business?
What is one thing, activity, or person missing from this vision that you wish you had included?
What surprised you most about your answers?
Without a clear vision for your business it is impossible to set meaningful business goals. Your business vision grounds your goals in a clear purpose. A clear vision helps you work through the challenges and achieve your goals with the confidence that you are doing what matters in the long term as well as in the present.
Finally, your business vision is unique to you. Forget the ‘shoulds’ or what you think a successful business looks like. Dream your big vision and enjoy the journey.
Would you like a printable version of the exercise with space to write your answers? You can download one here.
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