Business Vision and Goal Setting For Internet Marketers
Having the right business vision and goals is so important that without them, you are unlikely to get motivated and succeed. Sounds like a pretty bold claim, does it?
Vision and goals are closely connected to mindset, especially the abundance or growth mindset. Thinking big is part of the visual concept that we will be exploring today.
The abundance mindset likes to think big while the scarcity mindset is afraid to think big.
The abundance mindset develops goals and develops life plans while the scarcity mindset does not know where it wants to be and does not set goals.
By the end of this post, I hope you will agree with that statement and start taking action to ensure that you have the right vision for your business and ultimately for your life.
What is a vision?
A vision is a clear mental image of the future where your goals are fulfilled. Most people don’t even have goals. Those with scarcity or fixed mindsets don’t even have goals and of all the people who do set goals, few of those have the vision to see those goals fulfilled.
Imagine your life as a difficult jigsaw puzzle, your vision will be like looking at the box cover with the finished picture while putting together the puzzle. Without that box cover, you can go through a long period of confusion and difficulty before getting the pieces put together.
If the puzzle was large and difficult enough, you can spend your entire life putting it together. But with the box cover, you have a roadmap. You know where you’re going and you can plan your chart to get there.
Begin with an end in mind.
In the book, The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, Steven Covey talks about habit number two which is, to begin with, an end in mind. Almost every success in life comes after having a vision for it.
Getting a vision, setting goals to get there, and then working hard and overcoming adversity along the way is the recipe for life.
Where there is no vision, the people perish
, Proverbs 29:18 18
93% of new online businesses fail most likely due to a lack of vision along with the other foundational principles of building an online business.
All expert wealth builders have a vision. None of them would be where they are today without it.
What does vision look like?
Have you ever flown in an airplane? Having a vision for your business is like looking at the world from 30,000 feet.
When you are looking down from such a high place, you don’t see the problem. You don’t see the obstacles. You just see the big picture and it looks beautiful.
But as you get closer to the ground, you begin to see the challenges. You see the bumps, hills, mountains to overcome, rivers, lakes, and valleys to cross.
The biggest stumbling block for business is often when the rubber meets the road. What happens is when we get started building our business, we encounter obstacles and problems that obscure the vision.
This causes us to become myopic and we begin to see directly only what is in front of us and we lose sight of the big picture.
Unfortunately, that is when so many internet marketers hit the wall. They never get any further. If you lose sight of your business vision, you can lose hope.
When you lose hope, it is game over. That is why it’s important, to begin with, an end in mind and keep that vision as a central motivating factor in your mind.
What can we picture in our vision?
Here are some ways how your vision may look to you
- Your future life looks exactly how you want it to be.
- You’re seeing all your dreams coming true.
- The vision looks exactly how you want it.
- You feel happy thinking about it.
- It feels like you are using all your gifts and your passion.
- It is fulfilling.
Since we are specifically talking about a vision for your information marketing business, you will apply the above to the context of your business. For example, “How does your business look like in the future?”
Here are some questions you can ask yourself when formulating a vision for your life and your business.
- What matters most to you?
- Who matters most to you?
- What is my mission in life?
- What do you want?
- In what ways do you want to grow?
- What do you want to accomplish?
- How would you like to impact others?
- What kind of legacy do you want to leave?
How far out should your vision extend?
Most teachers in this subject tend to think 5 to 10 years is a good target for a life vision. If you are referring to your business, I think 3 to 5 years is a good target to have.
You can have a longer-term vision but it is important to know that your vision will change over time.
Another important thing to note is that you are never too old to have a vision for your life. You can have a vision right up to the very end.
One of Steven Covey’s classic exercises to come up with your vision is to imagine your funeral. What do you want people to say about you? How do you want to be remembered?
That can help you identify things that you consider to be important in life.
Avoid the scarcity mindset!
When you are developing your vision, it is important to remember to avoid the scarcity (or fixed) mindset. This type of mindset makes you set your vision too low. Maybe you cannot see past your next mortgage payment.
As a result, you are focused on the present moment or just trying to get by.
Maybe you really cannot see yourself quitting your job. In your mind, you need to rise above the limiting factors otherwise your vision will be limited.
(a) The ‘Just get by’ Mentality
So many of us struggle with this. Some people have a vision to just get by with their social security checks and spend the rest of their day watching television until they die. It is easy to fall into this type of mentality.
(b) The Victim Mentality
Another mindset that hinders your vision is the victim mentality.
Are many people victims?
Yes, they are.
Have some people endured truly horrible things in their lives?
Yes, absolutely.
Have some people dealt with injustices and have all kinds of unfair treatment happened to them in life?
Yes, they have and you may be one of those people.
It is easy for us to think that because we are starting from dire circumstances, we should set our standards lower.
Yet, the history books are full of people who were in an impossible situation but managed to overcome their adversity by holding on to a clear vision.
Regardless of how terrible your situation is if you can still function and think, you can have a vision.
Viktor Frankl is a great example of how someone can overcome the most horrific condition using the power of the mind.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Frankl
Make the best out of yourself
A scarcity mindset says “My value is limited”. Having that belief is going to prevent you from having the best vision for your life and business. To set the vision higher, you need to see yourself as a person of worth. You need to know that you are a valuable resource and you hold the potential for great things.
If you’re young, that’s obvious. Your life is an unwritten book. You can make it what you want it to be.
If you’re old, that still applies. You’re a fountain of wisdom and experience. You hold great value and many of the world’s great accomplishment has occurred in the latter years of people’s lives.
If you formulate your vision, I want you to know that you are valuable and you have the potential for great things. Go beyond your present situation and cast off any scarcity mindset. That may be trying to keep you down.
It is important to write down your vision. Some people like to make a vision board with actual pictures of things that they want in life.
Another great way to do it is to keep journals where you can write down a detailed vision of your journal.
Goals
After you have written down your vision, it is time to start charting a course to get there. A vision needs goals and plans to go along with it. Your vision and goals are maybe interrelated.
Let’s look at an example of what goals look like.
My vision is to have a fit, attractive, healthy body. I want to live a fun active lifestyle. I’ll be able to play sports and enjoy all kinds of outdoor activities. My spouse will find me attractive and together we’ll travel the world doing fun things.
Here are the goals to achieve that:
- Lose 10 pounds by August 15th
- Lower my resting heart rate by 10 BPM by September 1st
- Join an indoor soccer team by October 15th
Do you see the difference between vision and goals? A vision is a picture of where you’re going and the goals are the milestones along the way.
Here are the most important things to keep in mind while you’re setting goals.
- They should be specific (measurable)
- Your goals need to be specific enough for you to know when you hit them.
- They should be challenging but attainable. Depending on how high you set your vision, you might have to break down your goals in smaller bit sized chunks.
- It needs to be realistic otherwise you will never hit your goals.
- It needs to have a deadline. Life is short, you need to get stuff done.
- This is important especially if you are working from home by yourself. You don’t have anyone telling you what, how, and when to get things done.
- You have to create self-imposed deadlines. Sure, deadlines add some stress but without them, you would not achieve what you want to with your business.
Example: To have made 1 million dollars in profit within 5 years of today’s date.
Write your goals down and keep them in sight. This is an important element in goal setting. Those who write down goals and review them regularly are much more likely to achieve their goals than those who don’t.
How and where to write your goals?
- You can keep them digitally on your computer and your mobile device but the potential problem here is whether or not you’re going to open your file or your app to look at your goals.
- Some good goal-setting apps might work well for you. They got built-in reminders and such. Here are some goal-setting apps which have free versions:
- Another good way is to keep your goals in an Excel spreadsheet and print that out every time you update it. Keep the list short enough so that it can fit into one single page. After you print it, keep it next to your computer keyboard so that you can see it.
- A whiteboard is another good option as you can hang it on the wall where you can see it.
You can have short-term goals, long-term and everything in between. Reevaluate your goals periodically and make sure they still make sense.
Do not bail out of a goal just because you have a hard time getting there. However, the situation changes so it may no longer be attainable or relevant to your vision. In this case, you need to set a new goal.
When you do reach a goal, be sure to celebrate for a while before setting a new goal.
Conclusion
Double-check your mindset because, without the right mindset, it is impossible to have the best business vision for yourself. Your mindset with impacts your ability to succeed in every area of your life.
Write down your vision. Remember, don’t sell yourself short. If you set your targets low, you may hit them but there is no chance you will exceed them.
On the other hand, if you set your target too high, you may fail but you will further along with the low target. So it is better to set your target higher.
Your vision should inspire you and guide you as you build your business. It is the number one factor in generating long-term motivation. This is not a one-time thing, you need to keep setting your goals as you build your business.
What’s your vision for your business and your life? How are you overcoming them? I would love to hear from you. Leave a comment below.
