Bring Your Future Into Focus

Do you have goals? I mean really have goals you want to achieve? If they’re not in writing, then I say that those are just dreams. Each year, I go through an exercise to really define my goals. And today, I’m going to share that process with you. I didn’t invent this process - it’s one that I learned from Dean Graziosi. He’s an internationally recognized speaker on motivation and goal achievement - and a fellow follower of Tony Robbins.

In order to help you with this exercise, we have a one page tool you can use to follow along and start defining your goals. You can click here to download the free tool, find it on our website in the “Free Stuff” section, or draw it on a blank piece of paper.

The boxes on the Clarity Mapping Tool include: “The current Truth,” “One Year Goals,” “WHY these goals are important,” and “Capabilities Needed” to achieve the goals.

Current Truth

So let’s start filling in the boxes - starting in Box 1. What is your current truth? Now be honest, no one is going to see this but you. So, if you can’t be honest with yourself, about where you are, you’ll never be able to build a path to where you want to be.

Write down anything that comes to mind about your current status. What is the reality? Is your business not performing the way you want? Is your income less than what you desire? Are you where you really want to be already? Don’t be afraid to express your feelings here, because, remember that you don’t have to share this with anyone but yourself.

Here are a few examples from MY Clarity Tool exercise from a year ago. I share this with you to show you how honest I am with myself - and to show you that exposing my vulnerability actually spurs me to action:

• The business is half of where I thought it would be when I founded it about 2 years ago.
• The Business is breaking even - not where I expected to be at this point.
• The business struggles to identify and connect with the right people who need to hear our message!

One Year Goals

OK, now let’s move on to the second box - One Year Goals. Here, I want you to time travel to a year from now, and state your goals as if we are looking back at the things you’ve already accomplished! State them as if you have already achieved them. This is really important! It helps get you in the proper mind framework to finish the rest of this tool. So, state them as achievements, not future dreams.

My one year goals last year were:

• My business doubled over the last year.
• My business is profitable
• My business is debt free
• I have launched 3 new programs to provide business owners with the tools they need to build long term value.
• I am constantly attracting the right type of clients who want and need our services

Why These Goals are Important

Next, let’s move on to the Why! Why are these goals important to you? Why do you NEED to achieve these goals and what will doing so mean for you?

• I love helping people, and this is the best way I know to help business owners achieve their ideal outcome!
• I love my family, and by having a thriving business, I will be able to provide for them better than I can today!
• Because my business is profitable, I have the freedom and additional resources I need to to grow this business and help more people!
• I love meeting new people, and learning about businesses!

Capabilities Needed

Finally, let’s move over to the last box - Capabilities Needed to Achieve my Goals. Now, it’s important to note that this is not a tactics list. This is a list of the capabilities that you will need to develop in order to reach your goals. We’ll get to the tactics in a minute - so stay focused on the capabilities you need to develop.

• I need to create a massive funnel and pipeline of prospective new clients through marketing.
• I need to have an automated way to nurture my prospective clients.
• I need a way to systematically measure my results to ensure that I’m tracking toward my goals.
• I need a way to create and curate a massive amount of content to feed the programs I want to offer.
• I need to develop a system to feed my MIND daily, to ensure I can stay at peak performance to reach my goals.

Tactics

OK - now that you have filled out the form and you have been able to articulate your current truth, your one year goals, why these goals are important to you, and the capabilities you need to achieve those goals - NOW, you can finally think about the tactics you need to to get those capabilities. I write the tactics on the back. It’s a handy way to keep it all together.

• Research how to podcast - and get it started.
• Scheduling and consistently writing a blog post every week.
• Develop a newsletter to get valuable information in the hands of the right people every week.
• Develop a curriculum for a Masterclass
• Calendar “feeding my mind” daily!

So - there you have it. A tool that clearly maps your future success. I hope that you will use this tool to help you get clarity around your goals, and what you need to do to achieve them.

Next week, we’ll wrap up this series with how to take massive action in 2021 to achieve your goals! I hope you’ll take the time to read it because I’ll reveal my secret weapon for getting things done!

So, stop right now, and fill out the Future Clarity Mapping Tool. It’s a simple and elegant way to really get clarity on the future! I promise, it won’t take more than 30 minutes to do it, and you’ll be so glad you did!

Let me know how you did, and if you need any help or a gentle nudge - message me on LinkedIn, Facebook Page, email or call my cell - because I’m here to help! Mapping your future with clarity will have more impact on your business value than you think! What are you going to do today - to Maximize Business Value?

Check out the Maximize Business Value podcast on the same topic:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Bronson is the founder and President of Mastery Partners, a company that helps business owners maximize business value, design exit strategy, and transition their business on their terms. Mastery utilizes proven techniques and strategies that dramatically improve business value that was developed during Tom’s career 100 business transactions as either a business buyer or seller. As a business owner himself, he has been in your situation a hundred times, and he knows what it takes to craft the right strategy. Bronson is passionate about helping business owners and has the experience to do it. Want to chat more or think Tom can help you? Reach out at [email protected] or check out his book, Maximize Business Value, Begin with The Exit in Mind (2020).

Mastery Partners, where our mission is to equip business owners to Maximize Business Value so they can transition their business on their terms. Our mission was born from the lessons we’ve learned from over 100 business transactions, which fuels our desire to share our experiences and wisdom so you can succeed.