A sense of urgency

We’re rapidly approaching the last quarter of 2013.

Are you on target for meeting your business goals for this year?

Are you generating the income you’d hoped for 2013 and do you have a robust plan in place to meet these goals?

The truth is many entrepreneurs reach this point of year and have forgotten what the original goals were or have lost valuable momentum which plays havoc with your confidence and ability to build your business.

A couple of years ago, something very powerful inside of me shifted and I want to share it with you here. I was leading programs in organizations on how to achieve peak performance and studying the work of Leadership Guru, John Kotter. He found through his years of study that one key factor made the difference between teams who achieved their goals and those that didn’t. The beauty is that it’s something so simple and doesn’t require years of leadership training to acquire it. It’s called “A Sense of Urgency” and rather than being busy for the sake of being busy, true urgency focuses on the critical issues and a deep determination to win. In small business terms that translates into focusing on income-generating activities and creating the lifestyle you desire. Those who didn’t succeed had typically succumbed to complacency; i.e., getting too comfortable with the status quo.

You see, you can look at the last quarter of this year and let complacency take over yet again or you can develop your own sense of urgency to turn your year around and set the stage for a truly exciting 2014. A sense of urgency is an internal driver that you can tap into again and again to propel you forwards.

[blockquote author="John Scully" align="right pull-right"]“The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious.”[/blockquote]Here are some top tips to get you started:

• What did you set out to achieve in 2013? Dust off those business goals and reconnect with them. You may even be pleasantly surprised to see that some have been achieved or are under-way. Prioritize the ones that MUST be achieved this year and get to work on them now.
• What’s really at stake for you if you don’t grow your business in the way you desire? You have to be honest with yourself here as “pain” is a powerful motivator for actually getting you to take action. We can all dream of the fabulous lifestyle and benefits we’d love to have with a successful business but if deep down inside you doubt that you’ll ever achieve them, you won’t take the necessary steps. Instead connect with the reality of not achieving your goals and use the “pain” of not being successful as a motivator to take action now.
• If your life depended on creating the gap in income before the end of the year, what would you do? What would you be willing to try that you’ve been avoiding so far? Start approaching your business growth and income generation as if your life truly depended on it and you’d be amazed to see the new sense of urgency you’d create. And while your life might not necessarily be at stake here, your dreams, lifestyle and the difference you want to make in the world most certainly are.

A couple of years ago I broke through my own mindset about what was possible in the last quarter of the year and shattered my own financial glass ceiling. It created confidence, momentum and a new found excitement about what was possible for me in business. I’d love to help you do the same.

If you want to make this next quarter your best ever then contact us to schedule a Business Breakthrough Strategy Session – no cost, this one is on us - and all you have to do is take the first step.

© 2013 Vanessa Shaw