By Guest Contributor, Silvia Johnson

There are 8 critical components to define when building a thriving business. Four of the components are all about you and four are all about your customer or whom I like to call “who”. When you know “you” and “who”, creating a thriving business that supports the lifestyle you want to create, becomes easy.

One of the most crucial of the 8 components, that often gets pushed aside, is your vision. I find that most often, my clients end up creating a vision, reminiscent of the visions seen in the corporate world. Short catch phrases that once had meaning and now only hang in a frame on the conference room wall. With this kind of conditioning, visions created by my clients, are often flat and unexciting. This is not the kind of vision that will compel you forward during the times when you face obstacles in your business. It is not the kind of vision that will help you get out of bed and into your home office to create the marketing campaign or make the follow up sales call.

In order to create a vision that truly compels, it needs to come from the heart and include your most secret desires of the life and business you want to create. When you take the time to really explore, what’s possible for you and what you want, the end product will be inspiring and uplifting and the motivation you need to stay on track.

So you may be wondering, how do I create such a vision? Below is a tool that I use with my clients to help them create their compelling visions, schedule time on your calendar and give it a try!

Designing the Vision Activity:

Directions: Complete the following Lifestyle Business Vision by pulling from your wildest dreams. The only rule here is that you must be selfish. Don’t worry about how you will get there, but really consider what you would be doing, seeing, being, enjoying, etc. at that time.

The following questions and guides are here to help you make as complete an experience for your long term vision. You do not need to answer every single question; however I highly recommend you try.
Imagine that I had a magic wand and could grant you any life you truly wanted it is 5-10 years from now and you are living that magnificent life…

Once you have an idea of what your life will be like, write a narrative of your life based on your answers as if you were living it at this time. Include any money goals, who you’re with, location of where you are at, etc. that are part of this vision. The narrative you create will then become your compelling vision, the reason you are spending your time, effort and energy on your business and yourself today.

 About Silvia: Silvia Johnson has over 10 years experience in the area of personal and business transformation. Having a knack for modeling success and an ability to walk others through the steps to achieve their own goals, she has transformed hundreds of lives and businesses on an international scale. Her background is mostly as an executive coach and organizational consultant in Fortune 100 companies. Silvia holds a degree in Psychology for the University of California, Davis and is a Master NLP Practitioner and Coach.