What a whirlwind of activity this week! From school assemblies to sick kids, to arranging a new client VIP day, it’s been a full week! My heart is full as I feel thankful for the life and business I’ve created.
My mentor likes to ask a great question – do you just want it to stop or do you want to excel? Read on to find out what exactly making “it” stop means and how to change it :)
Wanting “it” to stop, refers to wanting your struggle to stop. The bills, the working hard, the overwhelm, etc. You get the idea.
What I’ve noticed, is that you might think heck no, I don’t want it to stop; I want to change what I’m doing. I want to have an amazing life and business that gives me the freedom to do whatever I choose. Of course, we all do right?
The thing though, is that you might say you want to do more – to soar – but how are you setting your goals? Are your goals set in a way that only get you to the point of your seemingly endless struggle to end? Or do you set goals that let you exceed that struggle and move into soaring? So that you can finally start having the freedom you talk about?
For example, I have a friend, let’s call her Sue to keep her anonymity. Sue sets goals every month to just make ends meet.
She’s not working from her vision. Her vision is in the millions. But her monthly goal isn’t in-line with that. Therefore, every month Sue continues to struggle. Even though she is making great progress, and I mean GREAT progress, she is still struggling. What happens is, she makes more money and then increases her expenses at the same time. She is never in a position to exceed her expenses and have the peace (and feeling of freedom), that comes with that.
Here are a few action steps to get you started.
You must know where you currently are financially. It is hard to get to where you want to go if you don’t’ know where you are. I highly recommend hiring a bookkeeper, even if you are just starting out. This service is one that is essential in growing a business. I wish I would have known this early on in my business. Start looking at what you’re spending per month to give you an idea. A simple excel spreadsheet works great.
Then look at where you want to be. I always have my clients’ start of with mapping out their ideal lifestyle. What does your ideal freedom-filled life look like? Get specific and then assign a monetary amount to every thing listed. For example, if you want to travel twice a year, write down the approximate cost. If you are married, put down half of the costs associated with household expenses and the same goes for the kids’ expenses. Be sure to include all business expenses too. This is your time to dream BIG! What do you really want? Most people won’t even enable themselves to do the exercise properly because they start second guessing how it’s going to happen. Don’t worry about the “how” for now.
Look at where your income is now versus where you want to be. Don’t be scared. We can work on a plan to help you get there. In the meantime, start working from that bigger vision. Break it down into a monthly amount, and make that your monthly goal.
There is one thing worth mentioning. If you’re not currently covering your immediate expenses – what it costs to run your life the way it is now – then that needs to be your monthly goal first. From there, you can increase your goal. Don’t stay here too long though, because this is inline with the “make it stop” mentality. Hit the goal quickly and then up it immediately to your ideal lifestyle goal.
Don’t use your spreadsheet to determine what you can and can’t do, which would be the traditional way of using a budget. If you really want to achieve those bigger lifestyle dreams, then you need to work from the vision. Spend money on what you want. The only catch is that you must be willing to do what you need to do to make the money back, i.e. grow your business.
When you are making decisions in your business and life, make them from your vision. Check in each time and ask if the version of yourself who is already living her ideal lifestyle would say yes or no. It’s a completely different – and empowering – way of living life!
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Written by Chris Atley, Life & Business Coach for entrepreneurs. Coaching designed to help you make more money doing what you love. Create your ideal business by grabbing my manifesto kit for free at: www.totalharmonycoaching.com
The post Do You Want it to Stop or Do You Want to Soar? appeared first on Today's Innovative Woman Magazine.