This inspirational thought is associated with the Disney theme parks – although Walt Disney is not the originator of the saying. More on that later…
Year-end planning comes at the perfect time.
By the time December 26 rolls around, most business owners have felt like hamsters in a wheel for about four weeks. Succumbed to the “tyranny of the urgent.” More action, more often. Mounting holiday expectations. Always moving, yet never seeming to advance.
“Do not confuse motion and progress,” says modern philosopher Alfred A. Montapert. “A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress.”
That statement accurately describes most business owners’ lives leading up to the holidays. And then, the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day arrives. Those days afford us the perfect opportunity to relax, reflect and reload.
That’s exactly what we did in the Be Media Savvy office.
It is vital for business owners and leaders to dream. Unless you cast a vision for your company, daily business activities can become like rocking horses; monotonous, somewhat soothing, and always losing to thoroughbreds.
The first step we took for planning the New Year was to get a clear vision of where we want to go in the next 12 months. We are resolved to tell our story to hundreds of people and work with 50 new clients, adapting our system to their businesses, to create the best year ever for our clients and ourselves.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to do your vision work for this year, ask yourself these questions:
- What is your company’s purpose? Why does your ideal client need you?
- What are your company values? What are the non-negotiables when it comes to how you conduct business?
- What is your company mission? How would you describe your business when it’s operating at full potential?
- What is your BHAG – big, hairy, audacious goal? If you had a slam-dunk year, what would it look like?
Now that you’ve had time to think about your vision, you must take ownership of it and put your intentions into motion. Can your vision be explained in a way that’s clear and easy to understand? Do you embrace it with conviction? Are you resolved to work on it daily?
Share your vision or BHAG in the comments. Put it out there, and strive for it all year.
Oh, by the way…no one does visionary work and Imagineering quite like The Walt Disney Company.
Here’s a link to the real story behind the quote that Walt never said.
