Part of what keeps any entrepreneur going is their vision. Too often, though, it’s easy to get distracted by the day to day concerns of building and running a business. So, how do you really create a solid vision for your business? Below are a few ideas you can embrace to get you moving in the right direction.

1.  Get help

The value of coaches and mentors and heroes cannot be underestimated. Prideful stubborness, where you confuse doing it “your way” with a closed minded unwillingness to entertain a variety of opinions, is a mistake. Yes, you are the decider. That is your job and your responsibility. But, every great leader surrounds themselves with high level advisors, specialists in each field that is needed to succeed. The idea is not to do it alone but rather to be the singular visionary who coordinates the expert activities of amazingly talented people toward completion of the mission.

Another way to get help, if you’re not interested in including a group of real life individuals in your business, is to do your research. Sites like EvanCarmichael.com offer you profiles and interviews of some of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time. Entrepreneur focused magazines share the views of experts on how they run their businesses in this modern time, if you want a contemporary rather than historical view. Scientific business journals that study the science of networking, sales technique research studies, and more give you a greater view than you could possibly have on your own.

What it gets down to is, whether you choose physical helpers or virtual ones, you need helpers. Do not reinvent the wheel and don’t be afraid to share information with others. It will magnify your efforts tremendously if you simply widen your peripheral vision and deepen your knowledge base.

2.  Brainstorming is an art that leads to brilliant ideas

The hardest part of brainstorming is keeping the phases of idea creation and idea editing apart from each other. It’s too easy, as you are creatively throwing out wild ideas, to stop the creative flow and pick apart how it will or won’t work. Don’t do this. It kills the creative process. How to make your ideas happen is for after the creative process is done.

Once you start the brainstorming process, put your critic on hold and let the ideas flow. Crazy ideas on top of crazy ideas lead to new, brilliant ideas that are outside the box. Especially if you are brainstorming with other people (highly recommended), you will find that power plays interrupt you, critical analysis interrupts you, and “logical realism” will intrude. Have a white board ready to park those ideas so they don’t get forgotten to discuss another time, but actively insist that the practical does not intrude on the whimsical.

3.  Pen and paper are your friends

Some of your best thinking will solidify when you write your ideas down. There’s something inexplicable that happens when you put your ideas down in black and white. They become real. If you are a fan of the Law of Attraction, you already know this. If you are a list maker with a practical streak, you know this too. It’s a simple concept, and many very successful entrepreneurs do it, so I would suggest that you try it. Something magical happens when your logical brain is focused on the mechanics of writing that allows your imaginative spirit to run free. I do it and it works.

When you write down your goals or your ideas, write them down from a present tense, positive point of view. For example, instead of saying “Someday I will not be fat” (using a personal example) but rather “I am slim and healthy”. It feels a little weird at first, but it will help. Shifting your focus from being against something (I am not poor, I do not have debt, my business does not fail), move instead toward concentrating on the positive result (I am wealthy, I have a positive net cash flow, my business continues profitably and successfully).

4.  Last but not least, time is golden

Hard working entrepreneurs sometimes mistakenly interpret spending time thinking and imagining as wasting time. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. The time you spend thinking about your business, envisioning your future, and solidifying your dream is time that will magnify your success.You must schedule time to reflect and keep that appointment as religiously as you would any client appointment.

It’s very challenging to manage the detailed day to day issues and also use what I call your “big thinking”. I recommend that you spend at least one day each week- that’s right, one full day – working on your business instead of it in. Examine how you can improve your processes, examine where you are doing repetitive tasks that you could outsource, spend time thinking about the next big idea you are going to implement. Get outside your grind and think bigger, think more, and imagine sensational success.

Would your current sales process even work if you were to be wildly successful? What would happen if a million visitors came to your website today? Would it net you any profits or would it just crash your server? Spending time thinking of the mechanics of success not just hedging against disaster is a profitable endeavor. You are the visionary of your business and anything less than that is not stepping up. Every week you need to commit to and act upon that job of being the leader.

This is a subject that I feel sometimes gets overlooked and ignored. I am a strong supporter of clarity, so grab yourself a cup of coffee, find a quiet place without distractions and think bigger. Know that you are worth this time and that it is bringing you success. Be sure to have a notepad and pen with you and get it out and get it down on paper. Then, go do it.

Together, we are stronger!
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman