Begin with the end in mind My good friend Jorge Argueta is an established poet and award-winning children's author. He came to me to try and find a way to do more of the work he loves without the tremendous stress of worrying about drumming up business in a difficult economy. He has a natural ability to connect with kids and teenagers and has delivered many dynamic poetry workshops with outstanding results. But as he says in his own words, "I am a poet, not a salesperson!" I asked Jorge "What would your ideal work situation look like?" "I would be an artist-in-residence at a community center, and do poetry workshops with Latino and Native American youth. People all over the world would read and buy my books, touching the hearts of many, many children and parents. I would have time to write, and I wouldn't worry about where my next check was coming from because I would have work booked well in advance." When I asked him how he thought he could realize that vision, he looked at me with a mix of confusion and despair. "I don't know where to begin." I run across all kinds of people who share Jorge's dilemma and say things like: "I have always wanted to start my own business, I just don't know what to do to make it happen." "I feel stifled by my current career. But I have no idea how to begin in a new field." "My debt and messy finances are draining my energy and crushing my spirit. How will I ever get out of this situation?" All of us dream about a future filled with energy, joy and exciting work. Why don't more of us take action? With a thousand ideas, and endless possibilities, we don't know where to begin. Begin with the end in mind. The best way to get some forward motion toward your goals is to create a picture of your ideal life and work backwards to where you are today. Then you can see, in clear and concrete terms, what it will take to get there. What if you don't know what the end looks like? The best way to create a compelling vision is to describe, in as much detail as possible, what you life would look, sound, feel and taste like. You may not have enough information or experience to know exactly what job you would have, but most of you can describe a situation that would make you happy. Answer the following questions: In my ideal life: Where would I live? What kind of working hours would I have? What kinds of things would I be doing? Who would I be working with? What would a typical day look like? What would my work environment look like? What kind of food would I eat? What would my family relationships look like? How much money would I be making? Get as specific as you can in this exercise, describing your ideal situation in clear, concrete terms. At this point, you may need to take out your inner mallet and whack the pop-ups in your head that say "but I don't have an MBA so I never could do that!" "No one would ever pay me that much!" "My husband would never support me to do that!" You have no use for these thoughts right now because they will get in the way of describing an ideal situation. Remember, you are just creating the picture of a life that you know will make you happy, healthy and fulfilled. Once you have created your picture, take each individual question and begin to create a list of things that you would need to know or do to get closer to that picture. For example, Q: Where would I live? A: Boulder, Colorado. Action plan: Begin to investigate what it would take to live there. What are the housing prices? What is the job market like? What kind of schools do they have? What is the weather like at different times of the year? Who do you know who lives there that would be willing to talk to you? Q: What kinds of things would I be doing? A: Running my own consulting business, teaching women how to manage their money and make wise investment decisions. I would conduct workshops, speak at a variety of locations around the country, and eventually write a book. Action Plan: Talk to a number of independent consultants and ask them what they think it takes to succeed as an independent professional. (Make sure you talk to a number of different people, since everyone has different ideas of what is important. Talk to those that are happy and successful and those that are not, and see if you can understand why.) Prepare and deliver one talk at a local women's organization on a subject you feel extremely confident in such as "The five steps to getting rid of debt forever." Attend a workshop or presentation by someone you admire in this field. Make note of what you like and dislike about their workshop or presentation. What would you want to emulate? What would you do differently? Research the types of organizations that support women with financial advice. Where are there lots of resources? Where are there gaps? Which organizations would you like to get to know more about? Once you have a whole list of actions, which one should you start with? At this point, it really doesn't matter. The important thing is to take action. You will be more likely to do it if: It excites you It doesn't take longer than a day to complete You will feel great while doing it By breaking down your ideal vision into concrete steps, you will see it come to life. What was Jorge's first step? Creating a website where he could easily spread the word about his books and workshops among his broad network of friends in schools, non-profits and community organizations. Check it out! www.jorgeargueta.com Like what you're reading? Click here to subscribe. All the best, -Pam Pamela Stewart Ganas Consulting 1155 S. Power Road, Suite 114 PMB 110 Mesa, AZ 85206 480-663-3252 pcs@ganas.com © 2004 Pamela Stewart, All rights reserved. You are free to use material from the Get a Life eZine in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution. Please also notify me. www.ganas.com