Episode Summary

Welcome to another episode of "A Whole Lotta Shift." I'm your host, Jen Ingram, and in today's episode, we're diving deep into the topic of vision and values. We'll explore why it's crucial to have clarity on your vision and values as it relates to your goals and your business.

During this coffee chat episode, we'll discuss the role of values as a guide or compass for making decisions and setting behaviors that align with your goals. We'll explore how having a clear vision and values can make difficult decisions easier, help you tune in to what truly matters to you, and attract like-minded individuals into your life and business.

Join us as we explore examples of how values have influenced business decisions and share stories from our community members. So grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and let's delve into the power of vision and values in creating a purpose-driven and successful business.

But before we jump in, I'd like to extend a warm welcome to everyone joining us in the Facebook group. If you're not in the group yet, be sure to join us to access valuable resources and connect with a supportive community. It's a great place to share your insights and learn from others who are also on their journey towards clarity and growth.

So, get ready to gain valuable insights and inspiration as we explore the world of vision and values. Let's get started with this week’s episode of "A Whole Lotta Shift."

About the Host:

Jen is a Dream Catalyst and Business Mentor saving hustling female solopreneurs from the chains of corporate America. Her passion lies in helping women through their self awakening so they can finally break free, turn their side hustle into the business of their dreams, and live a life full of time, location and financial freedom.

Jen is a California girl at heart, now living out her dream in the Midwest, traveling, coaching female solopreneurs and sharing her own story of triumph and empowerment across speaking platforms. When she's not traveling, she enjoys spending time with her college aged son and her rescued Pit Bull.

After 20 years of various project manager and corporate trainer roles while juggling a wide array of side gigs, she has mastered the ability to help women see what they cannot see, believe they are meant for more and take aligned action to make it happen. With an MBA in Change Management, and a Health and Life Coach Certification from the Health Coach Institute, Jen is an expert at creating both the business process changes and the personal habit changes needed to finally Break UP with corporate and go all-in on your side hustle or long standing passion project.

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenelleingram/

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It's also gonna be one of those things that's really gonna

help you tune into yourself and identify what matters for you.

I know sometimes that sounds maybe a little cliche when you hear the

terms, you know, listen to your gut you know, listen to your intuition

and you think, oh God, what?

I don't know.

My intuition steered me wrong before.

Hello and welcome to another episode of a whole lot of shift.

I'm your host, Jen Ingram, and this week we are talking about vision and

values and why it's so important to have clarity on your vision and values as it

relates to your goals and your business.

All right, so first of all, I just wanna give a very warm welcome to everybody.

If you were in the Facebook group, then you're getting to watch this live, and

if you're in the group, then you also were able to connect with my Monday

mindset, in which I asked all of you to spend some time each day throughout

the week, really thinking about what your bigger vision is for yourself.

And your business and really tuning into thinking about what your vision is in the

largest context that you can think of it.

And I'm gonna get into a little deeper conversation about

that here in just a moment.

But if you're not in the group and you didn't have an opportunity to

catch the Monday mindset, then I strongly encourage you to come join us.

It's a great community and there are so many tips and tricks, and

obviously Monday mindsets that are shared right in the group.

And I would love to have you join us.

. All right, so today we are talking about those vision and

values and why this matters.

And so I really just want to start, and I touched on this a little bit in

the Monday mindset, but really your values kind of act as your guide.

Or your compass for your goals for yourself and your business.

These are the values that you have, is what's gonna help guide your behaviors

and your decisions that you're making as it relates to your goals and

the direction that you want to go.

So, for example, if you think about a time where you were really struggling or

maybe you had a very difficult decision to make as it may relate, whether

this be life or business, I think this can apply anywhere across the board.

Then you probably know that having a very clear vision of what your values

are was really important because when you weren't clear on what your

values are, it's going to make . It's going to make making a decision that

much more difficult for you, right?

Being clear on your vision is really gonna help those challenging decisions

that you may encounter just be a little bit easier because they're going to

act as the framework or the guide.

I think in Monday's mindset, I think I may have used the term compass, right?

It's really kind of guiding you along so that you can evaluate your

choices and what feels good for you.

I would really encourage you that that might not be true.

That might be a tricky thought that you have because likely it may have been

something more about your values and not having the clear clarity that you need in

those values so that they can act as the framework and guide you in the direction

that you really want to be going.

If you think about this, like one example that I thought of was and

one of my values is integrity.

And when you think about that, it really allows for any decision that I may have

in my life or business to be so much simpler for me because when I identify

something that doesn't leave me feeling.

Though I am acting in integrity, then I know that that's just

not something that I'm gonna do.

So, perhaps a good example of this it's really important to me that whatever

I'm asking of somebody else to do, especially in my coaching business,

what I'm asking you to try something or to do something, it's really

important to me that I'm not asking you to do something I myself have maybe

Never tried, have no experience in doing.

You know, and, and yet asking and assuming, oh, this should just be simple.

I'm gonna ask this of you.

It's really important to me that I am always kind of, I guess you

could say, setting the example.

You know, I always want to . Consider the things that I've maybe tried in the

past, what worked well, what didn't, and I enjoy being able to try out various

things so that when I'm working with a client and I'm working one-on-one with

them, I know that whatever I'm asking you to do is either something that I've

tried and I can intelligently speak to.

But it, it also helps keep me within integrity.

I know that I'm just not blowing smoke.

This isn't something that I just heard about from some Go guru, and

now I'm trying to ask you to try it.

It's really important to me that I would never ask you to do something

that I would never personally consider for myself either.

So that's just one example.

But it's not just about . Decision making, although that is a very important

part of your business and your life.

I wanna be clear, as I'm speaking about vision and values, it's really important

that we're thinking about who we wanna be and how our business fits into our

life and not the other way around.

We shouldn't be building our life around our business, right?

So it's not just about values helping you make the right decisions.

It's also about.

Who you're attracting into your energy field, into your life, whether

this be, you know, . Friendships, relationships clients, customers.

When you are standing in a firm place of understanding what your values are

and sticking to them, you're going to start attracting other people who have

the same values as you, and they're gonna start coming into your world.

It's going to make those interactions a lot easier, so it's.

It's the decisions that you're making, it's, it helps the interactions that

you're having and it really helps guide all your behaviors and actions that you're

doing on a regular basis and that you're doing and working on towards your goals.

I'm kind of curious.

If you're in the group and you're live, if you know of a time when

maybe a value that you felt very strongly about helped you make an easy

business decision, go ahead and share that in the comments and curious.

If you really sit down and think about it, you probably realize that there's been.

Several business decisions that you've made in the past, or maybe it wasn't

a business decision, maybe it was a life decision that then impacted your

business, but it was that much more, it was that much more . It was that

much easier for you to make because you were clear on what your values are.

Maybe those values are family time freedom.

For me, I li I listed one, which was integrity.

It could be independence.

There's, there's a wide range of values that you might have, so I'm curious if,

if you, in talking about this today, or thinking about it throughout the

week, were you able to identify a time in which you had a lot easier time

making a decision about your business?

Because you were clear on those values and those values help

guide you to that decision.

Go ahead and share down in the comments I'd love to hear.

Alright, so I kind of just gave a background on the values and why this

is so important, whether this is for life or business or what have you, but.

As I was saying, the way that it helps guide your behaviors, really think

about your values, helping you create an aligned vision for yourself so that you

have the success that you're seeking.

Because if you have a vision and it's not in complete

alignment with your values, then.

It's like you are on, you are on a, you're on the wrong path.

You are on a path that's probably going to a destination that you

don't necessarily wanna be on.

Actually, when I think about it that way, in fact, I'm kind of curious,

you may have experienced this before.

Have you ever started down a path and you, you started down a certain

path and you got about halfway there and you realized, wait.

This, this really isn't what I want after all.

Maybe it was a path that was heavily influenced by someone else in your life

or maybe it was a path that you wanted to try out because it was something

that all the gurus told you to do.

But you start going down that path and you realize, this just doesn't feel right.

This is not in alignment with my values and.

This is why having those values . And having the clarity on what

they are is really going to help you with your bigger vision.

It's really going to act as that compass or that north star that's going to

keep you on the path that is truly your path and not someone else's that's

gonna help you stay in alignment so that when you are listening to someone

else, you know, and and I'm just gonna throw this out there, the, the business

gurus Or, or whatever it may be.

Those values are going to help you say, okay, hold on.

I hear what this person's saying, but you know what, this is not in alignment with

the bigger vision that I have of myself.

It's those values that are gonna help you determine how to get there.

So if you think about it, I asked you all.

During the week from the five minute mindset to spend a few minutes

a day really thinking about your vision for yourself and for your

business in a much larger context.

So, Here's what I mean by that.

When you are thinking about your vision, this is a little bit different

than just thinking about your goals.

Your goals are the action steps, typically or the smaller pieces that are going

to build up to your larger vision.

So, I'm gonna use weight loss as an example.

Okay?

A goal might be, I wanna lose 20 pounds, you know, in the next five months.

Okay?

That's a goal.

That's specific.

But when you think about your larger vision, why do you wanna lose the weight?

What is it that you're wanting to be able to do?

So this is how you can kind of think of your.

Vision as your why behind your goals.

So you might find, okay, well I really wanna lose 20 pounds because I wanna

feel better physically and mentally so that I can start having the experiences

in life that I've always wanted to do, such as traveling hiking or just being

. Highly active with your friends and family, whatever that might be, right?

Your vision should be much broader and in a much larger context than simply

thinking, oh, I wanna lose 20 pounds.

There's a why that's behind that.

There's a reason for that, and it's because you have a larger

vision about yourself or in this case, about your business.

And so, Really making sure that those vision, that those values,

excuse me, are aligned with your vision is really, really important.

'cause that's gonna help you go down the right path.

So, back to where I had started when I would had said that I asked

in the Monday mindset for you to spend a few minutes every day and

really think about your vision for yourself in your largest context.

So if you were to take just a moment and just maybe even close your eyes

for just a moment and really think about where you want your life and

your business to be in five years.

Visualize the success that you have, the impact that you're making and the journey.

And then think about . Let's say three values that help guide you

to that vision, the values that help guide you to that success.

I'm curious if you're in the group, I'm super curious what some of the

values are that you came up with.

Go ahead and share 'em in the chat, if you would, and then I think sharing

that information is super helpful to others in the community as well.

And I'm kind of curious to see what kind of values drive you in your

business and what kind of values are driving people in our community.

Another way, if you're struggling to think, well, I have so many goals

that I'm considering right now.

It's difficult for me to.

Envision a much larger vision in a much larger context for myself.

'cause right now all I can think about is you know, I wanna have this

amount of money in my bank account, or I wanna make this amount of revenue

in my business in this quarter,

or here are the here's the goals that I have in, in all these

different areas of my life.

This is where I really would encourage you to sit down and visualize how you

picture yourself in a larger context.

Not just necessarily what you're doing, but who you're being.

Who is it that ? Is in this larger vision of yourself.

I think oftentimes we can really get caught up in the various roles that we

may play in our lives, such as mother, daughter, sister, wife, employee And,

and shoot even as an employee, right?

Like you were given a title and then sometimes we even try and

attach that title to ourselves and think, oh, well this is who I am.

But I'm asking you to think well beyond that, who are you when you're not a mom?

'cause you're not just a mom, you're not just all these roles that you're playing.

There is a person there.

And in your vision, I want you to really think about who you're being,

and then you can kind of integrate, okay, well, what are some of the

things that I am doing when I think about my highest version of self?

And I think about that in the largest context possible.

All right.

. So I've kind of rambled on a little bit about how to think about that vision,

but this is so important because there's going to be times where you're going

to come across things in your life or your business, and you don't wanna

fall victim again to heading down a path that frankly is not your path.

It's somebody else's path, and they're just trying to get you to go down

that, you know, I've come across.

so many people in my life who really use these values and vision

in their businesses, that kind of helps guide them as well.

Like even when I think about my my gym owner, you know, it's really important

to him that he's not just helping you with your fitness, but that he's

Helping to motivate you and helping to see all that you're capable of.

Not just whether or not you've lost the weight, but how much more confident

you feel and how much more confident you , how much more confident you

are in your life and using that to create the life that you really want.

That's so important to him.

And, and probably how I ended up finding this gym and becoming a part

of this gym community because obviously the, that's a type of value that I

hold very personal to me as well.

This isn't just about business.

I truly believe that we should be creating the life that we really want.

And then incorporating our business into that.

And it's so important to me that others get to feel what it feels

like to really live for the dash.

If you haven't heard that phrase before, it's felt the dash in between

the dates on your tombstone, right?

Like, I don't, I don't wanna just live.

For the end date, I wanna live all the things in between.

And that's so important to me.

And so I take that into consideration when I'm thinking about my business.

If you caught a couple podcast episodes ago, one of the things that I talked

about when I was talking about focus, I gave an example of an opportunity

that I had to maybe get back.

Into the boutique business, but I had to really stop for a little

bit and ask myself, okay, hold on.

Is something that is a strong brick and mortar, something that I wanna get into

right now, is that helping me to my largest vision and allowing me to live

the life that I ultimately wanna live.

So it's important that you really have clarity on yourself

of what your bigger vision is.

In that case, my answer was no.

This doesn't fit into this larger vision that I have for myself.

And because integrity is so important to me, there was no way that I wanted to say

. Yes, I'm going to start this business only to figure out halfway through that.

It really wasn't for me because it really didn't align with

the larger vision that I had.

So it's super important that we understand this.

I think my biggest piece of advice for you today as you're listening to this,

is to really think about and consider . What your own V values are and how they

align with your business vision, right?

How do you, how are you aligning these values that you can

see you have in your life?

How does that align with your business?

Because they should align.

And so the combination of those . Values and the vision that you have is what's

gonna help set you apart and really help elevate you and pave the way for

a much longer term success instead of like the example I just gave, instead

of finding yourself kicking off.

Something else in your business or a whole new business concept altogether

only to realize, wait, while this is fun and this was enticing, this

doesn't fit into my larger vision.

So really, really reflect on what are the values that you hold near and dear to you.

And where did this that fit into your, to your vision?

All right.

Well, if you've joined today, I just wanna say thank you.

I am so glad that you were able to join and I hope that some

of this resonated with you.

If you're in the group, I'm super curious.

Tell me.

What is part of your bigger vision of yourself or your business?

Is it that you're traveling the world speaking on stages or that

maybe you don't want that all.

Maybe you do wanna build your brick and mortar out.

What is it?

What's this bigger vision that you have?

Is it making an impact?

Is it making an impact in the world around you with others?

I would love to know, so please share.

. And of course, if you're not already in the Facebook group, get over here.

We would love to have you.

And until next time, keep making shift happen.

Bye.