In today's episode, we're diving into the importance of reconnecting with your business vision. Whether you're feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or things are moving too fast, taking a moment to realign with your goals and intentions can make all the difference. This episode is packed with insights and practical steps to help you get back on track, no matter where you are in your business journey.

Key Takeaways:

• Regularly reconnect with your vision and assess its relevance and alignment.
• Consider what you want to be known for and ensure your positioning reflects that.
• Reevaluate your goals, intentions, and key success factors as your business and life evolve.
• Listen to yourself and trust your instincts when making decisions for your business.

Mentioned in this episode:

Episode on Owning Your Inner CEO

No Commitment Summer Offers

Keywords:

reconnecting with your vision, business planning, focus visionary program, quarterly planning, overwhelmed entrepreneurs, stagnation in business, business goals, goal setting, evolving business goals, imposter syndrome, time management, positioning in business, annual business goals, strategic plan

Hello.

Hello.

Welcome back to another episode of the Real Truth About Business.

Today we are diving into reconnecting with your vision.

It doesn't really matter.

This episode is relevant no matter when, no matter what time of year it is.

Okay.

I think it is especially important as like certain milestones hit throughout the year, like at different quarters or at the half year.

But in reality it doesn't really matter the time.

I think we put too much pressure around, like, well, we have to do things on the quarter or we have to do things at the end of the year or the half year or at the end of the month or whatever.

The reality is, is that if things are feeling a little stuck or stagnant or you're feeling a little bit like all over or overwhelmed or out of control or things just are not feeling good or maybe things are feeling really, really good and they're moving really, really fast and you're just feeling like, you know, oh my gosh, I don't know if I can keep up.

This is one of the things that I would always, always, always recommend everybody do.

And that's just to sit and reconnect your vision.

So this came up, we did our 60 day planning sessions, which again too is why I feel so strongly about 60 days, like the 60 day planning periods that I do inside of my focus vision.

Again, it doesn't matter.

It's a 60 day period.

It doesn't matter if it's the 15th of the month to the 15th.

It doesn't matter if it'S the 7th to the 7th, right?

Like it's a 60 day period.

The whole point is that it's a period of time that you maintain focus around, but things change, right?

So like it's the beginning of July and in the States here we go on vacation.

Most people go on vacation the first week of July, around the 4th.

So if you're planning to take that entire vacation week and off, why would you include that in your 60 day planning?

Right?

So anyway, in our planning session, I went around the room and I just kind of asked everybody how they were feeling about their year, how they were feeling about their vision, how they were feeling about their goals and their intentions and the focus.

And one of the things that I felt was really, really interesting was that most people, and myself included, felt like things had shifted dramatically in their business.

And that they were not sure that the intentions and the goals that they had set in January were really still relevant.

Right.

And so I actually love this.

I love, love, love this for most people, because this is part of what I see is so many people struggling with, is that they set these goals and intention in the beginning of the year or even in December.

Right.

Like, we do business planning in December, and then they feel badly when life changes, business changes, new opportunities come, or things just don't feel right.

And they feel like, yeah, but I set these goals and I set this vision in December.

And I feel like I'm, you know, I feel like I'm all over the place.

And I feel like if I don't stick with it, then I'm failing.

And that's so not the case.

That is so not the case.

All right?

This is growth.

This is evolution.

You should be continually looking at those things and seeing, like, is this still relevant to.

I still feel strongly about this.

Is this still important to me?

Right.

And so that is what I want you to do.

Like, if you are feeling.

Again, no matter when you are listening to this episode, if you are feeling at all like things are moving faster than you can possibly imagine.

I have a client right now who's got a million opportunities coming her way, and she's got a little bit of, like, an imposter syndrome happening just because she's gaining popularity quickly inside of a specific niche that she didn't necessarily think was going to happen.

And so she's kind of, like, feeling anxious about it.

It's moving fast.

She's like, I just don't know what to do.

Right.

Okay.

And then there's other clients who are feeling like things are moving a little bit slower.

I.

I don't know.

This program's not selling, or I'm just not feeling this, or I'm, you know, I just needed some time to kind of reconnect back to myself.

I had a really hard year, and I just needed a little bit of a break.

Right.

And so regardless, here's what I want you to do.

I want you to just go back and sit, schedule 10 minutes.

This is not something that needs to take a long time.

Okay.

This is not like you need to spend, you know, another, you know, week or a whole day even.

Okay.

I really would encourage you to just even.

30 minutes.

30 minutes.

Go on a walk or just lock yourself in the bedroom.

Lock yourself in the bathroom if you have to.

Right.

Like, go find a quiet place.

I mean, trust me, I get that.

Like, sometimes it's really hard to have that just quiet space.

So, like, whatever that.

Wherever that space is for you.

For me, it's usually the hot tub.

Like, especially right now in the summer because it's like 100 degrees out and I still go in the hot tub.

My husband's like, you're absolutely crazy.

So it's.

It's like my own space.

It's quiet, and it's where I do my best thinking.

So find wherever that space is for you that you can do your best thinking, whether that's just to go on a drive.

Like, if you're going to the grocery store and you take the long way home, you know, know whatever it is, but give yourself a little bit of time, and I want you to just reconnect with your vision.

If you've done any business planning or you've gone through the Focus Visionary or you have gone through the reset of any sort, and you have my worksheets or you've gone.

Even in past, past years, if you have any of my worksheets, some of the questions are on there.

You know, how do you want your year ahead to feel?

For a lot of people, we put words in there or we put feelings in there.

We put emotions in there around, you know, we wanted to feel fun or we wanted to feel uncomfortable.

Last year, my word was uncomfortable because I just wanted to be in a space of, like, I knew I needed to get uncomfortable.

Right.

I think this year it was like, I just wanted to feel joyful.

I wanted to feel purposeful.

Think about that and go back and say, like, how did I want the year ahead to feel?

And does it feel that way?

Right.

And if it doesn't, what do I need to do to get it to feel that way?

Right.

So did you start.

Did you go off on a.

A little bit of a tangent somewhere?

Like, you got into a rabbit hole, a new opportunity came your way, and things got chaotic, and now life doesn't feel calm.

Right.

Did your work.

Was your word calm?

And now life is anything but calm.

Like, is there something you can do to bring a little bit of calmness back into your life?

So think about that.

Like, how.

How did you want the year ahead to feel?

That's one of the things I really encourage everybody to do, actually, you know, back to the planning session, if I'm going back to it, we did a co working in there, and usually during the co working time in our planning sessions, I have them really working on their next 60 days.

But for the most part, this.

In June, most Of the attendees, the members in the I had them just really reconnecting to their vision.

I had all of them.

I was like, I need you all to go back, myself included, pull your vision sheets and spend a little bit of time doing that.

So it was only like 20 minutes.

That's what I'm saying.

It's not a long time.

And I want you to reconnect with that before you set your intentions for the next 60 days.

Hey, really quick.

I wanted to start sharing with everybody my favorite tech stack and my favorite tools that are helping me to run my business more efficiently and faster and just better.

I think having an overwhelming tech stack is one of the of the biggest challenges is a business owner.

And today I'm sharing with you my favorite CRM, which is called Moxie or Moxie for freelancers.

I found this through an app Sumo deal.

It was an incredible opportunity.

If you have tried Dubsado and honeybook and 17 hats and oh my gosh, hello Bonsai.

I think I've tried all of them.

I started with hello Bonsai.

Moxie is by far my favorite, easiest, all in one.

It really does everything.

Invoicing, contracts, emails, they're constantly adding new services, new additions.

The owner, Jeff, is 90 of the time.

The person you're talking to when you get on chat with tech support.

They are so incredibly helpful on tech support, which I think makes me love a product even more when the owners are so actively involved in changes and updates and they're listening to the users of how they are struggling and using it.

So anyways, the link is in the show notes.

Definitely check it out.

You get a free trial, it includes your pipeline, it includes your invoicing.

You can track all your sales, you can track your prospects.

You never, you don't, never going to lose a lead again.

You can do your calendar, everything.

It's all inclusive.

It.

If you want to sneak behind the scenes, I'm happy to share with you how I utilize it in my business, but I really encourage you to check it out.

I think it is one of the best and easiest, easiest, easiest CRMs out there for small business owners.

The other question here is like, what do you want to be known for?

This is something that I think comes up a lot.

This is, I talk a lot about this and it's called, you know, positioning.

What do you want to be known for?

Are you getting known as the expert?

As I was saying to you, that client that's I'm working with right now is she's gotten a lot of opportunity Inside of school districts.

And she's getting known in that.

And it is something she wants to be known for.

That's what she said to me.

This is what I want.

I do want to be known for.

I do want to be this company.

So this is really great, you know, so making sure, like, is this in alignment with what I want to be known for?

Here's the one thing that I think is really important to keep in mind is that that just because somebody presents you an opportunity, and I think this is what happens to some people is we get presented an opportunity and it sounds really exciting and we tend to like, get wrapped up into it.

And then we don't ever take into consideration our own feelings, right?

Because other people's excitement fires us up.

And so when other people bring opportunities to us or say, like, oh my God, you should do this or you should do this or you should do this, we tend to like, get really wrapped up in like the excitement of other people.

And then we think about, like, is this really what I want to be known for?

I released an episode on productivity and I talk a little bit about it.

I don't want to be known as a productivity coach, right?

I don't want to be known as a goal setting coach.

People that do a lot of goal setting.

I was working with a coach and she was like, well, what about goals and this?

And it's like, yeah, goals are just such a small piece of like the overarching strategic plan.

I just think too much pressures around goals.

And you, you all know how I feel about it, right?

And like, even last year when I did the coffee chats club, I love that.

I love being a power connector of people, but like, I don't want to be known as somebody that runs networking groups.

So really thinking about that, like, what do you want to be known for?

Are you known for that thing right now?

If not, what do you need to do to change it?

Do you need to change your positioning?

Do you need to change how you're presenting yourself?

Do you need to just.

It doesn't mean that you need to change all everything, right?

Like, if you feel like, oh, this is not really what I want to be known for right now.

I'm kind of in this shift right now.

I'll be honest, I've actually got another episode I'm going to record about that.

About just this shift in like, what you want to be known for in your positioning and different things.

So I don't want to dive into it a little bit too much.

But like, Even just the title and how you present yourself, you know, can you just change that up to something that feels more in alignment with you and what you want to be known for?

Or your company, if you have employees or something like that, right.

Reconnecting and just looking at, like, when people think of me, what do they think of?

This is the question that, you know, I usually ask.

Or you can even go out and ask some of your audience, right?

Like, when you think of me, what do you think of?

Or, like, if you were going to refer me, who would you refer me to?

If somebody came, you know, if you felt like, man, this person needs Michelle, what would that person be struggling with?

This is a great way to see and kind of test, like, what are you known for out in the wild a bit, you know, beyond what you think you're known for.

Because remember, this is where I always talk about data, which this is another episode coming to about data is more than just numbers, is that this is like, it takes the emotion out of it, right?

Data.

This is the one reason why I'm so, so big on data and facts and information and going out and looking at facts because it removes emotion.

So, like, when we say, well, I feel like this is what everybody knows me for, or I feel like these are the referrals I get, and they're not the right referrals or something like that, right?

There's some emotion there behind it.

You can't help it.

You can't help but put emotion in there.

And so when you ask other people, it's just strictly facts.

It's what they are telling you.

So when somebody says, like, if you go to somebody and say, when you think of me, who would you refer to me?

Like, what would somebody be struggling with that you would think, oh, my gosh, you named Michelle, right?

Or whatever.

You know, when you ask that question, you're getting the information.

It may or may not be what you want to hear, but it is the information, and it's without emotion behind it.

Okay?

So if you are struggling a little bit with that or you feel like, man, I keep getting the wrong referrals, or I'm just not drawing in the right people, maybe it's just that you've not presented yourself or positioned yourself as the expert that you want to be known for, and that could be a small tweak, right?

That could be something very, very small that you have to change.

So, again, this is why this work is so important.

And then a couple other things that I would really encourage is like, what Are your key success factors?

Again, keeping in mind, your key factors are not always monetary, they're not always revenue driven, they're not always client driven.

Key success factors might be time, might be freedom, might be space, might be learning.

It might be getting new credit, like new certifications.

It might be whatever that is.

But, like, looking back on your key success factors, what did you deem or decide in at whenever you did any type of biz planning that were your key success factors?

And are you still.

Are they still in alignment?

Right?

Like, are these things still really my key success factors for this year?

I would say mine are definitely different.

One of my key success factors is working on rolling out my program a little bit differently.

That is not something I intend, like, I had really thought about in the beginning of the year.

So this is what I'm saying.

Like, you can't possibly think of all of these things one time.

This is why I freaking hate and like, people that say, like, oh, just set your business goals for the year and annual goals, like, it's such horseshit.

Like, that is so.

It doesn't even make sense.

Like, it's, yes, you can have targets, yes, you can have goals.

I'm not saying that I run a biz planning program every single year.

It's happening this year still the first week of December and in person.

By the way, the early bird tickets for the Focus Visionary retreat are going to be opening on the 15th of July.

So depending on when you're listening, if you want to come to Florida in December and biz plan with us in in person and Mastermind and network and hug people in real life, please, please, please check out the link in the show notes for that.

But my point is, is that just because you do it once doesn't mean you get to not, like, reconnect with it.

You don't.

It's.

It's not just there and you, like, do it and you put it aside and you never look at it again.

Okay?

You have to keep looking at it.

You have to keep reevaluating it and making sure I'm still in alignment.

So are your key success factors what you, you know, do they need change?

The other one that I think is really, really important that I encourage you to look at.

I've said that a lot today, you know, and the reason I just, you know, this episode's a little bit all over just because I feel like it was something.

It was on my heart.

And the reason I keep saying I really encourage you is because I am at this place where I am so sick of people saying, you should, you should, you need, you need, you should, you need.

No, like, this is up to you.

You're an adult, you are a business owner.

You are the CEO of your business, okay?

There are best practices, there are things I can advise you on, there are things that I can encourage you to do, but I am not here to tell you how to run your life, right?

Like, you get to be an adult and quite honestly, that's your job, right?

Like, be an adult, be a business owner, right?

You can get guidance, but it's up to you to do the work.

And so that's why I keep saying, like, I encourage you to look at these things.

It may or may not be relevant to everybody.

And I just think there's so many coaches and consultants and advisors and mentors and everything out there that are giving all this, like, you need to do this, you should be doing this, you need to be doing this, you need to do this.

Well, if this doesn't, if this doesn't work for you, then you don't need to do any of it, right?

Like, we don't need to do this.

Like, I'm encouraging you to.

I think it's helpful.

But if it, if you're listening or if you know somebody, you're like this, absolutely, I would never do that.

Then don't do it.

Right?

So anyway, that was a little side note.

But one of the things is to really look at non negotiables.

That's one of the questions I ask in the vision planning is what are my non negotiables for the year, right?

So non negotiables might be like saying no to opportunities that aren't a good fit.

It might be working with the wrong clients, right?

Like trusting your gut, leaning into those instincts.

Like, you know by now you see red flags.

Like, are you going to trust the red flags or are you going to take the client because maybe you need the money, right?

Like, what are some non negotiables?

Was it that you were going to put your phone away after 8 o'clock?

How are you doing with that?

Do you need to try to be better about that?

This is something that's one of the ones that I'm, I'm really, really trying hard to.

It's like at 8 o'clock, phone goes on the charger, on silent, you know, and that's just the end of it till 8 the next morning.

I'm really trying hard with that.

And it does make a big difference.

It really does.

It makes a Huge difference in my sleep.

So if you're struggling with sleep, I really encourage you to maybe try it.

But again, it may or may not work for you.

So those are just some things is just spending the time.

The whole point of this entire episode, 17 minutes later, is to say, you know, reconnect back to yourself, your vision, why you're doing this, what you want to be known for, how you want to be known for it, how you want to present your offers, how you want to run your business.

If you haven't listened to the episode on owning your inner CEO and becoming the CEO your business needs, then please go back and listen to that one, because I want all of you to understand that you get to make these decisions.

You are the CEO in your business, and you get to make these decisions.

And if your entire plan that you set up in January or whenever you did your biz planning is absolute, like, nothing is in alignment anymore, then you get to say, none of this makes sense.

None of this is in alignment.

I'm starting over.

And you get to set all new goals, right?

You can start over.

You can set all new intentions, all new focus.

You get to do whatever the hell you want in your business.

If you need need help, you go, you get help.

If you need some guidance, you ask for guidance.

If you need some opinion, you know, if you'd like some feedback, go ask for some feedback, right?

If you need help trying to navigate this, then please, by all means, I still have my no commitment summer offers.

Please, let's do it.

Let's figure this out.

But this is, again, growth and evolution.

You have to understand that these things happen in your business.

Things change, and it is okay, and it is 100 normal.

Do not think you're like, oh, my God, I must be failing.

Everybody else sets their goals, and, you know, they just.

They rock them, and they just make it happen.

No, things change.

Things change.

Like I just told you, I think 80%, 85% of the members that showed up to the planning session at the end of June all said, no, these things are not in alignment anymore.

Right?

So use that again as facts.

Facts, not emotion.

That things change.

And you're not alone.

Okay?

This is what I love about masterminds, too, is like, to see, like, a whole group of people all saying the same thing.

It's, like, so refreshing because most of us feel like we're out here on an island.

Like, what the hell, man?

I changed my mind again.

No, no, you're not the only one.

No opportunities have come your way, right?

Like, things.

It's just part of the growth and evolution.

Okay, so go take a long drive, go lock yourself in a bathroom, hide in your closet, go jump in your hot tub even though it's 120 degrees out, and just reconnect with these questions.

Listen to this and just think about it.

You don't even have to do anything.

That's the thing.

Like, I don't even want you to do anything.

You don't have to write anything down.

If you want to journal about it, you can, if you need to verbally process it, send yourself a voice note.

But, like, the whole point of this is to just sit with yourself and think and listen.

There's your key word.

Listen to yourself.

Whatever that part of you, whether it's your heart, your gut, your mind, your emotions, whatever that is, just listen.

That's all.

Okay?

All right, I'll talk to you guys soon.

If you need help, you know how to find me.

Thanks so much for listening today, but remember, now it's time to take action.

My goal is to get you results.

So what is one action you can commit to taking this week?

Feel free to share it with me in my DMs or tag me on your socials.

Not sure what action to take?

Grab the link in the show notes and schedule a strategic power hour.

We can talk through it together and get you a strategic plan of action in just 60 short minutes.

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As with every podcast, reviews and ratings are what help us continue to show up and grow.

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Thanks.

Talk soon.