September 10, 2025 • 22 mins
Have you ever created a beautiful vision board or business plan that ended up collecting dust? You're not alone. Most entrepreneurs struggle with bridging the gap between inspiring visions and daily actions that move the needle.
The three-year vision emerges as the perfect sweet spot for effective business planning. It's far enough away to think beyond current limitations but close enough to create concrete plans. Unlike paralyzing 10-year forecasts or restrictive 1-year timelines, three years gives you breathing room while maintaining urgency and relevance. The entrepreneurs who successfully reach their three-year goals aren't necessarily more talented—they're simply clearer about what they want and committed to consistent aligned action.
When crafting your vision, resist focusing exclusively on revenue targets. Instead, visualize your typical day when you've reached your desired level of success: What time do you start working? What kind of work fills your day? Who are you working with? This experiential approach often reveals surprising insights—you might discover the business you thought you wanted would actually make you miserable to run. By establishing clear non-negotiables and connecting with your true motivation (not the Instagram-worthy version, but your honest driving force), you create guardrails that prevent opportunities and pressures from pulling you off track.
The real power comes when you translate your vision into operational reality. If your target is $500,000 annually, that's roughly $10,000 weekly. Based on your pricing, how many clients does that represent? If you convert 20% of qualified leads, how many conversations do you need? Working backward creates a mathematical framework that connects your aspirational vision to daily activities. Break your three-year plan into year one milestones, then further into 90-day catalysts—specific, measurable goals that build momentum and confirm you're heading in the right direction.
Ready to stop planning like everyone else and start building the business you actually want to run? Take this framework and create your day in the best way possible!
Thanks for listening!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Hey everyone, welcome to the Create your Day podcast.
I'm your host, jen Cody, and itis great to have you here.
Hope you're having a good day.
It is September, so hope yoursummer was good and hope that
you are, I don't know, enjoyingIf you're in a place where the
weather changes.
Here in New York, the weatherhas certainly started to get a
(00:40):
little bit brisker and mywindows are open, and that
always makes me happy, so I hope, wherever you are, you're also
enjoying the change in season,although I have to say I don't
really love the fact that it'sdark out until so late in the
morning.
So I will be looking forward tothe spring when the sun is out
(01:00):
longer and we could get back tothat kind of thing.
So out longer and we could getback to that kind of thing.
So, okay, so for today's episode, I want to talk about vision
and goals and what actually candrive our decisions, so that our
decisions bring us closer tothe goals that we've set, and
those goals are not just likecollecting dust in a folder
(01:23):
somewhere or in the note app onyour phone or you know.
We want to actually be puttingthings into action, and a lot of
times in business especially,people may talk about your
five-year plan, your 10-yearplan, and sometimes that can be
a little bit paralyzing.
We hear it and we freeze andwe're like, oh, I don't know,
(01:44):
we'll just rattle off some kindof vague things that might sound
impressive but really aren'tbased in anything substantial.
Or maybe it's the opposite.
Maybe you've spent hours likereally perfecting those goals
and it feels motivating when youfirst do it and then you really
don't look at it again, kind of.
(02:04):
You know, this happens a lotwith vision boards.
I work with people and theycreate these vision boards that
are so motivating.
Like the act of creating thevision board is motivating in
itself, but then if you don'tlook at it after that, that
doesn't do anything for you.
So today we want to talk about afew different things.
We're going to talk first aboutthat three-year plan.
(02:27):
The three-year is like thesweet spot.
And why is it three yearsspecifically?
How do we make our visionsconcrete enough that they're
guiding our very real decisionsevery single day?
And, most importantly, asalways, I really want to find a
way to help you bridge the gapbetween your dreams, what you're
working on and what you'reactually doing.
(02:50):
So let's start with thethree-year number, like, why
three years, why not five, whynot one, why not 18 months, why
not 10 years?
Well, three years is kind of asweet spot, and it's far enough
away that it allows you to thinkbig, and it's close enough that
you can actually create thepicture that you're trying to
(03:10):
create.
So what I mean by that is, youknow, three years you can get
those really big visions out ofyour head and you don't feel
trapped by your currentsituation, right, because you
have three years to get there.
It gives you enough time towork on whatever it is that you
are trying to create in yourlife, without feeling like
(03:33):
whatever obstacles are in frontof you today are insurmountable,
whereas one year might feellike a little too close.
Right, maybe there's thingsgoing on in your life that you
know won't be able to beresolved within the next 12
months, and then, when you thinkabout five years, it almost
feels too big.
Anything can happen between nowand then.
So how do I know what I'll bedealing with, what obstacles are
(03:54):
going to become coming up,especially in 10 years?
We can't predict what's goingto happen in 10 years, but we
absolutely can create a plan forthree years from right now.
And listen, the people whoachieve the three-year visions
doesn't mean they're smarter,doesn't mean they're more
talented.
They just take the time toreally get clear on what they
(04:17):
want and then they staycommitted to the work to bring
them closer to that every singleday.
So I'm going to walk youthrough how to create a vision
that really works.
So what we want to talk aboutfirst, it's not numbers, it's
experience and in business.
There's a lot of people outthere that focus totally on
revenue targets right, totallyon clients and productivity and
(04:40):
all of the things around thenumbers in your business.
And when we only do that, we'reignoring what does it feel like
to run that business?
And, honestly, that is where alot of divisions actually fail.
They sound great on paper, butwhen you really think about the
day-to-day reality, you start torealize that you've maybe
(05:01):
designed something that youdon't enjoy running, that it's
not actually what you want to bedoing.
So what I want you to do is,instead of saying like, let's
say, there's a revenue goal thatyou have in your brain and it
could be anything, you know,there's people who are just
starting out that are looking tomake their first one $2,000 in
their business.
(05:21):
And then there's people who arelike I'm ready to hit $25,000,
$50,000, $100,000 months withwhat I'm doing.
So instead of saying that,instead of focusing on the
number, let's get specific aboutwhat your typical day looks
like when you are actuallygenerating those numbers.
And here's the difference.
(05:42):
We spend a lot of time thinkingabout how to structure our day
right now to get where we'regoing, and that's not wrong.
We need to be able to do that.
We want a time block.
We want to do all the thingsthat make it possible for us to
get where we're going, but whatI want you to do for this
exercise is think about whatthat day looks like when you've
gotten there, when you arealready generating the revenue
(06:04):
that you want to be making.
What does that day look like?
What time are you startingworking in the morning?
What kind of work are youactually doing and who are you
doing it with?
What are some of the problemsthat you're encountering?
What makes you excited and whatare the things that you might
be doing now that you canactually envision yourself not
(06:24):
having to do anymore once youreach that point and the reason
you want to do this is becausethere is a chance that the
business that you're thinkingabout right now in reality you
might not be that excited aboutit.
And I'm going to use an examplefor you.
One of my clients had not openedher business yet.
She was looking to open abusiness, a restaurant, and she
(06:48):
was looking at how big it wasgoing to be.
And when she first startedplanning and this is like early
stages, right Early days she andI are getting together weekly
having our sessions,brainstorming what does the
business look like, where is itgoing to be located?
All from the very, verybeginning inception of the dream
.
And in the very beginning, whatshe was telling me was I want,
(07:12):
you know, big, big, big dreams,a restaurant that seats hundreds
of people, that's turning overtables, you know, maybe even
heading towards, I want Michelinstar chefs coming in, like she
wanted the full dream.
And then, as we started goingthrough it more and more and
more and she started to realizeand picture what her days would
(07:34):
be like managing that level ofcomplexity, the team
requirements, the systemrequirements she realized you
know what?
Maybe there's a differentbalance for me.
Maybe I scale back, I couldstill have the quality right,
because a lot of times whenwe're starting to build
businesses, we think the sizeand the revenue of the business
(07:58):
somehow is attached to thequality and value that we're
bringing, and that is really notthe case.
So she started realizing wait aminute, maybe I can have this
nice little boutique, smallrestaurant, few tables the
quality is still going to be Aplus.
And that clarity changedliterally everything about her
(08:20):
strategy.
Nothing that we had starteddoing was going to apply anymore
.
So this kind of work is reallyimportant and this is why that
three-year number you want tofocus on it, because what you're
doing today, you know, when wespeak about like time frame of
the actions that we do, what wedo today, we're going to start
(08:41):
to see the results of thoseactions in about 90 days.
But all of those things shouldbe working towards.
Where do you see yourself threeyears from now when you started
making the money that you wantto make?
The business is running the waythat you want it to be run.
What does that person look like?
What is that business owner?
What's your energy like?
(09:01):
What is your day looking like?
So after you do that, I want totalk about your non-negotiables
, and what I mean bynon-negotiables are kind of like
guardrails.
What are the things that whenyou are presented with
opportunities because you aregoing to be presented with
opportunities, whether it'sdirectly or indirectly when you
think opportunities, I want youto think about the shiny
(09:23):
Facebook ads that come through,the invitations from people to
go do things that are maybenetworking events, maybe, you
know, casual, friendly, personalthings for your calendar.
There are going to beopportunities everywhere, every
day, that you have to say yes orno to.
What about the pressures thatare coming up, right?
(09:45):
The pressures to make yourfirst payroll, the pressures to
pay your first tax bill?
There's a lot of pressurearound building a business,
right?
So the guardrails that you'regoing to put in place, they're
to help you keep those thingsfrom pulling you off the course
that you're on.
So think about this as, when yougo back to the day that you're
(10:08):
creating, right, if you'redeciding that you are never
going to work more than 40 hoursa week or you're never going to
take on a client that doesn'treally align with your vision,
well then we need to haveguardrails in place to make sure
that that happens, because it'seasy to kind of fall into it
like, oh, just this one timeI'll do extra hours, or just
(10:31):
this one time I'll do my cousina favor and take on their friend
as a client.
But you want to really payattention to what are the
boundaries that you have in yourlife, in your business.
These should be, and need to be, your non-negotiables.
Write them down, make themspecific.
When you're building towardsyour vision, you are always
(10:53):
going to face moments where itfeels much easier to compromise
on these standards than to stickwith them.
So your non-negotiables they'rewhat separates you from
building what you love andbuilding what you're really
working on and buildingsomething that is running your
life, that's dictating yourevery move.
Those are two very differentrealities.
So figure out what thosenon-negotiables are your
(11:15):
guardrails, your boundaries andwrite them down Again.
Make them super, super specific.
And then I want you to thinkabout your motivation.
I mean your real motivation,not like the picture you want to
put on Instagram, but what isyour motivation behind what you
are building?
Is it financial security foryour family?
(11:36):
Is it that you want to prove toyourself that you can do
something that you have alwayswanted to do?
Are you looking for freedom andworking on your own terms,
being your own boss?
Maybe it's literally about theproblem that you solve.
Maybe it's a problem thatyou've experienced in your own
life and now you're superpassionate about being able to
(11:57):
help other people.
So I want you to write down yourfirst instinct.
Think about what's your coremotivation.
Write it down.
Don't edit it.
Don't try to make it sound moreinspirational than it is.
Just write what is true.
Your truth is what is going tosustain you when things get hard
.
This is something that everysingle put it on a post-it.
Put it on your mirror at home,somewhere inside your wallet.
(12:19):
Let your truth just be yourtruth, instinctually.
What is your core motivation inwhat you are doing?
And remember, this is not aboutInstagram.
It does not have to beinspirational.
It can be super basic, like Iwant to be able to feed my
family and enjoy my day.
(12:40):
That's it, okay.
So now let's talk about thereality, and the reality is this
is where we're going to getsuper concrete, because I'm
talking about operationalreality Based on your vision.
What does your businessactually need to look like when
it comes to operations?
Think about how many clientsyou need to be serving.
(13:03):
How many team members do youthink you're going to need?
What are they doing?
How many team members do youthink you're going to need?
What are they doing, those teammembers?
What are the systems that haveto be put in place so that those
team members actually havesomething to do that makes sense
and they're not just walkingaround next to you waiting for
direction, you know, as the windblows?
Think about, go deep.
What's your profit margin?
(13:24):
What do you want at the end ofthe year?
How much money do you want yourbusiness to be making?
I don't mean that top linerevenue, I mean profit.
When everything is said anddone and paid, what's the profit
that you're walking away with?
So we can do this with somereal numbers.
Right, let's take 500,000.
We can do this with some realnumbers.
Right, let's take 500,000.
(13:45):
So if you're going to hit500,000 a year, that's about
40,000, between 40 and 45,000 amonth.
So let's say 10,000 a week.
I probably could have done thatmath easier.
52 weeks in a year, yeah, so10,000 a week.
So when you think about whatyou do, how much of it do you
(14:06):
need to do to make those numbersa reality?
If you're selling $5,000programs, well then you need two
clients a week.
If you're selling $2,000services, you need five clients
a week.
You know, if it's $100,000 ayear, all of that goes less.
If it's a million dollars ayear, you're going to double it.
So think about what youactually do.
(14:32):
No matter what business you'rein, you can do this exercise.
Everybody that owns a business,that business makes money
somehow.
So think about what yourbusiness does to make money.
How much of it needs to be doneto make the money you want to
make?
How much of it needs to be doneto make the money you want to
make?
Now, what do you have to doconsistently to make sure that
happens?
This is the operations, right?
(14:58):
Because if I need three clientsa month to make the numbers
that I want, or three clients aweek, then what am I doing all
the time, every day, to attractthat many people into my
business?
And it's not just those threepeople, right?
Because I can't just say, oh, Ican speak to three people this
week and that's going to mean Ihave three new clients.
That would be great if that'show life worked and business
worked, but it absolutely doesnot.
(15:18):
So if we're going to look at aconversion rate of maybe 20% of
your qualified leads, it'squalified, right People that
actually want what you do, whatyou are offering.
If I offer services to new moms, I can't go to an all men gym
and speak to anybody there andthink that they're a qualified
(15:40):
lead.
I need to go where my qualifiedpotential clients are.
So let's go back to thatconversion number.
If I want to convert 20% of myqualified leads, I'm going to
need 10, 20 conversations a week, right.
And if 20% of my total leadsqualify of my total leads
(16:08):
qualify, then I need 50 to 100total leads per week.
So we want to really beintentional about what we're
doing.
If 20% of the people who seeyour content become leads, well,
then you need 2, 3, 4, 5, 600people engaging with your
content weekly.
People engaging with yourcontent weekly.
This is math, right.
We're not recreating the wheelhere.
We are looking at what actuallydo I need to do to attract
(16:36):
people into my business.
So I hope you see how thisworks.
Your vision has to connect toreal operational requirements.
Otherwise it's just kind ofwishful thinking and good luck,
because we can't just go outthere every day and be like I'm
going to build a business andI'm going to make the money that
I want to make and not havethat tied to real things that we
need to do.
So think about the problem thatyou're solving in the world.
(16:58):
Not your elevator pitch, butthe real, honest answer as to
why your business matters to youand why it matters to the
people that you serve.
Think of it like an impactstatement.
It doesn't have to be.
You're not curing cancer,you're not solving world's
hunger.
It just has to matter to youand to the people you serve.
(17:22):
The reason I want you to do thisis because the people, the
business owners, who actuallyachieve their goals.
They're not the ones with thebiggest dreams, they're the ones
with the clearest vision andsystems for turning those dreams
into action.
And this is how we do it.
We have to connect to whatwe're doing.
(17:43):
Do you even know what you'redoing?
That's a whole other exerciseto do right.
Are you just out there saying Iwant to make a difference and
you're not really sure howyou're making a difference?
Then you need to do some workright, because we need clarity
around what we're actually doing.
Because how can we get to thatfinal step of bridging the gap
(18:07):
between our vision and ourreality if we don't have clarity
around the reality.
So now we have this compellingthree-year picture.
We know we have three years toget there.
That feels comfortable.
We know we can do it in threeyears.
We know that the obstacles infront of us today will be
manageable and we can move themout of our way as we go through
(18:29):
this three-year process.
So you have the compellingpicture, but how do you actually
get there?
And I don't want you to getstuck here, because having the
vision and not implementing itis a big problem.
So let's start with year one.
What needs to be accomplishedjust in this first 12 months in
order for year three to even bepossible?
So this is where we're going tobreak it down into smaller
(18:52):
chunks, right.
So we first break it down intoyear one.
Where do you think you need tobe 12 months from now in order
for that big three-year visionto be possible for you?
And then break it down evensmaller to a 90-day catalyst.
What can you achieve in thenext quarter starting today?
That's going to build themomentum you need to finish year
(19:15):
one, where you need to finishit.
So this 90-day goal needs to bereally specific, really
measurable, right?
Make it a smart goal, and ithas to be significant enough
that achieving it proves you'reon the right track.
So it's not where.
Oh, I'm going to startmarketing more, because you
can't measure that.
More just means more.
But you want to be veryspecific.
(19:38):
What are you marketing more?
Are you launching a new service?
Are you signing five newclients?
So that's much more measurable,much more specific than just
I'm going to get more clients.
I'm going to start marketingmore.
Don't say I'm going to get moreorganized.
Put it into really specific andmeasurable goal format.
(20:00):
So maybe it's.
I want to implement a newonboarding system.
I want to reduce myadministrative time by 10 hours
a week.
Maybe that means hiring someone, right, or maybe it means
cutting out the clutter and thebusy work that you're spending
time doing because you're toospinning and not actually
putting things into action.
(20:21):
So listen, if you have a visionwithout a system, I get it.
Everybody starts with a visionand no system, so there's
nothing wrong.
It's just like having adestination but you don't have a
GPS, right.
You know you're going to getsomewhere eventually, but maybe
it's not where you really wantto go.
So we have to do this work tomake sure that we're headed in
(20:42):
the right direction, because Ican tell you this, a lot of
business owners they don't failbecause they can't create the
vision.
We're creatives, right, we'revisionaries by definition, but
if we can't implement thatvision consistently while doing
whatever we're doing currentlybecause, guess what, not
everybody has the luxury of justsitting back and saying I'm
(21:04):
going to start a business and itcan take me three years to get
where I want to go and I'm justgoing to live off the land until
then, Most likely you're doingsomething else.
So division work is only 20%.
The other 80% is having thesystems, because how can you
build a business?
I built my business, which,thankfully, has organically
(21:29):
grown into a beautiful,fulfilling and successful
business, but I did it withblood, sweat and tears,
alongside working to pay mybills right, because this didn't
always pay my bills.
So we have to come up withthose systems that are going to
(21:50):
work with whatever our currentreality looks like.
We have to hold ourselvesaccountable and have the
frameworks in place to actuallyexecute all of this.
I want your three-year vision tofeel exciting, I want it to be
motivating and I want it to feelsolid, like it's enough of a
foundation that it's going toguide your decisions starting
tomorrow.
If it does these things, you'realready ahead of 90% of the
(22:13):
people out there, socongratulations.
Next week, we're going to talkabout something totally
different.
We're going to talk about howto identify the bottlenecks that
are going to get in your way asyou do this.
But for now, just stop planninglike everyone else.
Start building the businessthat you actually want to be
running and that feels good toyou.
So hope this was valuable foryou.
(22:34):
Take this information, go outthere and create your day in the
best way possible, and I willsee you next week.
Until then, take care ofyourselves, take care of each
other and have a great one.
Hey everyone, welcome to the Create your Day podcast.
I'm your host, jen Cody, and itis great to have you here.
Hope you're having a good day.
It is September, so hope yoursummer was good and hope that
you are, I don't know, enjoyingIf you're in a place where the
weather changes.
Here in New York, the weatherhas certainly started to get a
(00:40):
little bit brisker and mywindows are open, and that
always makes me happy, so I hope, wherever you are, you're also
enjoying the change in season,although I have to say I don't
really love the fact that it'sdark out until so late in the
morning.
So I will be looking forward tothe spring when the sun is out
(01:00):
longer and we could get back tothat kind of thing.
So out longer and we could getback to that kind of thing.
So, okay, so for today's episode, I want to talk about vision
and goals and what actually candrive our decisions, so that our
decisions bring us closer tothe goals that we've set, and
those goals are not just likecollecting dust in a folder
(01:23):
somewhere or in the note app onyour phone or you know.
We want to actually be puttingthings into action, and a lot of
times in business especially,people may talk about your
five-year plan, your 10-yearplan, and sometimes that can be
a little bit paralyzing.
We hear it and we freeze andwe're like, oh, I don't know,
(01:44):
we'll just rattle off some kindof vague things that might sound
impressive but really aren'tbased in anything substantial.
Or maybe it's the opposite.
Maybe you've spent hours likereally perfecting those goals
and it feels motivating when youfirst do it and then you really
don't look at it again, kind of.
(02:04):
You know, this happens a lotwith vision boards.
I work with people and theycreate these vision boards that
are so motivating.
Like the act of creating thevision board is motivating in
itself, but then if you don'tlook at it after that, that
doesn't do anything for you.
So today we want to talk about afew different things.
We're going to talk first aboutthat three-year plan.
(02:27):
The three-year is like thesweet spot.
And why is it three yearsspecifically?
How do we make our visionsconcrete enough that they're
guiding our very real decisionsevery single day?
And, most importantly, asalways, I really want to find a
way to help you bridge the gapbetween your dreams, what you're
working on and what you'reactually doing.
(02:50):
So let's start with thethree-year number, like, why
three years, why not five, whynot one, why not 18 months, why
not 10 years?
Well, three years is kind of asweet spot, and it's far enough
away that it allows you to thinkbig, and it's close enough that
you can actually create thepicture that you're trying to
(03:10):
create.
So what I mean by that is, youknow, three years you can get
those really big visions out ofyour head and you don't feel
trapped by your currentsituation, right, because you
have three years to get there.
It gives you enough time towork on whatever it is that you
are trying to create in yourlife, without feeling like
(03:33):
whatever obstacles are in frontof you today are insurmountable,
whereas one year might feellike a little too close.
Right, maybe there's thingsgoing on in your life that you
know won't be able to beresolved within the next 12
months, and then, when you thinkabout five years, it almost
feels too big.
Anything can happen between nowand then.
So how do I know what I'll bedealing with, what obstacles are
(03:54):
going to become coming up,especially in 10 years?
We can't predict what's goingto happen in 10 years, but we
absolutely can create a plan forthree years from right now.
And listen, the people whoachieve the three-year visions
doesn't mean they're smarter,doesn't mean they're more
talented.
They just take the time toreally get clear on what they
(04:17):
want and then they staycommitted to the work to bring
them closer to that every singleday.
So I'm going to walk youthrough how to create a vision
that really works.
So what we want to talk aboutfirst, it's not numbers, it's
experience and in business.
There's a lot of people outthere that focus totally on
revenue targets right, totallyon clients and productivity and
(04:40):
all of the things around thenumbers in your business.
And when we only do that, we'reignoring what does it feel like
to run that business?
And, honestly, that is where alot of divisions actually fail.
They sound great on paper, butwhen you really think about the
day-to-day reality, you start torealize that you've maybe
(05:01):
designed something that youdon't enjoy running, that it's
not actually what you want to bedoing.
So what I want you to do is,instead of saying like, let's
say, there's a revenue goal thatyou have in your brain and it
could be anything, you know,there's people who are just
starting out that are looking tomake their first one $2,000 in
their business.
(05:21):
And then there's people who arelike I'm ready to hit $25,000,
$50,000, $100,000 months withwhat I'm doing.
So instead of saying that,instead of focusing on the
number, let's get specific aboutwhat your typical day looks
like when you are actuallygenerating those numbers.
And here's the difference.
(05:42):
We spend a lot of time thinkingabout how to structure our day
right now to get where we'regoing, and that's not wrong.
We need to be able to do that.
We want a time block.
We want to do all the thingsthat make it possible for us to
get where we're going, but whatI want you to do for this
exercise is think about whatthat day looks like when you've
gotten there, when you arealready generating the revenue
(06:04):
that you want to be making.
What does that day look like?
What time are you startingworking in the morning?
What kind of work are youactually doing and who are you
doing it with?
What are some of the problemsthat you're encountering?
What makes you excited and whatare the things that you might
be doing now that you canactually envision yourself not
(06:24):
having to do anymore once youreach that point and the reason
you want to do this is becausethere is a chance that the
business that you're thinkingabout right now in reality you
might not be that excited aboutit.
And I'm going to use an examplefor you.
One of my clients had not openedher business yet.
She was looking to open abusiness, a restaurant, and she
(06:48):
was looking at how big it wasgoing to be.
And when she first startedplanning and this is like early
stages, right Early days she andI are getting together weekly
having our sessions,brainstorming what does the
business look like, where is itgoing to be located?
All from the very, verybeginning inception of the dream
.
And in the very beginning, whatshe was telling me was I want,
(07:12):
you know, big, big, big dreams,a restaurant that seats hundreds
of people, that's turning overtables, you know, maybe even
heading towards, I want Michelinstar chefs coming in, like she
wanted the full dream.
And then, as we started goingthrough it more and more and
more and she started to realizeand picture what her days would
(07:34):
be like managing that level ofcomplexity, the team
requirements, the systemrequirements she realized you
know what?
Maybe there's a differentbalance for me.
Maybe I scale back, I couldstill have the quality right,
because a lot of times whenwe're starting to build
businesses, we think the sizeand the revenue of the business
(07:58):
somehow is attached to thequality and value that we're
bringing, and that is really notthe case.
So she started realizing wait aminute, maybe I can have this
nice little boutique, smallrestaurant, few tables the
quality is still going to be Aplus.
And that clarity changedliterally everything about her
(08:20):
strategy.
Nothing that we had starteddoing was going to apply anymore
.
So this kind of work is reallyimportant and this is why that
three-year number you want tofocus on it, because what you're
doing today, you know, when wespeak about like time frame of
the actions that we do, what wedo today, we're going to start
(08:41):
to see the results of thoseactions in about 90 days.
But all of those things shouldbe working towards.
Where do you see yourself threeyears from now when you started
making the money that you wantto make?
The business is running the waythat you want it to be run.
What does that person look like?
What is that business owner?
What's your energy like?
(09:01):
What is your day looking like?
So after you do that, I want totalk about your non-negotiables
, and what I mean bynon-negotiables are kind of like
guardrails.
What are the things that whenyou are presented with
opportunities because you aregoing to be presented with
opportunities, whether it'sdirectly or indirectly when you
think opportunities, I want youto think about the shiny
(09:23):
Facebook ads that come through,the invitations from people to
go do things that are maybenetworking events, maybe, you
know, casual, friendly, personalthings for your calendar.
There are going to beopportunities everywhere, every
day, that you have to say yes orno to.
What about the pressures thatare coming up, right?
(09:45):
The pressures to make yourfirst payroll, the pressures to
pay your first tax bill?
There's a lot of pressurearound building a business,
right?
So the guardrails that you'regoing to put in place, they're
to help you keep those thingsfrom pulling you off the course
that you're on.
So think about this as, when yougo back to the day that you're
(10:08):
creating, right, if you'redeciding that you are never
going to work more than 40 hoursa week or you're never going to
take on a client that doesn'treally align with your vision,
well then we need to haveguardrails in place to make sure
that that happens, because it'seasy to kind of fall into it
like, oh, just this one timeI'll do extra hours, or just
(10:31):
this one time I'll do my cousina favor and take on their friend
as a client.
But you want to really payattention to what are the
boundaries that you have in yourlife, in your business.
These should be, and need to be, your non-negotiables.
Write them down, make themspecific.
When you're building towardsyour vision, you are always
(10:53):
going to face moments where itfeels much easier to compromise
on these standards than to stickwith them.
So your non-negotiables they'rewhat separates you from
building what you love andbuilding what you're really
working on and buildingsomething that is running your
life, that's dictating yourevery move.
Those are two very differentrealities.
So figure out what thosenon-negotiables are your
(11:15):
guardrails, your boundaries andwrite them down Again.
Make them super, super specific.
And then I want you to thinkabout your motivation.
I mean your real motivation,not like the picture you want to
put on Instagram, but what isyour motivation behind what you
are building?
Is it financial security foryour family?
(11:36):
Is it that you want to prove toyourself that you can do
something that you have alwayswanted to do?
Are you looking for freedom andworking on your own terms,
being your own boss?
Maybe it's literally about theproblem that you solve.
Maybe it's a problem thatyou've experienced in your own
life and now you're superpassionate about being able to
(11:57):
help other people.
So I want you to write down yourfirst instinct.
Think about what's your coremotivation.
Write it down.
Don't edit it.
Don't try to make it sound moreinspirational than it is.
Just write what is true.
Your truth is what is going tosustain you when things get hard
.
This is something that everysingle put it on a post-it.
Put it on your mirror at home,somewhere inside your wallet.
(12:19):
Let your truth just be yourtruth, instinctually.
What is your core motivation inwhat you are doing?
And remember, this is not aboutInstagram.
It does not have to beinspirational.
It can be super basic, like Iwant to be able to feed my
family and enjoy my day.
(12:40):
That's it, okay.
So now let's talk about thereality, and the reality is this
is where we're going to getsuper concrete, because I'm
talking about operationalreality Based on your vision.
What does your businessactually need to look like when
it comes to operations?
Think about how many clientsyou need to be serving.
(13:03):
How many team members do youthink you're going to need?
What are they doing?
How many team members do youthink you're going to need?
What are they doing, those teammembers?
What are the systems that haveto be put in place so that those
team members actually havesomething to do that makes sense
and they're not just walkingaround next to you waiting for
direction, you know, as the windblows?
Think about, go deep.
What's your profit margin?
(13:24):
What do you want at the end ofthe year?
How much money do you want yourbusiness to be making?
I don't mean that top linerevenue, I mean profit.
When everything is said anddone and paid, what's the profit
that you're walking away with?
So we can do this with somereal numbers.
Right, let's take 500,000.
We can do this with some realnumbers.
Right, let's take 500,000.
(13:45):
So if you're going to hit500,000 a year, that's about
40,000, between 40 and 45,000 amonth.
So let's say 10,000 a week.
I probably could have done thatmath easier.
52 weeks in a year, yeah, so10,000 a week.
So when you think about whatyou do, how much of it do you
(14:06):
need to do to make those numbersa reality?
If you're selling $5,000programs, well then you need two
clients a week.
If you're selling $2,000services, you need five clients
a week.
You know, if it's $100,000 ayear, all of that goes less.
If it's a million dollars ayear, you're going to double it.
So think about what youactually do.
(14:32):
No matter what business you'rein, you can do this exercise.
Everybody that owns a business,that business makes money
somehow.
So think about what yourbusiness does to make money.
How much of it needs to be doneto make the money you want to
make?
How much of it needs to be doneto make the money you want to
make?
Now, what do you have to doconsistently to make sure that
happens?
This is the operations, right?
(14:58):
Because if I need three clientsa month to make the numbers
that I want, or three clients aweek, then what am I doing all
the time, every day, to attractthat many people into my
business?
And it's not just those threepeople, right?
Because I can't just say, oh, Ican speak to three people this
week and that's going to mean Ihave three new clients.
That would be great if that'show life worked and business
worked, but it absolutely doesnot.
(15:18):
So if we're going to look at aconversion rate of maybe 20% of
your qualified leads, it'squalified, right People that
actually want what you do, whatyou are offering.
If I offer services to new moms, I can't go to an all men gym
and speak to anybody there andthink that they're a qualified
(15:40):
lead.
I need to go where my qualifiedpotential clients are.
So let's go back to thatconversion number.
If I want to convert 20% of myqualified leads, I'm going to
need 10, 20 conversations a week, right.
And if 20% of my total leadsqualify of my total leads
(16:08):
qualify, then I need 50 to 100total leads per week.
So we want to really beintentional about what we're
doing.
If 20% of the people who seeyour content become leads, well,
then you need 2, 3, 4, 5, 600people engaging with your
content weekly.
People engaging with yourcontent weekly.
This is math, right.
We're not recreating the wheelhere.
We are looking at what actuallydo I need to do to attract
(16:36):
people into my business.
So I hope you see how thisworks.
Your vision has to connect toreal operational requirements.
Otherwise it's just kind ofwishful thinking and good luck,
because we can't just go outthere every day and be like I'm
going to build a business andI'm going to make the money that
I want to make and not havethat tied to real things that we
need to do.
So think about the problem thatyou're solving in the world.
(16:58):
Not your elevator pitch, butthe real, honest answer as to
why your business matters to youand why it matters to the
people that you serve.
Think of it like an impactstatement.
It doesn't have to be.
You're not curing cancer,you're not solving world's
hunger.
It just has to matter to youand to the people you serve.
(17:22):
The reason I want you to do thisis because the people, the
business owners, who actuallyachieve their goals.
They're not the ones with thebiggest dreams, they're the ones
with the clearest vision andsystems for turning those dreams
into action.
And this is how we do it.
We have to connect to whatwe're doing.
(17:43):
Do you even know what you'redoing?
That's a whole other exerciseto do right.
Are you just out there saying Iwant to make a difference and
you're not really sure howyou're making a difference?
Then you need to do some workright, because we need clarity
around what we're actually doing.
Because how can we get to thatfinal step of bridging the gap
(18:07):
between our vision and ourreality if we don't have clarity
around the reality.
So now we have this compellingthree-year picture.
We know we have three years toget there.
That feels comfortable.
We know we can do it in threeyears.
We know that the obstacles infront of us today will be
manageable and we can move themout of our way as we go through
(18:29):
this three-year process.
So you have the compellingpicture, but how do you actually
get there?
And I don't want you to getstuck here, because having the
vision and not implementing itis a big problem.
So let's start with year one.
What needs to be accomplishedjust in this first 12 months in
order for year three to even bepossible?
So this is where we're going tobreak it down into smaller
(18:52):
chunks, right.
So we first break it down intoyear one.
Where do you think you need tobe 12 months from now in order
for that big three-year visionto be possible for you?
And then break it down evensmaller to a 90-day catalyst.
What can you achieve in thenext quarter starting today?
That's going to build themomentum you need to finish year
(19:15):
one, where you need to finishit.
So this 90-day goal needs to bereally specific, really
measurable, right?
Make it a smart goal, and ithas to be significant enough
that achieving it proves you'reon the right track.
So it's not where.
Oh, I'm going to startmarketing more, because you
can't measure that.
More just means more.
But you want to be veryspecific.
(19:38):
What are you marketing more?
Are you launching a new service?
Are you signing five newclients?
So that's much more measurable,much more specific than just
I'm going to get more clients.
I'm going to start marketingmore.
Don't say I'm going to get moreorganized.
Put it into really specific andmeasurable goal format.
(20:00):
So maybe it's.
I want to implement a newonboarding system.
I want to reduce myadministrative time by 10 hours
a week.
Maybe that means hiring someone, right, or maybe it means
cutting out the clutter and thebusy work that you're spending
time doing because you're toospinning and not actually
putting things into action.
(20:21):
So listen, if you have a visionwithout a system, I get it.
Everybody starts with a visionand no system, so there's
nothing wrong.
It's just like having adestination but you don't have a
GPS, right.
You know you're going to getsomewhere eventually, but maybe
it's not where you really wantto go.
So we have to do this work tomake sure that we're headed in
(20:42):
the right direction, because Ican tell you this, a lot of
business owners they don't failbecause they can't create the
vision.
We're creatives, right, we'revisionaries by definition, but
if we can't implement thatvision consistently while doing
whatever we're doing currentlybecause, guess what, not
everybody has the luxury of justsitting back and saying I'm
(21:04):
going to start a business and itcan take me three years to get
where I want to go and I'm justgoing to live off the land until
then, Most likely you're doingsomething else.
So division work is only 20%.
The other 80% is having thesystems, because how can you
build a business?
I built my business, which,thankfully, has organically
(21:29):
grown into a beautiful,fulfilling and successful
business, but I did it withblood, sweat and tears,
alongside working to pay mybills right, because this didn't
always pay my bills.
So we have to come up withthose systems that are going to
(21:50):
work with whatever our currentreality looks like.
We have to hold ourselvesaccountable and have the
frameworks in place to actuallyexecute all of this.
I want your three-year vision tofeel exciting, I want it to be
motivating and I want it to feelsolid, like it's enough of a
foundation that it's going toguide your decisions starting
tomorrow.
If it does these things, you'realready ahead of 90% of the
(22:13):
people out there, socongratulations.
Next week, we're going to talkabout something totally
different.
We're going to talk about howto identify the bottlenecks that
are going to get in your way asyou do this.
But for now, just stop planninglike everyone else.
Start building the businessthat you actually want to be
running and that feels good toyou.
So hope this was valuable foryou.
(22:34):
Take this information, go outthere and create your day in the
best way possible, and I willsee you next week.
Until then, take care ofyourselves, take care of each
other and have a great one.
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