February 2021 marked the month I declared my Core Values. In case you missed it, you can read all about it here: My Values: Putting Your Business First. This month I am thinking about my next steps: to get clear on my Mission and Vision.
Years ago, one of the most pivotal people in my professional life, Adam Burke, did a TEDx Talk and spoke about having a vision, a goal. He summed it up in such a simple way: ‘act like a dog and follow the ball, no matter where it goes.’
Sounds easy – until you realize you need to have a “ball” to follow.
The pursuit of defining your vision and mission (aka your ball) is not for the faint of heart. It takes a ton of reflection and critical thinking to
distill something so vast and all-encompassing down to a few short sentences. I will continue to work on this for the balance of 2021 because I want to get it right. I want it to inspire me and my actions, decisions, and choices. I want my current and future clients to know where I am heading and what I am doing to get there.
In some respects, I feel like I have fallen into my various careers, and I have made choices based on where I was in a particular moment and not necessarily on where I wanted to be in the future (I am sure you can relate). In part, this was because I don’t think I knew where I wanted to be. As I have moved from the fast-paced world of video production; to elementary school teacher; to non-profit employee; to a virtual assistant, and finally to re-launching my business: The 25th Hour, I am now in the process of shifting my work once again. I am moving from ‘doing’ to ‘managing’ as a Certified Online Business Manager for many of my clients.
I know my vision includes social entrepreneurship, strategy, and creating systems and processes that simplify and streamline my client’s businesses, ultimately allowing them to focus and giving them an extra hour in their day to do what they love. This is what I love to do, and it’s what I am good at. Don’t get me wrong, I can be the go-to “swiss-army-knife-worker”, but it’s not what I love – and I am clear on this.
As I begin the work of fine-tuning my endpoint and what I do each day to propel me there, I hope that you, too, can start to think future-focussed and map out the steps you take each day to achieve your vision. Your vision might be for your business- or it might be in the realm of personal growth or exercise and shifts in your diet. What will you do each day to get you to that future? Let’s do the work together and check back in with each other in December of 2021!
#Mission #Vision #CoreValues #Clarity #2021Goals #The25thHour