JAGGAR International

So many times in life, we have an incredible idea, we research it, we tell ourselves how much better our lives will be, how big an impact on the world (or just one person) we could make if we went through with this idea, how grand an idea it is and yet it sits on the back-burner, an ideal of a life we want yet one we take no action towards. 

I started my first business at 13 and seeing it find success, three years later, I decided I was going to open 6 businesses by the time I was 26 and I immediately switched into research mode, learning everything I could about those business ideas, dreaming of how great life would be with my multiple incomes, multiple investment properties and wonderous entrepreneurial power. I made business plans for each one, marketing strategies, startup costs, staffing, menus, equipment, margin projections – everything (yes, I was a nerdy 16 yr old) all bound up in plastic spiral binding with their transparent covers and bright blue cover pages, each labelled with their business name and projected timeline – something my father mocked me mercilessly for years.  What happened to those business ideas? Nada. Zippo. Zilch. I was 16, no startup funding and a short attention span but oh how grand I felt telling everyone tales of my business prowess and my big bright future. 

Nowadays, I know that only one of those business ideas would have been a viable opportunity and one that I am somewhat pursuing for the next couple of years – the rest were each some variation of a restaurant which I know logically, wouldn’t be a wise investment. 

Over the years though, I’ve cultivated a tunnelvision for my goals that sees me always follow through.  

A goal is worth nothing – your word is worth nothing, if you can’t or won’t deliver on it. 

Just as delivering what you’re promised to a customer is imperative in business, so too is following through on a goal you’ve set. Even if it’s a goal for years down the line, you need to have some kind of plan of attack as to how and when you will achieve it. A goal without a timeline is just an unachievable dream.

Dream big – spend time cultivating that vision, reveling in it, living it and breathing it and once you’re certain that his goal is what you want, what will improve a life – yours or someone else’s or a process that is ineffectual in its current state, plan for it. Put together a plan for how, when and why you’ll achieve it. Note what you’ll need  to achieve it and spend committed time each day paying it consideration. Your vision needs to be crystal clear, your plan needs to be well-researched and solid (so get help or advice from someone who has been there, an authority on the goal topic) and then create a timeline with interval goals to aid you in progressing towards it. 

It doesn’t matter if your goal is an immediate one or one for 5, even 10 years from now, plan for it and you’ll make it happen.