I’ve just finished reading Arnold Schwarzenegger’s latest book: Be Useful – Seven Tools for Life. His ability to create a clear vision and set non-negotiable goals to achieve that vision really is inspiring to me.
When Arnold Schwarzenegger was doing publicity for his first movie, during a lunch interview, a sports columnist who had been tasked with writing a piece on him asked what his plans were now that he was retired from bodybuilding.
Schwarzenegger’s response? With a voice as calm as if he were talking about some mundane travel plans, he said, “I’m going to be the number-one box-office star in all of Hollywood.”
Keep in mind that this is not the Arnold Schwarzenegger we know now.
At the time, this statement was highly improbable, if not laughable. Few, if any, would have predicted the kind of film success he came to have. Fewer still would have predicted his marrying into the Kennedy family and becoming governor of California.
What do you suppose was Schwarzenegger’s strategy for taking over the movie world?
“It’s the same process I used in bodybuilding,” he explained. “What you do is create a vision of who you want to be and then live into that picture as if it were already true.”
Create a vision of who you want to be, and then live into that picture as if it were already true.
At the end of my last gig as a CEO running several businesses in 2017, I decided that it was time to reset the vision I had for my life. What hair I had left was turning grey, and I felt that running other people’s businesses was becoming too much like football management. Put a string of results together, and your shareholders expect an even better performance next time. Get a string of poor results, and you’re out of a job in the blink of an eye. That’s fair enough; I’m all about performance, but I wanted a bit more control over my destiny.
I’m originally from New Zealand, but the love of my life was an English girl. We married, had a family, and settled in the UK. Moving back to New Zealand was not on the cards, and even though I travelled back fairly frequently, I’ve always hankered to spend more time there.
So, in 2017, I decided to build a business that would allow my wife and me to have two homes: live in the UK and spend part of the year living in New Zealand. This would allow me to fulfil my purpose of coaching business owners worldwide to grow their profits year after year, build effective teams to help run their businesses, and get time back for themselves.
I’m now living that picture as if it were already true. For the last two years, we have spent part of the UK winter enjoying the New Zealand summer.
The Visionary Business Owner
You see, a business rises and falls on the back of its owner.
They’re the leader, the visionary, and responsible for how the business goes.
Take a moment and think of everything you want to achieve in business and life.
Maybe you want millions in revenue (or profit)…
Maybe you want to work 2 hours a day because of how efficient your company is…
Or maybe you want to be able to travel every month.
It doesn’t matter what it is because, right now, there exists a version of you out there that’s killing it. You’re achieving everything you’ve ever wanted and reaping the fruits of years of hard work and consistency.
You Have to Dream Big
Because here’s the thing:
If your vision, your why, isn’t big enough, all you’ll ever see are the obstacles and challenges blocking that vision. All you’ll see is everything that will get in the way of achieving that massive outcome you’re looking for.
And so, you have to flip the script.
You have to create a vision such that obstacles are merely impediments to achieving whatever you want to achieve in life.
As Arnie says, “Vision is the most important thing. Vision is purpose and meaning. To have a clear vision is to have a picture of what you want your life to look like and a plan for how to get there.”
A clear vision helps you decipher whether a decision is good or bad for you based on whether it gets you closer to your ideal future. Does the picture you have in mind of your ideal future get blurrier or sharper because of this thing you’re about to do?
If you would like help clarifying your business’s vision and plan, you can book a 15-minute coaching session here at TimeWithShane.com.