Do You Have a Little Black Book of Business Ideas? | Tuesday Tip Week 4

Last week I posed the question “what are you pretending not to know?” Hopefully you’ve been thinking about it.

This weekend, I actually thought about a time when I pretended not to know something that had critical consequences in my life.

It was back in 2008 when I was living in Virginia and Jamie and I had just tied the knot. During my morning meditation time, I had to major epiphanies. Two completely clear moments of truth about future. It felt like God Himself shone a light down from heaven and showed me my next steps of destiny:

One was to go back to school and get my masters degree.

The second was to move from Central Virginia to Maryland.

And for the next few weeks I began to fill up a little black book with details about how to transition my life around these two moves.

I would like to tell you that I followed this transition plan to a tee. I didn’t. This book was filled with a plan that I did NOT understand. Even though the plan matched the future that I wanted, it did not match the reality of where I was. I did not have the confidence and felt like my skill level didn’t match what the plan was calling for. Which made me quite uncomfortable implementing it.

So I did nothing.

Nothing.

Honestly – if it were possible to do less than nothing, I would have done just that. That’s how much these two steps and the little black book moved me out of my comfort zone.

When moving forward with your future vision, sometimes your next steps won’t make sense. In fact, most times your next steps will range from making you moderately uncomfortable to making you feel you’re about to toss your cookies! That’s just the laws of nature (you know…inertia, energy, work, etc) doing their jobs.

Think about that move you have been really considering or the tough conversation you know you need to have. If they have been weighing on you, you’ve been putting them off and nothing else has been working out as you planned, then that thing (you know what it is) is probably the most logical next step.

But implementing a vision follows a slightly different logic. There is no recipe or secret sauce. It takes work – creative, intuitive and consistent amounts of energy – to turn your dreams of starting a business, landing the perfect job or leaving a legacy into reality.

“Success is where preparation meets opportunity.”

-Kevin Bracy

Vision is forward thinking. And forward thinking requires divine intervention. Revelation. Epiphanies. Moments of truth. Snapshots of the future that don’t match your present.

Today when I get bright ideas that make me feel like the heavens have opened up with the Hallelujah Chorus playing in the background, I ask myself one question that has worked well over the years:

“What is one small step I can take right now to move forward and show my commitment to this vision?” 

99 times out of 100, the small step involves one of three things: researching, mind mapping or talking to someone (which can also be a form of research…an alternative to “googling”). Pretty soon, one small step turns into two steps. Two steps turn into a stride. The stride turns into a sprint. And pretty soon I’ve stepped off of the treadmill of goal setting and entered the implementation marathon. And it happens one small step at a time.

If you want to take more consistent and precise action in pursuit of your big goal, I recommend that you set up a coaching preview. The preview lasts 15 to 20 min and gives you a taste test of what it’s like to work with me in a coaching relationship. And it is 100% free.

Are you looking to tackle a goal that’s bigger than anything you can do on your own?

Email me at t_anderson@teaiiano.com to schedule your coaching preview.

Thomas E. Anderson, II is a vision development coach who enjoys motivating and equipping individuals to pursue personal, professional and organizational goals that lead to a more fulfilling life. He specializes in life focus, vision development and goal acceleration.