A Clear Path To Growth

Anthony Wilkinson-Denny

Whenever you take a flight anywhere, you’re off-course over 90% of the time. Yet you reach your destination 100% of the time! The pilot is constantly having to adjust to changing wind speeds and directions and is hardly ever on-course ... yet he gets you there.  

Similarly, in life and business, we set a goal and, midway through, we find ourselves off-course. What do we assume? That we’ve got it all wrong? Then we beat ourselves up for bad direction. Instead, we should be taking the emotion out of it (as your pilot does), reminding ourselves of our original plan or goal and then making a technical correction. What this requires is not emotional reaction to perceived foolishness but Exquisite Thinking:   

1.      Realising that being off-course is normal,

2.      Revisiting your original plan and seeing where a technical correction is needed, and

3.      Doing it. 

So, what are the steps to creating a truly grand vision that’s worthy of all you’re capable? Well, obviously, we’d tell you to attend our Exquisite Thinking course! However, right here, we’ll give you some practical steps to get moving in the right direction.

Step 1 – What do you want people to say about you at your funeral?

Sound a bit gloomy? It’s actually one of the most inspiring images you can hold for yourself. When your time is done on this earth, what would you like to have achieved and given to those who you’ve met – how would you like them to remember you?

·        Your large business empire?

·        Your unstinting support and friendship?

·        Your unbounded enthusiasm and positive outlook?

·        Your generous nature?

·        Your teaching/coaching skills as an employer or parent?

·        Your fine houses, cars and holidays?

·        Your brilliant invention?

·        Your successful and happy children?

·        Your love of music/art/drama/sport?

·        Your golf handicap?

We often dumb down our greatest dreams and aspirations because we find ourselves off-course. However, at the back of our minds lurks that truly Grand Design for our life – the one we fall back on when we’re not monitoring our thoughts.

Step 2 – Get that dream out of your head and on to paper

Get that Grand Design out, dust it off, write it down and experience the feeling of having achieved it. How does it feel when you see it in print? Exciting? Challenging? Scary? Fulfilling? Big? Senseless? Dumb?

If it feels bigger than you, if it feels exciting and scary, if you’d feel proud having achieved it, then you’ve found your Grand Design.

Step 3 – Create a road map 

So, now you know what you want to achieve, whether it’s in one year, 10 years or 40 years. What you probably don’t yet know is how to get there – that’s normal.

However, despite not knowing everything, there is a lot you do know so start making a list of what needs to be done. As you progress, more will become clear. Just work with what you know now:

·        What money will you need and when?

·        What new skills/qualifications do you need?

·        What people and outside skills do you need?

·        Do you want a mentor or coach to help you on your way?

·        What assets – stock, vehicles, buildings etc – will you need?

·        Do you need people to emotionally support you, somehow?

Just start making the list and keep writing till you’ve run out of ideas and needs.

Step 4 – Prioritise 

Looking at your list, you’ll realise two things:

1.        What you already have, and

2.        What you still need to get.

Often we do things and have experiences that we feel were a waste of time or that we were failures at, for some reason. Having created your list of needs, you will find that some of those “wasted experiences” were, indeed, pivotal to you achieving your Grand Design! Life is funny like that!

So, do the list again – this time in two columns. One column is the things or experiences or qualifications/skills or people you already have.

The second column is those you still need to acquire. With this column, reorder it so that the easiest things to get are at the top.

Step 5 – Just do it! 

Start with that second column, from the top. If you need a coach, make a phone call and arrange an exploratory interview. If you need some equipment, email out to suppliers for quotes. If you need money, make an appointment at your bank to see where your credit rating stands.

Right now there is something you can do ... this minute, this day. The great thing with taking action is that it invites more action. When you make that phone call, send that email, talk to that friend, there is an immediate sense of satisfaction and you’ll want to do more! Do more then!

Step 6 – Remember your vision

Each day, as you wake, recall your Grand Design. Then, as you take actions through the day, ask yourself this question and make this statement:

“Does this action take me away or towards my goal? Nothing is for nothing and everything counts.”

You also need to know that you are worth it and the rest of us deserve to have your Grand Design happen – it’s win-win all round!