The answer to this question is different for every individual. You may choose to focus your vision and goals on:

• Lifestyle
• Business accomplishments
• An amount of money or income level
• Professional recognition
• Feelings and emotions
• Personal accomplishments
• Volunteer work

When working with my clients, I recommend looking at all of the areas listed above because they are all interconnected and affect each other. The key is to prioritize the areas that are the most important to you and find a balance that fits your goals and dreams. You also need to remember to THINK BIG and open your mind and heart to the possibilities that lay ahead for you.

Whether your vision is personal, professional, or a combination of both, your vision should be viewed as the ultimate guidebook and road map for your journey into your future. When used the right way, it can help you stay focused and on track.

Here are just two examples of simple ways your vision guide book or road map can help you:

• When trying to decide if you should accept an invitation to speak at an event, partner with someone, or give something of yourself, first take a moment to review your vision road map. Ask yourself, “Does this fit in with my plan? Will it help me progress toward my ultimate goals?” If the answer is no, you know that saying no is the best choice.
• When deciding if you should launch a new venture, write a book, develop a product, or offer a new service, use your vision road map to help you evaluate the idea. Ask yourself, “How is this going to help me get closer to making my vision a reality? What name, topic, or theme would best fit in with, support, and help build my brand and my vision? Is the amount of progress I am going to make toward my vision worth the time and monetary investment required?”

Do you have a big vision road map for yourself and your business? What did you include? How does it help you?

I wholeheartedly agree with Andrea, which is why I have put a lot of mileage on my car this past week. My schedule has been completely jam-packed with normal business meetings, several awesome networking events, and a fun family night out (see my hubby, kids, and father-in-law in the picture)! Check out what my week looked like:

• eWomenNetwork Reno Chapter dinner event on Wednesday night
• SacTweetUp event at Mix on Thursday night
• River Cats baseball season finale game with the family Friday night
• Simplie Indie Writers’ Workshop all day on Saturday
• eWomenNetwork South Placer County Think Big Summit all day Tuesday
• BNI Roseville Visitor’s luncheon yesterday

I met so many fantastic entrepreneurs, business owners, writers, mompreneurs, and social networking addicts and have had so much fun! Needless to say, I am now up to my eyeballs in follow up emails, phone calls, and thank you notes!

While social networking is all the rage right now, it is important to remember that meeting face-to-face is one of the fastest ways to start new relationships, build on existing relationships, and reconnect with old relationships.

Networking in person at events, meetings, conferences, meetups, and seminars is also a great way to build your “Know, like, and trust” factor, which is what tomorrow’s post will be all about!

For me, I approach my business in sort of the same way. I decide what I want to achieve, I set a date of completion, and I jump right into the planning and implementation needed to make it happen. Ten years ago, I never would have guessed that I would be running my own business and loving every second of it – It took me a while to figure out I was an entrepreneur.

Yesterday I celebrated my birthday with a fabulous lunch at the Bistro 33 restaurant inside the brand new Mercedes dealership in my home town. It was delicious and I highly recommend it if you’re local. With a giant water feature in the shape of the Mercedes logo pouring down from the ceiling of the second story into a planter on the ground floor, the beautiful cars to check out, and the shop and car lot on the roof of the building (not visible from the street, this dealership definitely lives up to the Mercedes standard.

During our long lunch, I had a chance to reflect on the past year and talk with my husband about all of the changes that we have gone through in my business since my last birthday.

OH MY GOODNESS! Last year at the same time I was working on my website, starting my ezine, pondering a blog, and making a serious plan of action for growth and expansion. This leap into action was launched at the eWomenNetwork Internatonal Conference in 2008 and catapulted into serious implementation at Alexandria Brown’s Online Success Blueprint Workshop later that year.

This past year has been a HUGE foundation building year for both myself and my business and I just want to say thank you to all of you who are reading my ezine and sending me your kind praises, and engaging with me on the social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. There is no way that I would be I business today with out your support and I am lpoving every minute of it.

I also want to say thank you to all of you who have supported my BIG IDEAS - and matter how crazy or out of reach they may have sounded. I totally embraced THINKING BIG last year and it is very exciting to see many of those exact ideas and visions becoming a reality. (Check out my speaker site www.jenniferbourn.com)

With only goal goals, it is easy for entrepreneurs to feel overwhelmed and actually put off the work that needs to be done to reach those goals because they seem big and scary. Big goals can seem intimidating and without a plan of action, many of us have not idea where to start and what to do first. The key for me has been to THINK BIG and then create a serious, step-by-step plan of action with my big goals broken down into several smaller goals.

By breaking down your BIG goals into several smaller goals, you not only have a much more clear and focused plan of action, but you will be able to celebrate your progress each step of the way and actually see the progress your are making to make your dreams and goals a reality.

If you have any insights on how your break down your big goals or have a success story on how you have tackled large projects, I’d love to hear from you!

Best Wishes & Incredible Success,
Jen Bourn

This past weekend, I attended the eWomenNetwork International Conference in Dallas, Texas. To the right is one of the photos snapped of my friends Heather Atherton, Kristi LeGue, and I at the Gala celebration on the first night.

From speakers, to breakout sessions, to networking, this year I truly felt like a powerful underlying message was being communicated – THINK BIG and Invest in Yourself.

Thinking big isn’t just about setting a goal. It is about opening your mind and heart to the possibilities that lay ahead. It is about opening your arms to the universe and saying, “I accept.” Now, what is meant to happen for you may not come at the time you think it should, or in the way you think it should, but it will come when you are ready for it, and when the world is ready for it.

Thinking big is about creating a vision of where you want to be in one year, three years, five years, and even in ten years, and then creating a step-by-step plan of how you are going to make your vision a reality. It is about looking at what you are, and are not willing to sacrifice to achieve your goals. It is about understanding how hard you are going to have to work to get to your destination and being willing to put in the time and effort.

To succeed, entrepreneurs need four things: determination, passion, a big idea, and action. Thinking big is about knowing you can do anything and achieve anything you put your mind to as long as you are willing to never give up and go the distance. It is about saying NO MORE NO, ONLY HOW! It is, according to Lisa Nichols (The Secret), about saying NO MATTER WHAT to one thing and going for it until you achieve it, stretching so far to reach it that you don’t even recognize yourself!

In order to think big and truly believe you are capable of achieving your goals, you must invest in yourself, in your skills, and in your mindset. You need to give and serve yourself first, to ensure you are giving your best to others. One of my favorite quotes from this past weekend was from Lisa Nichols. She urged us to, “Fill your own cup until it overflows, then serve others from your saucer.”

How does this apply to you? Often times as entrepreneurs, we are so focused on giving and serving others – our clients, our prospects, our children, our spouses, our friends, our volunteer organizations – that we leave very little time to serve ourselves. We work and work to give and share and provide, and in the end many times we are left exhausted, burned out, and drained. You may even feel at some point like you have no more left to give.

So, I urge you from this moment on to serve yourself. Make yourself a priority on your to do list. Nourish your mind, your heart, and your soul with good food and valuable information. Take time to rest, replenish, and relax so that when you are ready to tackle a new goal, you have the energy and the fuel you need to make it happen NO MATTER WHAT!

Are you thinking BIG?

Even though we did encounter a little rain (thunderstorms on our last day) the trip was awesome. At first I was really upset about the weather, but it actually turned out to be a HUGE benefit. Because of the rain, we saw EVERY show there is to see at both Disneyland and California Adventure – some I may never have taken the time to sit through otherwise and I learned some new fun facts about both parks. Another bonus was that on our last day we walked on every ride with no lines because both parks, Disneyland and California Adventure we practically empty! Both kids were troopers and wore their Mickey ponchos all day!

Thinking back, I can look at this experience and clearly see its parallel to business.

We all hit bumps in the road and while at first the outlook may be grim, when we take a deep breath and look at the big picture there is usually a silver lining that leads to bigger and better things. The same could be said for the challenges we as entrepreneurs face in our businesses. When we’re struggling the most, it is usually because there is a huge breakthrough on the horizon. This is the point at which other people give up, but not entrepreneurs. True entrepreneurs never give up, never give in, and keep trying until they realize their dreams.

I loved poking around the Disney “Blue Sky” studio as California Adventure. Disney Imagineering calls their exploration and new idea development stage “Blue Sky” because at this point, the sky is the limit.

Do you allow time for “Blue Sky” thinking in your business?