Creating a business is exciting and at the same time can feel daunting because there are so many aspects to running a business. The need for sales and a steady income can sometimes get in the way of why you created your business and your original intentions.
First Steps in Brainstorming For Your Business
For this reason I began by asking my clients about their WHY. I asked them questions like:
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Why do you want to create this business?
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What is the inner drive that is propelling you to create it?
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How does it align with your values and life purpose?
I spoke about the importance of WHY in this blog, referring to “Start with WHY”, as reading the book brought me a lot of insight about my own struggles with my business. In particular, I struggled with marketing in a way that felt genuine and authentic without feeling like I had to “sell” myself to others. I later continued this approach of sticking to my WHY in all areas of my business actions, including having my clients go through the same process.
If you are looking to take this time to restructure your own business or create a new one, I invite you to start with your WHY and then get clear on your intentions and goals. Having this information as the foundation for your business is key. By being able to refer to your WHY it ensures that your decisions, when creating and running your business, align with your intentions and goals.
Intentions VS Personal Goals
Intentions focus on the present moment and day to day actions. They help you connect to your inner self and your underlying reasons for your goals. When you connect to yourself and the present moment, it helps create a stillness in the mind. This stillness reminds you of your goals so that every action has purpose and creates a deeper connection to those goals.
Intentions are also more open and less structured. An example would be, my intention for today is to be open to business opportunities. Doing this forces you to pay attention to what’s happening in the moment and being able to see those opportunities when they come to you.
Goals on the other hand are focused on the future and are more specific to what we want. They involve making a plan and what steps we need to take in order to move towards it. If we only focus on our goals then we are taken away from the present moment and we forget to connect with our inner purpose.
This is why it’s important to balance being connected to both our intentions and goals because they both serve a purpose.
Together they help us:
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keep momentum going
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stay in alignment to our inner purpose
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communicate clearly to others why we are doing what we are doing.
So what’s your WHY?
Stay tuned for next month’s blog to learn how to implement your why and the 4 steps to creating your own business that aligns with your values.
