Seven questions to help create more 'vision' with your business

A while back, I interviewed a surfer named Takkesh on a podcast.

He had created this company called Surf Flow, which is a little bit of movement therapy, and some manual therapy, mostly for surfers.

Anyway, after he started the biz, they got a little bit stuck.

So he sat down with his partner, and they did a vision exercise.

In Tak’s case, he literally ‘drew’ this vision with pens.

He had a sheet of A3 paper, and drew an picture of their bus (that they renovated and lived in), up on a hill, with waves in the background. Basically they had a vision of travelling around Australia, delivering the Surf Flow work. And starting a family on the road more or less.

Anyway, about five years passed.

Takkesh posted a photo, I think it was on instagram, of the bus, up on a hill, with waves breaking behind in the background. In the second slide, he had his old piece of paper. It was identical. He had become internationally known for the surf flow work, and was helping professional surfers and athletes all  around Australia as they travelled, as well as overseas on the world tour.

Basically, it was an exact real life representation of what he’d drawn on the paper.

No small feat.

I don’t think everyone does a ‘vision’ that way.

Not everyone does a vision board. Or ‘sees’ it in their mind’s eye like that. 

Some people put some notes into their phone.

I know other people who write out a description on a pad of paper.

Others just do think about it or talk about it.

When I was younger I used to do a lot of triathlon. And I trained with this guy Pete Jacobs, he was a real pro, but also kind of an underdog. Anyway, soon he started to talk about his vision of winning the world title. 

He would say how he wanted to win, and that he knew he was capable of it, et cetera. 

“How dare he??”

People got all up in arms at Pete. They hated his bravado and confidence. Because he hadn’t really won anything big yet…

Anyway, he used to talk about this vision all the time. Never drew it out, but I think voicing it made it clearer.

Sure enough, couple years later he won the title easily. And the funny thing was that people didn’t like him so much that the odds on him winning were really low with the betting houses. So we put some money on Pete and made a killing.

Point of all this?

Having a business vision can help you stay the course

And keep taking action with your work… However you do it.

As the late Jim Camp used to say, Vision Drives Decision. There is no action without vision. It’s important to take time to step back, and reconnect with where you are going.

So, on that high note, here are a list of questions that can help spark the ideas or thinking, that can lead towards vision.

1 - What kind of work are you doing?

What does your delivery look like? How many hours per day are you working? What type of work are you doing? For us, we do one-to-one coaching, and then the other work is around delivery.

2 - Who is there with you?

Who do you see on your team? Both inside your world, and outside?

3 - What kind of clients are you working with?

This could be the most important question you ask yourself. Who are you working with? How are you helping them? Think about not just their type of business, but also their personal values, how they show up, et cetera.

4 - What do people say about you? 

Your business will grow because word will spread when people talk about you. The question is, what stories will they tell? What do you want people to say about you and your work?

5 - What do you love about your work?

What lights you up about your business vision? How will life be more enjoyable, or easier?

6 - What will the hardest part be?

Where do you think the obstacles will be? What part do you tend to avoid? Write this out now so you can know what to expect, and how to work around these obstacles.

7 - Who has done this before?

Who in your world has done what you’re trying to do? If there’s no-one, who can you go and find, or meet? It might feel like you’re in a unique situation, with a bunch of impossible tasks in front of you. But the truth is, all of this stuff in business has been done before. Maybe not in exactly the same way. But somewhere, there’s someone out there that has experience that can help you.

These seven questions ain’t going to ‘give’ you your vision.

Frankly. Nobody can do that. And nobody can tell you exactly how to convert your vision into a business.

However, when we’re trying to create more vision, the first thing we do is nurture. And as we’ve learned from the late Jim Camp, the best way to nurture, is through short interrogative questions. Questions like these help to open up vision, so that you can ‘pull’ it out of you.

And, when we have a vision that we perceive as meaningful, it drives emotion.

And the emotion drives action.