The Truth About Starting, Building or Growing a Sustainable Business Part I

“It’s not what the vision is, it’s what the vision does.” Peter Senge, Systems Theorist, Senior Faculty MIT, and author

Starting a business? Rebuilding? Growing? Have a dream? A vision?

You’ve got a clear vision of what you think you can do and how far you can go. Great!

Heads up, however! It is a rocky, rocky road, with shifting gravel, and rolling boulders that will appear out of nowhere, and stop…right in front of your plans and strategies. You must be ready and willing to persevere through it all.

“Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.” Napoleon Hill, author of positive thinking theory books

There is no smooth path to success. But while the first key is to have a vision, the second key to success is learning to negotiate around, over, under, or through all the barriers and challenges you will undoubtedly face along the way.

So, if you are still intent on taking this rough road, or if you’ve started and are perhaps not gaining ground, prepare to learn how to scramble, to strategize, and plot how to get past those rocky road blocks on the go. Put on your elbow, shoulder, shin and knee pads. Put on your toughest runners. Set your sites on that vision you have and keep on going!

To sustain yourself on this road to a successful business, you have to have a dream – a real dream. That dream has to be important enough to you that it becomes the driver of almost everything you do.

It’s the dream that is going to sustain you, give you the drive, the energy and the ability to persist over time that is required to build a sustainable, successful business. Gail Devers, Olympic Track and Field Champion states clearly that you need to keep your dreams alive, and that to achieve anything requires vision, dedication, determination and faith and belief in yourself.

You can do it - if you believe enough to hold the vision through everything the world throws at you. Believe.

Next: Part II: The Strategy