Make your vision board a reality

You have a vision board, don’t you? How long do you keep things there before you act on them?

I’m thinking of this as I sip mint tea in dazzling sunshine at a stunning boutique hotel in Morocco, where I just hosted a successful retreat for clients. I am staying on longer to enjoy some me time in this amazing country.

Over the years, I’ve hosted retreats for clients in New York City, Paris, London, Bali and Valencia, Spain.

Still, I remember when New York was just an image on my vision board, and that’s why I’m asking about yours.

When I started my business, I would daydream about hosting international retreats with my clients at exotic places, and the first place on my list was New York.

But I also used to say things like ‘I’m not good enough yet’, ‘I’ve not made enough money yet’ … blah, blah, blah.

I looked at that image of the New York skyline on my vision board week after week, until the day I asked myself, “What if I can make this happen?” That got me started, and the NYC retreat took place months later.

I started googling hotels and before I knew it, I was on the phone with an events manager at a hotel in Manhattan. I had the venue.

Then it was a question of how I fund this. Instead of looking at what I had, I looked at my business and came up with a new offer. Then I made some calls and ended up filling the room, with an additional six months of revenue in my pocket.

The problem is that most folks wait till they have the funds to make their dreams come true. The truth is, we don’t have to wait. Because getting creative with our businesses is what makes dreams come true, and it makes them come true faster.

We are worthy of our dreams and more than good enough to make them a reality.

As anyone who follows me on Facebook and Instagram knows, I can tell you that speaking is the fastest way to make your business dreams come true. Speaking brought me the globetrotting lifestyle and multiple six-figure business of my dreams.

I was speaking with a client the other day who wants to host a retreat in Italy next year. I asked when – let’s get specific. Because I can tell you from experience that unless there’s a date, it ain’t happening.

Don’t let your vision board become a place where great ideas gather dust.

Sadly, so many people I speak with have dreams like this, but they stay dreams. If something is in your heart to do in 2023, put a date on it now. That will make it real and force you to get busy making it happen.

We need things to look forward to. Those are the things that drive us, that make us feel special.

They’re the things we use to reward ourselves. My favourite thing is travel. What’s yours? And what can you start doing now to make it happen? Because you can make it happen.

Believing or doubting is a choice we make: The belief that we can have what we want or the doubt that we can achieve it.

Nobody knows what's going to happen. So we might as well believe in the story that's going to lift us up and fill us with excitement and inspiration and motivation, rather than the story that is going to drag us down and keep us small.

I chose the story of wild success and fun and freedom for us all. I highly recommend that choice.

Here’s an example of something we can do. I was having dinner with some college friends earlier this month and one was very excited about a cool new thing that was going to change his life. Of course, we all wanted to hear more.

But then he said, “I can’t share any further details.”

Whaaaat?

This is what can happen with your audience.

You share awesome content, you offer great tips and create connections, but as they wait for you to show how they can work with you, you leave them hanging and don't offer them anything else. Your audience wants you to invite them to something more, where they can learn more from you.

If you’ve never made an offer from a stage, real or virtual, it can be a little scary at first. I get it. I’ve been there, until I discovered just how eager people were to know exactly how I could help them.

Not everyone says yes. In fact, most people don’t. That’s fine. What most appreciate is knowing what you can do for them when it’s their time.

The key is seeing your offer as an invitation to learn more. When you look at it this way, it will feel natural and inspirational. And the more you do it, the better you get at it and the more natural it feels.

Go for it! You have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

I created a one-of-a-kind VIP experience for my clients Morocco, where we focused on doubling or tripling business with a new offer. Imagine having so much clarity and confidence that you can enrol higher-level people with a new offer, and knowing the exact steps to get that offer out into the world in a big way.

That’s what my clients and I did for three days in Morocco.

That’s what you can do, too.

I will continue to host international retreats and I hope you will consider joining us in the future.

In the meantime, my monthly Dial In Your Destiny Challenge gives driven entrepreneurs who are not making the impact they know is possible the skills they need to do just that.

I hope I’ll see you at the next challenge.

I look forward from hearing from you – let’s turn your vision board into reality.