How do you know you’re ready to start your own business?

How do you know you’re ready to start your own business?

Specifying your intention.

Wanting something is not enough. You need a protocol for strategic vision.

Today I’ll introduce you to a tool for running a strategy session that will help you spot the pitfalls and define your intention precisely.

An intention is a searchlight we switch on to clear the darkness on the way to a goal. In business it is a guiding star for you and your team.

Intentions reflect many factors an organisation has to take into account. They are born at the very top and take shape in the company’s mission, vision and values.

Specifying intention:

What do you want? What do you want to achieve?

Make sure your goal is framed in terms of what you want, not the opposite.
“I want” versus “I don’t want” is the main criterion.
You will only follow your intentions if they matter to you. Think about what you are passionate about and what genuinely makes you happy. It is important to choose a goal that brings you joy; otherwise you won’t be able to carry your intention through.

Your intention should be no longer than a sentence. Keep it short so you can remember it easily, and to the point so you can stay focused on the result.

What shows that your goal is realistic?

Where, when and with whom do you want to reach your goal?

This point is more about the steps you will take to reach your goal. It is about the journey towards it — and about the team you plan to reach it with. Being in the right place at the right time with people who share your values.

Don’t forget to phrase it positively.

Focus matters both in the short and in the long term. Setting monthly intentions helps you see the bigger picture, while daily intentions let you live in the present moment.

How will you know you have reached your goal?

Many people never feel satisfied with their results. Their inner critic finds it hard to acknowledge what they have achieved. So you need to know what will confirm for you that you have reached your goal — and how closely that confirmation is linked to the goal itself.

What will you see, hear and feel when you have it?

Focus on sensory evidence that you have reached your goal.
This way you get feedback from your body and your mind, where the main criterion is satisfaction with the result — both at the intermediate stages and at the finish line.

What should it do for you? (meta-intention)

Make sure your intention is achievable if it is aimed at the goal.

What will become possible for you?

At this stage it helps to bring in Robert Dilts’s logical levels technique.

Robert Dilts’s pyramid of logical levels

What could you sacrifice to carry out this intention? Is it worth it?

An important result of this process is that it reveals unconscious obstacles on the way: fear of failure, fear of disapproval, fear of paying too high a price or of being punished for something. Or the prospect of having to give up something you love and find comfortable.

Also ask yourself:

What do you gain from the present situation? Are there hidden benefits of where you are now that you would lose by reaching your goal? What do those benefits give you? What purpose do they serve? How can you keep your present advantages along with the new goal? How will achieving this result affect the lives of the people around you and the world as a whole?

What should you pay attention to? (focus / object of attention)

This is the level of specific, conscious action — because what we do is no accident.

Conscious action is action a person controls and takes deliberately, and for which they bear responsibility.

Pay attention to the following:

1. How do you focus?
(the way of paying attention — How?)

2. What will you do to carry out your intention?

3. What do you want?
Phrase the goal affirmatively and positively.

4. What will you do if it doesn’t work?
A chance to look at your plan from another angle.
And to do what you hadn’t dared to do.

5. How committed are you, from 1 to 10?
6. What will happen if nothing changes?
7. What will happen if the current situation changes?
8. What won’t happen when the changes take place?
9. What won’t happen if the changes don’t take place?
10. What do you want?

Not seeing results straight away doesn’t mean you aren’t making progress. On the contrary, every step and every effort brings you closer to your goal.

So don’t lose heart and don’t give up. Be patient and persistent instead, and you will see the results you want.