Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend David Crandall’s seminar about estate planning. During his presentation, David talked about the importance of beginning with a snapshot, a view of what you want to happen when you pass away or become disabled. This is another way of saying “begin with the end in mind” as Steven Covey taught us.
David caught me smiling at this because I start most of my marketing presentations the same way – asking folks to picture what they want their life to look like. We then talk about a marketing plan, and our business, as a vehicle for helping us achieve those life goals.
From my experience, “begin with the end in mind” is one of those things that makes perfect intellectual sense, but is often short circuited in our efforts to get something done. It is often easier to dive in an work on the mechanics. We feel good when we can check something off of our to do list. But are we staying busy without really getting anywhere?
For many clients, the coaching is the greatest value they receive from working with a consultant. I think part of this is because it is so hard to work on this big picture stuff by yourself that it becomes easy to put off so it helps to have someone to hold you accountable.
Get out your calendar right now and make an appointment with yourself to work on your “snapshot”. Do you really have something more important to do for your business?
