Not long ago, my dream and my daily prayer was to be at home, growing a profitable business, seeing my children off to school each day and being the first person they encountered when they returned. I didn’t quite know how I was going to do it. But I remember thinking to myself, “That’s my wish. That’s the plan.”
Day-by-day I would leave home before my children were awake. As I merged onto the interstate I would say to myself, “There has to be a better way. The money is great, the opportunity is great, but I need to be home.” At that time, I was traveling almost two hours each way. I was still trying to get my foot in the door with Fortune 500 companies. And because the executives in charge didn’t know me well, they required me to work from their corporate offices. I knew this was necessary in order to build my portfolio. Multi-billion dollar companies were not going to trust me, until they had a feel for who I am and what I can bring to the table. My goal was to get 4–5 companies under my belt, but I knew it was going to take some time. Eventually, it happened. Today, I’m working from the comfort of my home and I’m trusted by companies like Discover, Xerox and others. But.. about six months after being home, something happened.
Suddenly I started asking myself, “What’s next? I’m working from home, but am I growing?” That’s when I realized my initial dream was too small.
HERE’S HOW YOU KNOW YOUR DREAMS ARE TOO SMALL:
1. You are comfortable
You are comfortable when the norm sets in to a point where you follow a daily routine without thinking about doing anything extra.
2. You are not challenged
The best way to challenge yourself is to find mentors or people that are setting a great example of where you are trying to reach. Find something that helps you raise the bar a bit more.
3. What’s next does not scare you
Your goals should bring about a very uncomfortable feeling in the pit of your stomach when you think about them. It’s a scary kind of excitement. Your goals should have you up at night, and you should be a student of the game — learning all you can possibly learn in an effort to finally take your next steps forward.
Before working from home, I had a challenge and I was reaching for it. I was a student, studying successful women who made something from nothing. I went to bed thinking about my goals every single night. After finally being home, I was happy to be with the kids. But I knew I needed to get back to that place of challenge again if I wanted to continue moving my business forward.
If you want to take things to the next level, you needed to be reaching. You need to be challenged. You need goals that you are afraid to try.
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO ASK YOURSELF:
- What does Good look like to me?
- What does Great look like to me?
- What does Beyond My Wildest Dreams look like to me?
For me, GOOD looked like working from home and being here for my children. GREAT looked like expanding my business and bringing on a virtual team to assist me. BEYOND MY WILDEST DREAMS looked like being on Oprah’s Lifeclass Tour. So far, I’m good. I’m even great. And once again, I’m going to bed thinking about how I can get another step closer to beyond my wildest dreams. I’m not yet comfortable. I’m challenged. And what’s next actually scares me to try.
My point is… If you are comfortable, if your goals don’t scare you or keep you up at night, then they’re simply too small. Trust yourself to move beyond your wildest dreams. Here’s a Free Planner to help you get started.
Within the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing a resource that will help you move from good to great. I’ve never shared this resource, until now. My plan is for both you and I to make 2017 our BEST YEAR EVER. Be the first to learn more about it — sign up here.
Here’s to setting BIG goals that move you beyond your wildest dreams!
Originally published at kimberlybuchanan.com.
Originally published at medium.com