Setting the Stage for Success in 2024: Strategic Vision Casting [Ep. 211]

Michelle (: 00:00

Good morning, good morning. I am bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning. Daylight savings time, I don't know, the daylight in the morning, I don't know what it is. But today we are diving into week three of our mini series on setting the stage for success in 2024. And today is all about the vision casting. It's absolutely.

Oh, it's one of my favorite. I know I think I said data analysis was my favorite, but I think each one of them is different in the sense of my favorite. But this really is one that I encourage everybody to sit down and take the time to do it inside the worksheets. If you haven't grabbed the worksheets, the link is in the show notes. It's an actual Google Drive file. So

It's not like every week you have to opt in. Every week I just add a new file to that Google Drive file so you can easily access it. And that way you can find them. So if you haven't opted into it, opt in. And if you have, just go back to your original, like here's your link, because the worksheets are gonna be automatically uploaded every week into that, okay? So this week though is all about vision casting, vision casting. But.

Before we dive into that, I got to tell you, I went this past weekend on a binge buying experience. I don't know what the heck got into me. No, really what got into me is, and I want to share this because there is a side of me that I want to start sharing a little bit more on this podcast as much as I really love sharing all things business. I think it's really important to talk about kind of some things personally that are going on, too, because I know other people are relating to it.

So all of: 2023

Michelle (: 02:19

And actually, I think a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned about like long-term COVID. She's the first doctor I've met that actually validated all of my findings and the research that I've done on it and told me that COVID can live in your system for two years, not live. I don't know if that's the right word, but either way it can cause effects in your joints and in your system for up to two years. So because I haven't hit that two year mark, she thinks that's why I'm experiencing such pain.

add on menopause and all of that, whatever. So holistically, I have been really trying to figure out what I needed to do to really help with my joint pain. And so I bought a portable, like dry heat infrared sauna that you just sit in. I posted a couple of times about it on Instagram. And I absolutely am loving it. Like my knee was killing me Saturday night, one Saturday night, and I sat in that thing and my knee has not hurt since. And I know that sounds crazy.

But it hasn't. But the other thing that I've been doing, which is crazy, is I've been trying to work myself up into this cold plunge situation. Like, you know, people are doing cold plunge. Wim Hof is big on the cold plunge method. And our pool is too cold to get in right now. So the pool I think is like at 68 or 69 degrees. So that's what I've been doing. I've been going in the sauna and then cold plunging in the pool, working my way up to colder temperatures. So if any of you are cold plungers,

and you have, or you have a sauna, or you have any tips on this in regards to inflammation, like please do not in-date me with like supplements and all of that, trust me, I have done a million of them. I have all the supplements, I'm doing all the things, I'm doing peptide therapy, like I have all of that, but I really would love to hear if anybody else is doing like the sauna or cold plunge or just cold plunge.

How many minutes do you stay in? What temperature is your water? What effects have you noticed? But I will be honest, like when I said to you, I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning, I did the sauna and the cold plunge last night. I swear to God, I'm so freaking wide awake. I can't even like stand myself. I am not a morning person. And I am recording this episode at nine o'clock in the morning, which is unheard of for the past like year, okay? So that's just a little side note. I wanna start, again, I just think it's important. Like we are humans.

Michelle (: 04:40

And if I'm experiencing this and I'm going through something and I can help you out, because our health and our personal lives affect our business. Right. And so anyway, that's that. So let's dive into vision casting, which I think a lot of people think of vision casting and they think of vision boards, right. Like in visualization and creating your vision board and cutting out all these material things out of a magazine and all of that. And that's really not what I consider vision casting.

Okay, when I'm thinking about vision casting and what I want you to really do when you're thinking about vision casting for the new year is really to take it deeper, right? Like I really, really want you to connect with, why are you here? What is in alignment? What are we, why are we doing this, right? Like what is the bigger grander vision, right? The grander vision might look like.

a dream car. So for a while the Jeep was on my vision board. Okay, I've accomplished that. I got the Jeep, right?

Sorry, coffee. But I'm talking like the bigger vision. Like, why am I doing this? What do I wanna be known for? What impact do I have to, do I wanna make on the world, right? And I was doing this with a client here recently because she wanted to like implement this and a new thing. And she was talking about creating an agency and all this. And I finally said to her, I was like, what's the vision? Like, why? Why do you wanna do this? Because I am not sure that this aligns.

like that this strategy right now aligns with the overarching vision, because I also know that like family time and being able to travel and doing different things. And so this is where I'm saying, like making sure your aligned goals and your vision are, they actually align, right? Like it's easy to say like, oh, are my goals in alignment, but do they actually align with the vision, right? So I'm looking at my other screen because I have some notes here.

Michelle (: 06:41

But I really want to dive into, when you're thinking about vision casting, I want you to think about your why, which I know a lot of people talk about that. Like, why are you in business, right? Because I wanna make an impact, why, why? So one of my favorite exercises to do with this is the seven layers deep. I think it was Dean Graciosi did this. And I can absolutely make sure I link the worksheet. I'll look it up and link it. But...

I did this with the Accelerated Business Alliance mastermind months ago, I might even have been last year. But I really highly recommend you do this with a partner. So I want you to grab your biz bestie, I want you to grab somebody that you can do this exercise with. That you start to do your vision and then you ask yourself why and you go seven layers deep, right? And so for example,

it would be like, why am I doing this? What is my big vision? My big vision is to be location independent. That is the ultimate vision. Why? Because I wanna experience and explore the world. Why? Because I thrive on memories. Why? Well, when you really dive deeper into it, there's a lot of emotion behind it. There's emotion behind...

the fact that it would mean a lot to my husband and I. My husband and I are 22 years apart, right? Like I want to be able to see and experience life. So location independence now is so crucial to me because my husband's 20 years ahead of me, right? So like I don't have 20 years, right? Or 40 years to build this business and then go and explore the world like in retirement, right? So that's part of why this is so important to me. It's important to me to create memories for

other people, you know, like our grandchildren and all of that, and to be able to spend time with them. Right? So if we want to go up to New York and go apple picking and do all the fall fun things and canned tomatoes for two months, we can, right? So there's obviously more to that, like in the, your personal vision, right? And like, what do you really want? Do you want to spend time? Do you want to make memories? Like what is most important to you and why?

Michelle (: 09:00

diving deeper into that when you are casting your vision. Okay, I really want you to do that. But then the other thing is, is I really want you when you're looking at vision is like what is the short term and what's the long term goal here? And this is what I did with that client that wanted to do the agency. Like the agency to me was a short term goal. It helped her achieve a short term goal, meaning like from now until the end of the year. But it didn't fit in with the long term vision.

Right? The long-term vision she had of, you know, family and independence and these other businesses like she wants to start multiple other businesses. And so that was something too that we had to really look at when she created this vision is that like your current business right now, I talked about this in the episode about diversifying your income.

does not need to be the only business or in its form right now, the only way that you achieve your vision, which is another reason why this is so massively important. Is there another, is there something else on your heart or is there something else in your mind that you really wanted to do? Like for this client, her husband wanted to start his own business and she wanted to be there to help him. Okay. So how does that align with your long-term vision? Right? Like how does that align with the goal? What's the vision for that? And how do you make sure that you can

like, what is the vision for: 2024

You know, I've been really working on this with another client who's, I think, God, she's, she's probably 20 years into business there in different variations. And she's in a massive state of growth right now. And so part of that growth is adding on employees and different things. And I finally had to say to her, like, we need to really sit down and think about, like, what is the vision for this is, do you want.

Michelle (: 11:16

this? Is this the vision for your company? Is this the vision for your life? Or do you enjoy being more of a party of one, so to speak, right? Do you want to expand this much bigger, right? Like what is your big ultimate vision? And the thing too is like when you're doing long-term vision planning, think big, like do not let your ego get in the way. Do not let your conscious mind get in the way, right? Like go big, go as you know, just

really envision every possibility. Okay. That's the beautiful thing about vision casting is that you can just put it out there and you can really lay out like, what does it look like? I get up every morning. I go sit out on my Lenai. I drink my cup of coffee. I have some, you know what I mean? Like whatever it is, like the personal trainer comes at eight 30, whatever it is. Like that's one of my big goals is to have like a trainer that comes to the house and you know, whatever, but

Because again, my body, right? Like I really, my health is very, very important to me. And I want to make sure that my health and my business are in alignment with one another. Okay. And that's where again, aligning with your values. Thinking of this like too, when you're starting to cast your vision, I want you to shut off all the noise. Like picture race horses. If you're watching this on video or if you're not, like I have my hands up.

up on both sides of my head right now. Like race horses, they put those blinders on, right? Because they do not want them looking at their competition. They don't want them looking at any other horse. They want their vision focused solely ahead. I want you to picture that. I want you to put your blinders up and I don't want you to look at anybody else's vision. I want you to turn off all the noise. Every single person you follow on social media. I don't want you to take into consideration any of their visions.

any of their dreams because they are not your visions. Maybe they are, but that needs to come from you. Okay. And make sure that it aligns with your values because one of the things that I see happen so often is that we start to set visions and goals and, and all of these aspirations based on somebody else's dreams, based on what somebody else is determining to be successful based on what they're determining their life needs to look like. And we think, Oh yeah, that would be great. Will it? Would it?

Michelle (: 13:40

Would it really be great? Is that really what you want? Right? I've had this realization a lot lately. I've been really deep in this work. I've been doing a lot of hypno breath work. I've been really, really deep into a lot of this. And I'll tell you, making sure that everything is in alignment with you and yourself. That's why I said start with self. That's why we started with self. Because I didn't wanna start with vision casting first, which seemed like the more obvious.

thing to do, right? But I wanna make sure that you are really, really content with yourself before you start casting your vision for anything else, right? So aligning it with your values and visualizing this. Again, visualizing like closing your eyes, blinders on. You know, now if you're watching the video, my eyes are closed. I'm literally doing this right now. Like, what does this look like? I am picturing.

That's long term, short term: 2024

short-term vision looks like really, really very simple, consistent, not changing up my offers, repeating myself over and over and over, getting known, expanding my audience, doing bigger things in the women business enterprise space. There's a big vision there, like getting on stages. Can you...

visualize that, right? You can visualize it, but then you need to set the state. You need to set the stage, so to speak, but you've got to take the action steps, right? So this is why that visualization piece is so, so important to really sit and go, okay, you can visualize being on stage all day long. What's it going to take to get there? And what do you want to be talking about? What do you want? What's the goal with it? Why do you want to be on stage? Do you want to be on stage because you want to be a public speaker? Do you want to be on stage because

Michelle (: 15:57

Everybody says you'd be a great speaker. Do you wanna be on stage because you wanna make an impact? Do you wanna be on stage because you love to motivate people? Do you wanna be on stage because you've got a story and a message you want the world to hear? Why do you wanna be on stage, right? Like maybe that's just one of the things, okay? So that's that. And then there's a couple things business related when it comes to vision casting. And one of the things that I always do in the BizFly program, and we're actually gonna dive even deeper into this.

um, in the focus visionary this year, because again, the first dive deep, so the first week of December, which is when it kicks off, that is where we really focus on these types of things. So everything that we're doing in this mini series, but at a different level, like, right, like we started with the IG that's kind of like base level. Then we moved into the podcast. That's middle level, but like the focus visionary is high level diving in individually, like working together.

e thinking of your vision for: 2024

gonna be a non-negotiable for: 2024

We had dinner, I left my food digest, and I went and did that, right? Like it's becoming a non-negotiable. There has to be a level of discipline here. But non-negotiables could also mean saying no, right? Non-negotiables could be not changing up your offers all the time, right? Like that is going to be a massive non-negotiable for me. And I am going to plaster it everywhere that I see it in my new office, which I can't wait. Remember I told you about it last week. Ah, I can't wait to have my own new office.

Michelle (: 18:14

But like what are those non-negotiables, right? Like not investing into more courses. That was one of my non-negotiables for 2023. I don't think I invested into too many courses. I invested into people, but I didn't really buy any courses. So I stuck with that, right? And then like, what do you wanna be known for, right? Thinking about this, like what do you want to be known for? And then if you wanna dive even deeper is,

went all in on coffee club in: 2023

I did episodes on it. I talk about it all the time about how it kind of tanked my income, but I was okay with it. I learned a lot from it, but now I also know what I want to do and all of that. And as I've been reflecting and as the years progressed, I realized that I was really getting known for networking, right? Networking, power connector. And at the end of the day, like I don't want to be known for that. I want to be known for this level of strategic planning, for that growth planning, right?

business partner strategist that helps you grow your business, right? Growth. What does that look like? Is it growth from, you know, adding on new locations? Is it growth and adding on new employees? Is it like whatever growth means to you? Right. But like as a business strategist, I want to be known as the growth expert. But also, as I introduced myself the other day in a networking, it was like, I actually help you create the plan.

and execute it, right? Like that's what I want to be known for is not just the person that helps you create the plan because that's easy, right? Like everybody can help you create a business plan, like, yay. But I want to be known as the person that actually holds you accountable to executing the plan, right? Executing the plans that you set in place, right? The strategy, that very strategic mind. If you want customized strategic support, go talk to Michelle, right? She's, she's going to help you grow. That's what I want to be known for.

Michelle (: 20:34

I was reflecting back on my, if you're watching the video, I've got it right here. My 2023 vision says right here, what do I want to be known for in 2023? Networking. Like, so I manifested that because I am known for that, but I'm like, I don't know.

That's not what I want to be known for. Like that is just a piece of what I do. Relationship marketing is what if, if I were going to pick anything, it's not networking, it's relationship marketing. It's how to build solid relationships, how to create community, how to create loyal fans, how to stay in touch, how to stay top of mind. That, yeah, absolutely. I want to be known for that. Just networking. No, like I don't even know, but this is where I'm saying, this is why this work is so important to do all the time and every single year because

things I put on my vision for: 2023

That's what I'm telling you, this work is so, so powerful. Okay, so those are just some key pieces. The other thing is, okay, so here's a couple other prompts if you really want some other prompts, and they'll be on the worksheet, okay? At the end of the year, what'll be my key success factors? That to me is one of the best vision casting questions. When you're thinking about your aligned goals and like casting the vision for the new year, this would fall under short term, but like,

What will be your key success factors? All right, I highly recommend that they are not financial related, right? Because it's so easy to get wrapped up in the financial side of it. And if it is financial related, I would look at it in terms of percentages, right? A key success factor. Did revenue increase by at least 20%? Did...

Michelle (: 22:49

your conversion rate increased by a minimum of 5%. Something like that, is that something? Key success factors. But one of my other key success factors was loyalty. Do I have loyal clients? Do I have a loyal list of raving fans? That's something that is very important to me and I can tell you, I absolutely do. I love, love and appreciate every single one of you. I appreciate my loyal listeners. I appreciate, I truly appreciate loyalty more.

and value loyalty, probably more than just about anything. So a constant incoming flow of leads, is my pipeline continuing to be filled? That's a key success factor to me.

raving testimonials. Like I was on a networking call yesterday and somebody that was in my program was there and I just sent her a direct message on Zoom and said, Hey, it's so great to see you. And she responded back with great to see you too. I absolutely love your newsletter. I look forward to it every Sunday. Like, Oh my God, that is just when you send those little messages off to people, that's such an amazing feeling. Right? So that was something that's a key success factor. Okay. It's working. Right? Like

something I never expected in: 2023

sending you the email like I do that. I wasn't in the beginning and now I do and I love it. It takes me a little bit longer than probably like an expert at it, but I just love it so much. And so to get a message like that, I just, it like makes my heart sing, right? So again, those are such defining key success factors. And that's what I would really look at. I'm looking at my sheet here to see if I can give you any other ones.

Michelle (: 25:02

And then overall, how do I want the year ahead to feel? Right, like how do I want it to feel? For me in 2024, again, I haven't done this work deep. I do it every year with everybody inside the program. I usually maybe do it a little bit like a week before just because I wanna make sure that the worksheets flow correctly and like everything that I'm doing for the program flows. So I've been actually really deep in this work right now. But overall, like for me next year,

2024, I want it to feel expansive. I want it to feel uncomfortable, but warm at the same time. Like I wanna meet, I wanna really focus on relationships. I wanna really focus on my network. I wanna focus and get back to what I know works for me in my business, which is building relationships and relationship marketing and less content marketing. I want it to feel fun. I want it to feel invigorating.

but I also want it to have a feeling of simplicity. Again, not changing up my offers. Here's who I am, here's what I do. I'm really trying to hone in and work around this getting known for one thing and not being like feeling like I've gotta beat everything to everybody, right? Like I want it to feel like so simple and to flow with ease. And so again, that's a, it's a great exercise to really spend some time doing that.

You've got your worksheets, take some time, fill it out, blinders on, and just have fun with us. Dream big, visualize big, all right? But make sure everything is in alignment with you, all right? And please, please check the link. We are getting ready to kick off the Focus Visionary December 4th, I think it is, whatever. Yeah, December 4th. And if you have not.

watched the video or had looked into it at all, or you still have questions. I had, I was on a call with a client the other day. She asked me questions. What does it look like? I, I can't talk about it enough and it's so hard for me to put into words what this is. But if you have any questions or you're on the fence at all, again, I also added in there like risk-free, like if at any point you feel like this is not you, you know what I mean? Cause it is a 12 month commitment. I get that. That's scary. Um, I hear you.

Michelle (: 27:21

I have trouble committing to 12 month things as well. So I get it, 100%. So there's a risk free guarantee. I am not that person that's ever going to lock you into anything you do not want to do. I promise that it will be worth it and you will want to stay for the entire 12 months. But if at any point life changes, business changes, things change, it's not for you, like trust me, I am not going to make you pay for something you are not using. All right. So there's absolutely no risk.

No risk. I want to make sure that you feel like there is only benefit and that, yes, I want you to be, make the scary decision to commit, but I don't want you to feel like, because I know I've a lot of you have some horror stories about, about getting locked into programs like that. And I absolutely promise 100%. I will never ever do that. Okay. So anyways, ask me the questions, send me the links, have fun with this vision, share your vision with me.

share it on Instagram, tag me, leave a review, whatever. Like do all the things, all right? Just have fun, have fun, all right? Love you, talk to you soon.