So today, I did something that I never thought I would do.
I registered for my very first 10km run in our local running festival (the Dubbo Stampede – yep we run around a zoo!). I have been thinking about this for quite some time now, as you can imagine (especially if you are a non-runner like me ) that you don’t just run 10km without doing some kind of prep – which I have, but first a little back story.
Like me, you as a business owner, no doubt, have strained under the pressures of running a business, raising children and just getting older and wondering where that bright young thing with boundless goals went! That was me 3 years ago – really in a rut. One of the many things that I eventually looked to change on my path to feeling and being better was fitness, both physical and mental. Fitness that didn’t cost a huge amount, that I could do at home on my own time and on my own terms.
So I found this fantastic online running group called Operation Move – joined the program, signed up to the Facebook group and posted this crazy goal that I wanted to be able to run 10km in our local running festival.
I mean really run 10km; are you kidding? (I am still a little scared even typing that out.)
Anyhow, that was almost 12 months ago now, and 2 programs later, I have actually registered and I am pretty sure that whilst I have registered for the 10km, I may not actually run the entire distance, but I sure will kick past the entry level race of 5km and I can just start to feel the sense of accomplishment I am going to feel when I cross that finish line.
When I started to turn my mind to achieving something with this fitness and running thing, I knew that entering the 5km was not going to be enough. I normally walk that, so where was the challenge, where was the sense of accomplishment, where was my opportunity to really go beyond what I normally might expect of myself.
A part of me knew that I could do more, that if I tried and prepared – even if I came up short – I would be way beyond the 5km mark. And how amazing would that be?
I have a running plan that stretches me closer and closer to achieving my goal. Each week I run further and faster than I ever thought possible 12 months ago. The entire process has been divided into chunks so that end goal seems huge, but each step along the way is just a small step designed to help me get there.
This change in thinking is something I have come to learn about myself and apply this to my business. For the last 17 years, my husband and I have grown from our garage our Digital Marketing & Systems Agency. Our roles have been quite separate ( which is just as well as we wanted to remain married!) with my husband taking the more entrepreneurial part, with me being the implementer – the person who made the things that need to happen, happen to reach those goals.
Over the years, I have, at times, been a significant handbrake on those big dreams. Where he has been inclined to think really big, I have tended to want to bring it back in small. He has wanted to take on the world; I have wanted to secure my patch, feel safe, stay in my comfort zone.
But in these last 3 years, a distinct shift has occurred in my thinking. Just like my approach to the running idea, I have realised what being afraid to put out there some big numbers and big dreams has done. I have constrained my own growth. Whether it has been because I am more naturally inclined to sit in the implementation side of a business, or I have been more comfortable in the doing part of our business, I am not sure. But I have now made that significant mind shift re business.
Whilst for years, I may have dismissed growth plans of men in business as “mantalk”. You know, you have seen it, talk the big game – but not actually follow through. I now see that there is actually power in talking the big game. Not only the power in thinking bigger, but coupled with my natural inclination to do (and for many women business owners, you understand what I am talking about here ) means that we have great power to really grow our business.
I am just starting a new business, a natural progression from our agency and as I sat down to plan out the numbers for the first year, I let go of my old cautious me. I would have thought small, afraid to put higher numbers in the plan, because you know, I might fail, I would fall short and what would that say about me and my business skills?
What might happen if I write down the bigger numbers? What if I speak them aloud to my partner? What then?
You know what happens? You actually grow.
Maybe you hit your target, maybe you don’t – but you grow in confidence that those big dreams and big numbers can happen to you. You start to see them in your mind’s eye.
In 2015, we rebranded our business and wrote down a goal to double our revenue. Guess what? We did! I was no longer afraid to go after that bigger number and put my implementation skills to work to make it a reality. Breaking down the large task into smaller, manageable chunks, design to edge us closer to that big goal, but not scare the life out of me.
This year, I intend to grow my new business to 6 figures from zero. OMG, yes.
How? Write it down. Speak it aloud. Put those steps in place.
Will I get there? I don’t know – but I am going to give it a red hot go, because I know that not putting out there the bigger goal is just holding me back. And the only disappointment then is not missing my goal, but not trying for one in the first place.
What holds you back from achieving your big goals? Do you put constraints on yourself? Do you think we as women are more inclined to do this? Have you experienced the joy of achieving a running goal? What is going to be your 10km run this financial year?
