In my last article, I wrote about the first type of business plan, which is really having no plan at all. The sad fact is that more than 90 percent of business owners and sales representatives have no real plan for their businesses or their lives.
The second of the three types of plans is what I call a “predictable plan.” A predictable plan plots out basic predictable goals.
Typically, a predictable plan includes mostly predictable strategies and tactics. A plan that only calls for 5 percent growth is a predictable plan. The goal is basic, and the plans to accomplish the goal usually are basic, too.
The good news is that a predictable plan is at least a plan. It’s much better than no plan at all. The fact, however, is that a predictable plan usually does not harness all the capabilities and capacities of the business or person.
The third type of plan is a “big dream.” It’s a fantasy; something that you might even hesitate to share with others for fear of ridicule. But big dreams can come true. Fantasies can become reality.
Walt Disney had a fantasy to build amusement parks where families could have amazing times for generations. Bill Gates had a fantasy to provide virtually all the software for the coming widespread adoption of personal computers he foresaw. Mark Zuckerberg had a fantasy of an entire world connecting on Facebook. My guess is that there were many people who may have laughed at them when they had their initial fantasies. But no one’s laughing now.
It’s the same for you. You are within an hour’s drive of $250 million to $2 billion in promotional product, printing and custom packaging sales. And there’s no law that says you cannot get it all. $250 million to $2 billion. Why not have a big dream? A huge fantasy? It’s no more difficult to have a big dream than a small one.
Most people go through life dealing with the tyranny of the urgent, dashing from one urgent issue to another. The fact is that so many people are so busy dashing, majoring in the minors, that their lives will be summed up by dashes. A dash on their tombstones between the day they were born and the day they died.
Let me encourage you to take a break from the dashing. Take a break and think about what a big dream could be for you, your family and your legacy. What huge fantasy would you like to achieve in your lifetime?
Big dreams are free. So are huge fantasies. But neither will happen in your life until you decide to make them happen.
In my next and final article on this topic, I will discuss how to create a great plan to build an amazing business and life. Until then, dream big.
