212: How Stating Your Vision Out Loud Impacts Your Goals

Welcome to the She Thinks Big! Podcast. Get ready to level up your thinking and expand your horizons. I’m your host, Andrea Liebross, your guide on this journey of big ideas and bold moves. I am the best-selling author of She Thinks Big: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Guide to Moving Past the Messy Middle and Into the Extraordinary.

I support women like you with the insights and mindset you need to think bigger and the strategies and systems you need to turn that thinking into action and make it all a reality. Are you ready to stop thinking small and start thinking big? Let’s dive in.

Hello, my friends, and welcome back to the She Thinks Big Podcast. How are you doing? Are you guys all staying warm this winter? We're almost at spring. We're getting closer and closer and closer, but we're not quite there yet. Today what I've got for you is a deep dive into a deceptively simple yet, I'll call it transformative practice of stating your vision, really stating anything out loud or aloud.

I'm going to share with you why this act of stating things aloud combined with writing and visualization can really change the way you approach your goals and why skipping over the vision part to jump straight into the action could be the reason that you're feeling stuck. Plus I'm going to explain to you some experiences that some of my clients have had once they have stated some things aloud. Let's just dive in.

But first, before we go into this aloud thing, I want to just review with you why visioning is so important. So often, we just want to skip over the vision part of business growth or business strategy and head straight into the action. This is the classic “Andrea, just tell me what to do. I'm really good at following instructions.”

It feels more productive when we take action, so no wonder we want to jump right to the action, but here is the thing. Without a clear vision, the actions can feel kind of scattered and uninspired. Visioning is what creates the roadmap for your actions. I'm going to say that again. Visioning is what creates the roadmap for your actions, like your actions go down on the roadmap, they're placed on top of your vision.

When I do a Vision to Action Intensive, we do spend about half the time on your vision and half the time on your actions. This vision part is so important and cannot be skipped. Why? I think for three reasons. Number one, clarity. The clear vision helps you understand where you're going. Without it, you might end up taking steps that don't align with your ultimate goals. You go off track, you see shiny objects, things that seem important.

Some people say this is like squirrels. They often fall off track, they get sidetracked. Without having the clarity of a vision, you don't necessarily know if the actions you're taking are going to get you where you want to go. Second reason I think why visioning is so important, motivation. You can see and feel what success looks like when you create a vision.

When you can see and feel what success looks like, it keeps you energized even as you go through what I call that messy middle. You need a vision to be able to see and feel what that success is going to look like, to be able to stay on track, to be able to remain in a motivated state. That's the second reason.

Then the third reason I think you need a vision is strategic alignment. Visioning really does ensure that your daily actions contribute to the bigger picture. They keep you focused on what truly matters. Clarity, so you know where you're going, motivation, so you can see and feel what it's going to be when you get there, and then strategic alignment, so you can assure that your daily actions are really contributing to the greater good or to making the vision happen.

This is why in that Vision To Action Intensive, we start with visioning. We craft a clear picture of where you want to be, whether it's in a year, in five years, in 10 years down the road, and then and only then we map out the steps to get there. Before we can map out the steps, before we can figure out the action, we need the vision.

Now, I want to share with you a story about a client I'm going to call Olivia. During one of these Vision To Action Intensives, I asked her to describe her dream business 10 years from now. Really her dream life 10 years from now. At first, she hesitated because you know what people say, “I can't even make it past today.” But then she said, “If you really want to know, Andrea, I see myself traveling to Europe to source fabrics for my top-tier clients. These trips will be paid for by the client and I'm going to get to work exclusively with top-notch fabric houses to find one-of-a-kind materials for my clients.”

Then she paused almost as if she was surprised by her own words and she added in, “I don't think I've ever said that aloud before. I don't think I've ever said what I really would love to happen. My dream, I don't think I've ever said it aloud.” That moment really changed everything. Speaking her vision aloud made it real. It gave her the clarity and the confidence that she needed to start building toward it.

Think about that. When she said it aloud, it made that vision real. Saying things aloud gets them out of your head and gets them into the universe. It makes it real. Another client of mine, I'm going to call her Penelope, had a similar experience. When I asked her what success looked like, she admitted that she'd always dreamed of hosting global leadership retreats for women in business around the world at beautiful locations.

She had never said that before. She just kept it in her own backyard, in her city. She'd never said, "You know what I really want to do? I want to take these globally." Saying that aloud gave her the courage really to take the first step, and now she's hosted two retreats with her second selling out an entire resort.

So the act of saying your vision aloud really brings you clarity. It creates some accountability, and it does spark some confidence. So this is the multimodal approach. When I do a Vision To Action Intensive, we take a multimodal approach. We combined three powerful modalities.

We stated aloud, like I just described to you, and that makes your vision tangible and it builds your commitment. Then we write it down, we create a blueprint, something you can revisit and refine and measure progress against and then we visualize it and that taps into your emotions. It really helps you feel what success would look like and keeps you motivated to move forward.

One of my last questions of the section of this Vision To Action Intensive when we work on the vision part, is I say, “Is this motivating to you? Does this feel motivating to you?” Yes, each of these steps activates a different part of your brain and emotions. Really together, they create this holistic approach. The word holistic gets thrown around a lot, but think about this, stating something aloud, writing it down, visualization, they all activate different parts of your brain, and that's powerful.

If you do this exercise on your own, I highly doubt you're stating it aloud. I highly doubt you're visualizing it. I really think you're probably just writing it down. That's not nearly as impactful as accessing all three modalities prior to determining these action steps.

Next piece of the puzzle. I want to talk about revenue goals just for a minute. For many women, stating a revenue goal out loud feels very vulnerable, but your revenue goal isn't really just a number. It's an engine that powers your vision. If we don't have the revenue to support the vision, we're in trouble.

Think about revenue as not a number, but an engine that powers your vision. For Olivia, her vision of sourcing fabrics in Europe needed a revenue goal to match. If she sets her sights on $1.5 million annually, number one, that number to her originally felt very intimidating.

But once she said it aloud, we were able to break it down into some actionable steps. What services would she offer? What clients would she need to attract? What investments would she need to make?

When you say your revenue goal aloud, you're giving yourself permission to want success and aligning your actions to achieve it. Think about that. If you want to go to Europe to source fabrics, what clients are going to be sending you to Europe? What kinds of projects are you going to be working on?

All right, now we get a better picture. Now we see where the revenue might need to be. Now we see where we might need to take action, and what we need to invest in. You're giving yourself permission to take big action. Not just have big thinking, but to take big action.

Here's your challenge for today. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to find a quiet space, and I want you to say your vision aloud, and I want you to start with the phrase, "In 10 years, I see myself X, Y, and Z.” Sometimes people like to do this in their car because no one is listening. Sometimes people like to do it in the mirror.

Wherever it is, I want you to say aloud, “In 10 years I see myself X, Y, and Z.” Then I want you to write down what you said. I want you to include your revenue goal that is supporting your dream. I do want you to do the writing down part. Then the third thing is I want you to close your eyes and visualize yourself living that reality.

What are you going to be wearing in Europe? What kind of resort are you going to have this retreat at? Now if this is resonating with you, I do want to invite you to join me for Vision To Action Intensive. If you're wondering, “How do I even get started on this? Andrea, it all sounds great, but I won't do it,” then I'm inviting you if you won't do this on your own—which is really hard to do on your own, my friends, I can't even do it on my own—then I want to invite you to come join me in a Vision To Action Intensive.

This is really a one-day experience. It's a gateway into coaching. It is perfect if you've ever thought, "I wonder what coaching would do for me or could do for me," we'll work together to craft your vision, write it down, say it aloud, and then map out the first actionable steps to make it happen. For many women, this intensive is really the first time that they've allowed themselves to dream this big.

You do it in a small group. Most of these Vision To Action Intensives, I do in small groups. Other people are hearing you, which again is vulnerable, but the results of saying things aloud are transformative. It's so, so powerful. I can't even tell you how powerful it is.

This Vision To Action Intensive though, is also a way to test the waters of coaching before diving into a longer-term commitment. If you're curious about what coaching is about, this might be a great way to experience some coaching and leave with a tangible vision and some tangible action steps.

If you're ready to take it further, I want you to book a spot in my next Vision To Action Intensive. I usually do them once a month. You can check out what it all looks like by going to my website and clicking on the coaching tab. Then you will see Vision To Action Intensive. You can get some more details there.

You could always book a call with me if you want even more details. But I do these about once a month. I do them in a small group, spots are limited. In 2024, I sold out every single month, and in fact, some months I did it twice, so I had double the number of clients doing a Vision To Action intensive in the month.

You want to book this ahead of time. This is not something that you necessarily decide today and do tomorrow. This is something that you decide today, and you might do it next month or the month after.

But you want to get your spot on the calendar. You want the opportunity to say things aloud. You want a guide to help you write it down in a way that's going to be impactful. You want someone there to help push you to really dive into your vision.

That's it for today. That's what I got for you. Today's episode of She Thinks Big. Remember, the extraordinary future you, go listen to some of my episodes on future you, begins with your vision. It begins with your vision. I want you to speak boldly. I want you to write things intentionally. I want you to visualize with purpose.

If Olivia and Penelope can do it, you can. Your big dreams really deserve your voice. They deserve your voice. They deserve to be said and stated. Then they deserve your action. We have to start with the vision and then the action. I have a whole series about the importance of knowing your vision, and I will put the link to that Spotify playlist at the end of this episode in the show notes.

Just scroll down, and look at the show notes. You're going to see there a link to the Vision To Action Intensive, a link to book a call, a link to my playlist on visioning, and probably some other great goodies too. Okay, friends, until next time, keep thinking big. Let's do it.

Thanks for tuning into the She Thinks Big! Podcast. If you're ready to learn the secret to unleashing your full potential, don't forget to grab a copy of my book, She Thinks Big: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Guide to Moving Past the Messy Middle and Into the Extraordinary. It's available on Amazon and at your favorite bookstore.

And while you're there, grab a copy for a friend. Inside, you'll both find actionable strategies and empowering insights to help you navigate the complexities of entrepreneurship and life, and step confidently into your extraordinary future.

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