Building an Empire
When you dream about the future, is it one of your goals to build an empire?
EMPIRE: a large commercial organization owned or controlled by one person or group.
Sometimes the word “empire” brings up some negative emotions or has a negative connotation. When you are Making an Impact, it will lead to building an empire - so you can impact more people. When you Build an Empire, it leads to Creating a Legacy.
Now is the perfect time to get clear on your goals for the season ahead and for the future. As a studio, you are building a commercial organization. Now you need to grow that. To grow the organization, you have to be clear on your goals.
You might have heard the Ackerman and Ackerman acronym SMART goals. I’m going to break them down for you today.
S is SMART. It is smart to have a clear, specific outcome in mind. SMART goals are the key to your success. This means that you narrow your focus and get a concise picture of the goal. There are so many things that you could take a look at in your business - social media, marketing, financials, teaching, curriculum, etc. When we know what we want to achieve, it helps us create the steps that we need to achieve that goal and makes us focused on staying on that path, without all the other distractions.
The M is Measurable. I talk about tracking and measuring everything, including your goals, often. It's important for us to have metrics set up and a way to track our data in order to know and evaluate whether we have actually met our goals. Measurable goals and objectives can be quantitative and they can also be qualitative.
The A is Achievable. It's important to prioritize achievability. This isn't about playing small. We want to stretch and we want to grow, but the goals have to be achievable. If I say I want to buy my own private airplane and I want to do that by the end of this month, that is not achievable. It helps you kind of learn how to experiment with things and see what is the best way to achieve your goals.
The R is Relevant. Your goals need to be relevant and lead to what you actually desire. What is it that you really, really want? Not what you think you need to do, but what you really, really want. Your goals have to be relevant to what it is that you so desire. Your goal is your North Star and you have to be in alignment to that.
The T is Timely. You need to have a timeframe in which you want to achieve these goals. Set the date. A deadline can be a powerful motivator. Demand avoidance kicks in, where you do everything but until you can’t push it off any longer due to the deadline. You can learn to work with your demand avoidance by recognizing your tendencies and focusing on each small step you need to take and stop it in its tracks.
Getting clear on your goals is so Important for you to actually to be Build an Empire.
What does your Empire look like to you and what's your vision of success? Your empire is not meant to look the same as my empire or someone else’s empire. You get to decide what your empire looks like.
You can do more. You can make a bigger Impact. You can create a Legacy. You have to first figure out what you desire and then get clear on your goals and your why behind those goals.
