Review everything you wrote in days 1-6. If all of these things happen by your target date, what will your energy look like on that date? How will you feel?
Remember to write about your energy in present tense (for example, write “I feel” or “My health is” instead of “I will feel” or “My health should be”).
How to Make it Happen
As you complete this week, I hope you’re creating a vision that makes you excited for a happy and successful future.
Today’s goal asks you to reflect on what you’ve said will happen, looking particularly for how you’ll feel once you’ve accomplished it.
Energy and feelings are hard to predict. Scientists have created entire studies around predicting future emotions–this is called “affective forecasting.”
Research shows that we over-predict what our future happiness looks like. We overestimate how good we’ll feel about accomplishing future goals. This can lead to disappointment when we finally complete the goal and there’s no emotional epiphany.
The same is true for bad things–we typically think we’ll feel worse about them than we actually do. Often, we do not start the business, put up the website, or create the videos/audios because we’re afraid of the worst. However, research shows that “the worst” ain’t that bad.
Basically, nothing is ever as good or bad as it seems. We just have to roll with the punches. And your goal today is to determine where your energy and emotions fit on that scale.
You can watch more about affective forecasting in this video:
So, how can affective forecasting help you complete Day 7’s goal? So glad you asked!
When you’re considering your energy and how you feel on your target date, look for instances where you’re saying things like, “Oh I feel so happy all the time!” OR “I don’t have a care in the world!” OR “I never have to work again!”.
While you may experience some of these extremes, you’re setting yourself up for many disappointments if you rely on entrepreneurship and business ownership to make and keep you happy.
The hustle is hard. And, once you create that ideal vision for yourself and your business, you’ll probably have many (more) long days and nights ahead.
Today’s exercise will help you recognize how close your future success might be to burnout, so that you can take steps to avoid the latter.
The more you prepare yourself for the peaks and the valleys, the better off you’ll be.
I wish you much success!
I hope you enjoyed this Day 7 goal!
If you’d like to share your vision with me on social media, tag me
@shontaviajesq (on all platforms) and use the #VisionChallenge hashtag
so that I can see it.
If nothing else, take a picture of your completed workbook page and post it so that I know you’re alive out there.
See you tomorrow!
Join my support network
Download the app
Studies show that you’re more likely to meet your goals when you have
accountability partners! To work together with a supportive community
of other side-hustlers, creatives and entrepreneurs, you can join my
private group by clicking this link or via the Mighty Networks App.
Download the Mighty Network app by clicking here.
Once it downloads, click “Find a Mighty Network” and search for
Shontavia Johnson. You’ll find accountability partners and other content
there that I may not share elsewhere.
New to the #VisionChallenge? You can learn more about it, and sign up to take the challenge, by clicking here.
Sometimes I will refer you to other books, products or services.
While I may be an affiliate of these companies, creators, or authors,
these are all things I have used and trust. I would not recommend these
things to you if I hadn’t experienced them myself.
Go back to the target date you picked on Day 1 and determine how you and your business are making money.
Remember to write about your business in present tense (for example, write “My business makes money by” or “I make money by” instead of “My business will make money by” or “I plan to make money by”).
How to Make it Happen
Today, your goal is to fill in the three blanks on page 16 of your Vision Challenge workbook. In particular, these blanks address how much money your business will be making by your target date.
Money is a tough conversation for many people, particularly when they are new to business ownership and entrepreneurship. If, however, you want to build a self-sustaining business, you must get comfortable with both talking about money and asking for it when needed.
I recently posted an Instagram video related to this, titled “How to recession proof your life.” My basic solutions are to:
Identify other people’s problems;
Create a solution (products, services, or time); and
After you have a chance to watch the video, go back to page 16 of the workbook.
The three blanks on page 16 are deceivingly complicated because they require you to finally start putting numbers to paper. In addition to projecting numbers like total revenue (which can be pie-in-the-sky), you’ll have to spend some time thinking about how much it costs to start and run your business and where the money will come from. You’ll also have to decide how much you will take home each year and how much you will leave in the business.
If you want to get even more specific, you can also fill out pages 17-18 in your Vision Challenge workbook. Not everyone will be ready to tackle these optional pages, and that is completely okay.
I do suggest, however, that no matter where you are in terms of your business ownership, open the calculator app on your phone and play around with the numbers.
I hope you enjoyed this Day 6 goal!
If you’d like to share your vision with me on social media, tag me @shontaviajesq (on all platforms) and use the #VisionChallenge hashtag so that I can see it.
If nothing else, take a picture of your completed workbook page and post it so that I know you’re alive out there.
See you tomorrow!
Join my support network
Download the app
Studies show that you’re more likely to meet your goals when you have accountability partners! To work together with a supportive community of other side-hustlers, creatives and entrepreneurs, you can join my private group by clicking this link or via the Mighty Networks App.
Download the Mighty Network app by clicking here. Once it downloads, click “Find a Mighty Network” and search for Shontavia Johnson. You’ll find accountability partners and other content there that I may not share elsewhere.
New to the #VisionChallenge? You can learn more about it, and sign up to take the challenge, by clicking here.
Sometimes I will refer you to other books, products or services. While I may be an affiliate of these companies, creators, or authors, these are all things I have used and trust. I would not recommend these things to you if I hadn’t experienced them myself.
Let’s keep it real—it is hard to put yourself out there. Maybe there’s a book you want to write. Or a new job you want to apply for. Or a business you want to start. But, you can’t get out of your own head long enough to actually take any steps forward.
Many of us are paralyzed by self-doubt, fear, or naysayers (internet trolls are the freaking worst). However, most of us won’t give truth to power and admit this. Instead, we make excuses like, “I don’t have enough time!” or “my [spouse/kids/job] take all of my energy!” or “I’m just too busy to do this right now.”
Of course, everyone deals with real obstacles and challenges in life. But, at some point we all have to face the fact that we often dress up our excuses because we don’t want to risk the consequences of failure.
One of my favorite memes online says, “be brave enough to suck at something new.” This is my entire #schmood for this year. It isn’t about not having fear, but about sucking it up and doing it anyway.
In this Thursday Thoughts episode, I provide thoughts to a listener who seems to be experiencing aaaaallll of the things that keep us from taking action. I share some of my own self-doubts and fears and provide three strategies for how you can keep pushing anyway.
Check it out below.
How to Put Yourself Out There
To recap, my basic suggestions are to:
Give yourself grace
Start with your strengths
Get over it and do it anyway
Questions & Action: Take a Baby Step
After you’ve had a chance to watch the video, I’d love to hear from you in the comments section!
Please answer these questions for me:
What is holding you back from putting yourself out there?
What brave baby step can you take this week?
Please give as much information as you can in response to these questions. I’d be happy to share more tools and resources that help you get what you want. And, I know the other folks reading this can learn from your experiences! We are all in this together.
Finally, I always say that I’m on a mission to help people build the brands, businesses and lives that they love. We can learn from each other on this journey, particularly when we have accountability partners. This is why I am building a whole nation of side-hustlers, creatives and business owners who hold each other–-and me–-accountable.
Download the app
You can join my network online and via app. Check us out at programs.shontavia.com or via the Mighty Networks App.
Download the Mighty Network app by clicking here.
Once it downloads, click “Find a Mighty Network” and search for
Shontavia Johnson. You’ll find content there that I may not share
elsewhere.
Thank you so much for joining me on this roller coaster of an
experience. I am eternally grateful that I get to do this work with
wonderful people each day.
Go to the target date you picked on Day 1 and determine who your business helps.
Remember to write about your business in present tense (for example, write “My business helps” or “I help” instead of “My business will help” or “I plan to help”).
How to Make it Happen
The Otis Rule
My advice today is to apply the Otis Rule to your business. What’s the OtisRule? I’m so glad you asked!
The explanation of the rule requires a little backstory:
One of my favorite television experiences of all time is a four-hour television miniseries called The Temptations. If you’ve never seen it, it chronicles the tumultuous years of the R&B singing group of the same name.
There’s a famous scene where group members Otis Williams and David Ruffins (being played by actors) are having a heated discussion about David’s behavior, which is becoming disruptive to the group. David, who is one of the lead singers and the most flamboyant member, tells his group members that he’s the one selling the records and that the fans are “coming to see me.”
Otis replies that the fans are coming to see The Temptations as a group, not any one person. Otis’s response may be my favorite line in TV history: “Ain’t nobody coming to see you Otis!”
Consequently, the Otis Rule requires that you apply this line to your business–ain’t nobody coming to see you, Otis. They are coming to get help, improve their lives, and solve the problems they are facing. While your awards and accolades are great, what will be better for your business is the help you give to others.
This is what makes people repeat customers/clients to your business.
Apply the Otis Rule in Your Business
One major mistake that new and wannabe business owners make is to make everything in their business and brand about themselves.
For example, the business website is all about how smart and great they are. Their social media accounts are all about their lives, how amazing things are going in the business, and pictures that represent the products or services they are selling with links for purchase but not much context.
“SO blessed to be named to XYZ list!”
“Traveling to the beach to plan for the next phase of business! #entrepreneurlife”
“I just wrote a new book! Please go buy it at blahblahblah.com!”
Sound familiar?
Listen. Your potential clients and customers don’t care about you.
They care about how your business can help them. This is why the root word of the day is help.
However, before you can decide how your business will help people, you have to figure out who “people” are. After you apply the Otis Rule and take yourself out of the equation, ask yourself whose life is easier because of your work and business? Who are you actually helping?
The next section will give you some suggestions on how to identify these people.
Kickstarter Questions
If you need help identifying who you will help in your business, here are some kickstarter questions to get your brain moving and thoughts flowing. Pick a few and see where it goes.
What groups of people need your help?
What big problems are they facing?
Which answers are they desperate for?
Where are these people geographically?
Where are these people on social media?
What are their biggest priorities?
What kind of work do these people do?
My Story
Even though the Otis Rule is always top of mind for me, I still sometimes struggle to apply this rule myself. I like to share my successes (and hear about the success of others). I am also the face and brand of my business, so it is easy for me to talk about myself and what I’m doing.
If you find yourself in a similar position, ask yourself how you can take your own awards, travel and experiences and help people with it and/or teach a new lesson or skill.
So, if, for instance, you’ve been invited to speak at a conference, instead of just talking about going to speak at a conference, create some content around how the people you’re helping can get the same kinds of invitations.
These strategies have helped me stay on track with my clients and customers in mind, and I hope they do the same for you.
Finally, if you’d like to share your vision with me on social media, tag me @shontaviajesq (on all platforms) and use the #VisionChallenge hashtag so that I can see it.
If nothing else, take a picture of your completed workbook page and post it so that I know you’re alive out there.
See you tomorrow!
Join my support network
Download the app
Studies show that you’re more likely to meet your goals when you have accountability partners! To work together with a supportive community of other side-hustlers, creatives and entrepreneurs, you can join my private group by clicking this link or via the Mighty Networks App.
Download the Mighty Network app by clicking here. Once it downloads, click “Find a Mighty Network” and search for Shontavia Johnson. You’ll find accountability partners and other content there that I may not share elsewhere.
New to the #VisionChallenge? You can learn more about it, and sign up to take the challenge, by clicking here.
Sometimes I will refer you to other books, products or services. While I may be an affiliate of these companies, creators, or authors, these are all things I have used and trust. I would not recommend these things to you if I hadn’t experienced them myself.
Answer the following question – why do you want to start your business?
How to Make it Happen
Today’s goal is straightforward–your entire job is to write down your “why.” What, or who, is motivating you to start your business?
Identifying what motivates you will be critically important as you continue down this path. Things will get difficult and you may want to throw in the towel. But, if you know and keep your motivations in mind, you will be more likely to stick with it when you face challenges and roadblocks.
If you’re like many people, money may be one of your motivations. Money definitely has some motivational effects–these bills don’t pay themselves, right?
Of course, money gives us access to some incredible things, and it is fine to want those things. If money is one of the reasons you want to start a business, don’t be ashamed to admit it. Say it with your chest!
But, money-based motivation alone doesn’t last very long. A few years ago, the Harvard Business Review published an article about this, noting that money is not a sufficient motivator over the long-term when it comes to salaries, jobs and careers. One group of researchers looked at more than a century of research and basically found that there’s very little correlation between money and job satisfaction.
As such, even if you start your business and make tons of money, your financial success probably won’t keep you happy, fulfilled, or motivated to continue over the long term.
So if money isn’t the answer, what is? What is pulling you in this direction? The key today is to identify as many “whys” as possible.
Kickstarter Questions
If you need help with today’s goal, here are some kickstarter questions to get your brain moving and thoughts flowing:
What is motivating you to start your business?
Why do you care whether your business succeeds or fails?
Who else will care if your business succeeds or fails?
Whose lives will be improved if your business is wildly successful? This may include paying customers, but it may also include other people, like your family or other loved ones.
What about your community, and/or the world, will be better if your business is in it?
My story
Today, instead of my own story, I want to share a podcast episode about Tiffany Aliche, a successful business owner and multimillionaire based in New Jersey. Tiffany recently told her story on Brown Ambition, the podcast she co-hosts.
In the episode, Tiffany shares that she was so committed to her “why” that she couldn’t even take money from the very first customer who hired her. Check out the full episode to find out why.
If you’re short on time, download the episode or stream it from your phone in the car on the way to/from work. If you don’t have a Spotify account to play the embedded episode below, click here for an Apple Podcasts link.
*Now, I know this episode is longer than the 30 minutes I’ve asked you to block for yourself. Go ahead and do your part of the goal first. Tiffany already has her millions–we are trying to get ours!
After you get a chance to listen to the Brown Ambition episode, I’d love to hear your thoughts about Tiffany’s “why.” For me, I was most moved by how dedicated Tiffany was to her vision, even when things were bleak. Her motivation kept her going when many others would have quit.
Hearing her story will help you understand why you truly have to find your “why” as you embark on this business journey.
Finally, if you’d like to share your vision with me on social media, tag me @shontaviajesq (on all platforms) and use the #VisionChallenge hashtag so that I can see it.
If nothing else, take a picture of your completed workbook page and post it so that I know you’re alive out there.
See you tomorrow!
Join my support network
Download the app
Studies show that you’re more likely to meet your goals when you have accountability partners! To work together with a supportive community of other side-hustlers, creatives and entrepreneurs, you can join my private group by clicking this link or via the Mighty Networks App.
Download the Mighty Network app by clicking here.
Once it downloads, click “Find a Mighty Network” and search for
Shontavia Johnson. You’ll find accountability partners and other content
there that I may not share elsewhere.
New to the #VisionChallenge? You can learn more about it, and sign up to take the challenge, by clicking here.
Sometimes I will refer you to other books, products or services.
While I may be an affiliate of these companies, creators, or authors,
these are all things I have used and trust. I would not recommend these
things to you if I hadn’t experienced them myself.
