Chase your Childhood Dream

Overcoming Fear While on a plane from Denver to Milwaukee, I had the pleasure of watching the movie King Richard, the story of Venus and Serena Williams who both became world champion tennis players thanks to the perseverance and tenacity of their father. He dreamt of their success when they were young and pushed them to colossal heights never reached by any other female athlete.   I was astounded by Richard’s faith in his vision for his daughters and his willingness to sacrifice his time, energy and reputation to see it come to fruition. Nothing could stop him, not poverty, critics, lack of education or even reports of abuse that were untrue. As we all know, his dream became a reality.   Not long after that, I began listening to the autobiography of Bethany Hamilton, a professional surfer whose left arm was eaten by a tiger shark when she was a teenager. Within a year of her accident, she was on her board again and winning competitions. She even says that she wouldn’t change the accident if she could. Her perseverance and desire to pursue her dream despite major setbacks is truly remarkable and inspiring.   Both these stories are examples of the seemingly impossible, becoming possible. These are ordinary people with extraordinary ability to fight fear. Had Richard been afraid of failure, or being laughed at by others, he would not have succeeded. Had Bethany been afraid of sharks or what people would say about her, she would not have gotten back in the water.   Fear keeps the impossible from being possible. It keeps us in the same place, too paralyzed to move forward, too paralyzed to overcome trials. However, without fear, the impossible is always possible. I keep coming back to Richard and Bethany. They persevered, didn’t let fear take hold, and they achieved what they had set out to do, no matter how impossible it seemed.   So, do they have a special sauce? Do they have tricks or magic or a particular chromosome that most of us don’t? Nope. Is this something that any of us can do? Yup. Is it easy? Nope. But, if you happen to have a dream—to build a business, to lose weight, to write a novel, to travel the world finding and eating the best cuisine, to climb mountains, whatever it is—I would put money on the fact that once you face down your fear, you will do it.   Here's a couple tips on how to start going about doing that:   Recognize your God-given passion and skills. This one needs a lot of prayer. I, for one, struggle with identifying this. What is my one passion? I want to do LOTS of things, so sometimes I sit doing nothing because I simply can’t choose. Should I write a book or start a Youtube channel or become a life coach or maybe purchase and run a business? Truth is, I could do any of that, but when someone asks me about that intersection where my passion meets my skill set, I know what my dream is. Sometimes, I’m just too scared to admit it because if I pursue that dream, couldn’t I fail? Which leads to the next point.   Identify the fear. You don’t have to face it yet. Just start calling it out. Fear can wear many faces. It’s sneaky. It shows up in the form of greed or a scarcity mentality. I couldn’t possibly do that, I don’t have enough money. It can show up in isolation or loneliness. I won’t talk about my dreams because others will think I’m crazy or laugh at me.   Recently I lashed out at my husband regarding something he said. I heard something he didn’t actually say and responded to my fear instead. The areas in your life where you feel tension, those are the places to look at first. When you have anxiety, anger, frustration, or irritation—are you actually feeling fear? Are you actually letting fear win?   Trust that it’s going to be ok. Now you must work. Once you identify the fear, you now need to choose to trust that it’s going to be ok. If someone reams you out on social media, you lose the money, your business doesn’t grow for a year, or your worst fears come true like you get half eaten by a shark, trust that even then, life goes on, it’s all going to be ok. You can always keep going, despite rhyme or reason or others telling you can’t, you can.   Practice talking back to the fear each time it crops up. Each time you feel its slippery wet claws creeping up your neck, you talk back to it. You say, “No, you’re not real. No matter what you say, or what could happen, I’m going to succeed, no matter what.” Keep doing this, and it’ll get easier, I promise.   Choose what you listen to. Now that you are on track to fulfilling your dreams, now that you have identified those voices of fear in your life and started talking back to them, you need to keep fighting for it. Fear is relentless and the devil is good at cloaking lies that are designed to make you afraid. News cycles, “the economy will tank”, other people’s fears, “what’s this world coming to?”, or social media influencers, “you can’t have what you want, unless you buy this thing.” All lies. Be aware of your influences and who you are surrounding yourself with. Don’t spend more time listening to the negative voices than the positive ones.   Do it. This is my favorite piece of advice. It’s so simple and yet so challenging. Stop talking about the thing you want to do, stop thinking about it, stop pining after it or writing about it in your journal. Just do it. You have fought the voices, you are punching fear in the face, now you just need to show up and play tennis, surf, write your novel, design those shoes or be a great mom. Just do it. And freaking have the best time doing it.   It's not a perfect formula. I don’t know what is. But I know that there’s something here. I know that God created us in his image and as a result, we have greatness within us. The stories around us remind us of this. The stories of Richard and Bethany and many other inspiring activists, athletes, writers, singers, designers, builders and more-- are real and they showcase that the seemingly impossible is actually possible. Let that inspire you because it can be you who achieves a dream. It really can.   Written by Ashley Buenger

Recently, I was asked by our executive business coach to cast a 3-year vision plan for the company. It sounded like an easy task till I realized the deadline for this plan was coming up fast. There were so many questions and doubts in my mind on how to do this well. I started out by doing research on where “the experts” felt the direction of the next 3 years would be going. As I was reading it was clear that I needed to not follow the insights of others but really look at what was being successful for our company in the past and currently. I needed to trust my instincts and put together a 3-year plan I knew was realistic for the company I know. Here is what I did to get this 3-year plan put together.   What would be the #1 success for the company in the next 3 years? What must the company focus on to ensure our success? What dreams do I have for the business? What calculated risk should the business take? What has worked well for us in the past that should be brought back?   Grow Your Net Income Everyone talks about the total revenue number because it’s usually the largest. We get ranked in our industry by # of employees and annual revenue. Those are great numbers to build up, but I learned in the past nine years as President that the #1 number I need to focus on is the NET INCOME. This determines if your company is healthy and truly growing for the future. As a leader, I must ask myself, “Am I running the operations well enough to take care of my people, pay my bills and have enough left over to build for the future?” To protect your business, you must know your financials inside and out. In the past year I realized how important it is to have clear financials so you can lead your company well. If you don’t, you will be driving the ship without a compass or guiding instruments. How do you know if you are in shallow water? What happens when you can’t see what is ahead of you? How do you not allow a crash to happen? It’s so important you take time to study your financials with your certified public accountant and keep asking questions till its crystal clear to you. Your company will be successful when you can earn enough money to pay your bills and reinvest leftover money into your people, tools, and processes.   Grow Your Top Services I started a phrase eleven years ago “All Roads Lead To Services!” because I knew this was our #1 focus for the next twenty-five of our business. It was a new focus that was going to build a stronger foundation for our future. Over the years we have offered many services but looking at the next three years required me to see what was important to our industry and what we did well as a solution provider. Taking time to analyze and rank your services will give your direction on how you can grow your business quickly. I’m thankful to have a wonderful and gifted employee who does all the analysis for us. He gives me clear insights to the opportunities won, how many clients use the service and how those services helped the business grow its’ net income. I was able to see a plan to focus on the top three areas that our clients look to us as top solution providers. It’s so important for every leader to know the top services the business offers so you can continue to build success from those offerings.   Dream Big It was fun for me to dream big on how I would want to see the company be successful in the next three years outside of financials. I want the company to be recognized by others for our expertise. It’s wonderful that we believe in our offerings, but it really is special when others see it from outside of your team. Over the years I have enjoyed reading the top lists in all industries. My goals is to achieve the top list as a top solutions provider in three territory markets. I want to help others feel confident in our services. One of the best ways to build that confidence is by earning a top ranking in your industry. Use this recognition to build excitement in your team. Advertise the recognition to win new clients and top talent. Leave no doubt that you are a top solutions provider in your industry.   Take A Calculated Risk I am not a huge risk taker. My wife and I joke that we are the only couple to go to Vegas and not gamble. That is not 100% true. When my wife was in the bathroom, I took a dollar and played a slot machine. Guess what happened? I won nothing. I do love playing Texas Hold Em on my iPhone because I am not playing with real money. In business, I like to take calculated risks not foolish ones. Over the years we have tried many things through marketing and events. It’s fun to try new and exciting approaches to win business opportunities but it was always within a budget. I needed to ask myself, “What big and calculated risk should I take to help the business grow in the next 3 years? What would help our future?” Think on how you could grow quickly vs. organically. This is not a quick decision but taking a calculated risk should be on a leader’s mind if you want to see calculated growth.   Rinse & Repeat What has worked well for your business in the past, but you have shelved lately? I look back at our success over the years and see we have done great job with our events. We want our clients and prospects to experience fun while building trust with our team. Covid shelved a lot of events and its still slowly ramping up. To build our next 3 years, we need to get back to doing events with others. You cannot replace human connection with a video call. Its important the event brings awareness and knowledge about the company’s services. People want to work with people they can trust and that begins with how you communicate your services. Help identity the problem your clients are facing and provide a solution that will take that problem away. Making it easy for everyone to understand so the decision to use your services is the clear choice for them. Every person wants to feel valued and appreciated so show them the love. We plan on doing that with a lot of events over the next 3 years!     *JOIN US FOR A LIVE EVENT ON FEBRUARY 9TH* Resilient Leadership: Leadership in Uncharted Territory With guest speaker Tod Bolsinger! Register HERE Use discount code: MEMBER23 for 15% off registration