Keep on building.

Now that the Super Bowl is over there is a new champion and we applaud the effort of a team that overcame obstacles, adversity, injuries, and the hardest fought games than they faced all season. Hats off to the Packers for an excellent season and superior teamwork. Everyone was excited (except Steelers fans) and for the moment we all tipped out hats to the new champions.

Interestingly enough, the very next day the headline in several sports pages was a prediction for the Super Bowl next year and already picking another team that will win it all. So much for letting someone savor victory.

Truth be told, many teams have been working feverishly on picking players for the draft, assessing and making coaching and personnel changes, and other details of the upcoming season. Even though it is a 17 week season, teams work are working 52 weeks of the year. A few select teams have been aggressively making trades and working deals for the draft. It never stops.

That brings me to a great parallel in business. I have been in more sales cycles than I can care to remember. Constantly working on hitting objectives, qualifying for club trips and maximizing earning potential. My point is this. You have to be a farmer. Yes a farmer. A farmer is one who is focused on this year’s crop, but is thinking way ahead to next year. He is thinking about what he will plant, what needs to be done in order to prepare, what equipment he will need, how his crop will fare in the marketplace, and anything else that will affect his crop.

When we are thinking of marketing our products and services, we must be aware of not only the present but the future as well. Plan for the upcoming seasons. Too often we limit our thinking to the present without respect to what the future holds. Yes, the present is important, but careful thought must go into the future if we are going to reap an abundant harvest. Included in this are our business, our reputation, our goals, and our vision for the immediate and remote future. A failure to plan way ahead in the future ensures that we will not get the desires that we truly wish to have. By this I mean we need to really thing deeply about where we want to be in, say 10 years. Will anyone say they want to be in exactly the same place??? I doubt it. SO, set lofty but realistic goals and figure out how you are going to get there. Here are some ways that will help.

• Think Big: In doing this your mind will explode with ideas that will get things moving in the direction you want to go in.
• Determine where you want to be: Figure out where you want to be in a SPECIFIC time frame and begin working away at it
• What needs to happen: Ask yourself what needs to happen in order to achieve your goals and the time involved.
• Develop a road map: Just like planning a trip, after you have taken the above steps make your map and begin in the direction of point A on your map.
• Write it down: If you don’t, it’s just a dream. The more detailed you are, the more clear your reality will become.

Have fun shaping your reality and achieving all that you would have for yourself. And, by the way, there will be obstacles. If it were easy everyone would be doing it. Stay positive and see it come to life in your vision and make it yours.

To your Success!