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Everyone is looking for "the one thing."  They are looking for the "holy grail" that will solve all their problems or suddenly take them from where they are to their nirvana - whatever it is.

People ask me all of the time, what the most important piece of advice I can give them is for success.  To be honest, I don't know.  Every single one of us has a different situation in life and what works for one person won't work for the next, so it's crazy to say "here's the one thing that works for everyone, no matter what."  Maybe that is the answer - the only guarantee in life is that there are no guarantees...

I have pondered the question of "the one thing" for many years and after interviewing and working with hundreds of some of the most successful and highest performers in their fields, I have not found it, but I have found something that I think is better and that everyone can use to live their lives to the fullest.  it is one of the simplest things to understand, but hardest to create in your life.

I'm talking about creating a crystal clear vision of what you want, who you are, and the life you want to live.

Like I said, it is easy to understand, but hard to create.

Here is my best advice for creating the clearest vision for yourself.

Ask Yourself What You Desire Most

Dennis Waitley famously said, "Out of need springs desire, and out of desire springs the energy and the will to win."  Let's change that a little to "Out of want springs desire..."  What do you want more than anything in this world?  Answer that question and then ask yourself the same question 5 more times.  "What do you really, really want?"  Get real with yourself.  Truly discover what you desire most to the point of conviction.  Get to a point where you know what you want so well that your mind cannot be changed and there is no such thing as a "second guess."   In other words, have crystal clarity on what you want.

Once you know what you want, then desire will take over and help to fuel you to reach your vision.

Write Down the Vision

As desire begins to take hold and you find yourself living, breathing, and thinking about your vision, take some time to write it down.  I always liked the exercise of writing a "Day in the Life" paper.  Think about what your life would be like if you reached your vision.  What would your typical day look like?  Write it out and be very specific and descriptive.  For example, if your day has you waking up on your yacht, describe everything about it.  Write about the sea breeze hitting you in the face as you emerge from your state room.  Describe what you see and feel as you look out across the ocean, etc. 

Why do this?  Because it anchors the feeling and reality of the promise of your vision in your mind - and your mind is your most powerful driver to get you to your vision.

It Has to Pass "The Test"

OK, so you have your vision, you know exactly what your day will look and feel like when you reach it, but how do you know that your desire is working for you?  There is a simple test you can use to make sure that your vision is crystal clear and your desire is driving you toward it.  

The simple test is this - Are you so you energized and excited to jump our of bed in the morning, that nothing can stop you?  Do you wake up every day passionate and excited to go after your vision and take another step in bringing it and your day in the life to reality?  

If you cannot get energized or passionate to go after things each day, then you need to go back and work on your vision until it produces those feelings inside of you.  You'll know when you've got it and everything will fall into place.  Your desire will be a force in your life like no other and you will stop at nothing to make the vision a reality.

Don't make it more complicated than it is.  Get inside your head, figure out what you truly, truly want, cement it by writing it down and then go to work.  I cannot guarantee that a specific strategy or tactic will make your a success, but I can guarantee if you find your vision and make sure it is crystal clear, you will have the most important ingredient you need to live your life to fullest.  Get going!

Do you feel like you are stuck in a rut in your business?  Or do you feel like things have gotten a little boring, complacent, or slow?  Maybe, the growth you used to find easy is not so easy any more?

If you have had your company for a while or have worked at mature company for a number of years, you have no doubt had the these times.  You may be going through one right now.  If so, this article is for you.

Businesses go through cycles and in those cycles are peaks and valleys, especially as they mature and grow larger.

One of the things I have noticed as companies mature is that many settle into accepting slower growth and sales.  The mantra becomes, "That's just the way it is.  The old days are over."  Far from it.

After being part of organizations with this problem and coaching others out of it over many years, I have found that one thing that is constant when companies hit these valleys.  It comes down to this:

When companies have the most trouble is usually when the senior people, the people that built the organization and got them there, stop taking time to learn, listen, and spend time with those in the trenches on a daily basis.

You can understand why this is an issue.  If you don't know what is happening on the ground, how can you really make decisions for an organization or with regards to clients?  I was once working with a group of senior leaders who were making decisions for a world-wide salesforce of which none had been in the field in years.  They were relying on surveys to make their decisions!

Surveys are nice, but they certainly don't give you the full picture.  The decisions being made not only affected clients, but also cut commissions to their salesforce - and they hadn't consultant with anyone working the day to day in the trenches.  Not the sales reps, not even the front line sales managers.  Bad move.

If this group had moved forward with their plan, they would have not only hurt their product and brand with their clients, but greatly disincentivized their salesforce.  That would have led to less sales, profits, and the loss of some great talent.

Thankfully, we worked through it and had the group members take some time and get back in the field and trenches with the people doing the work on a daily basis and listening to clients first hand.  As you can probably predict, there were some amazing insights that they gained.  They ended up reworking everything and not only giving the clients what they really wanted (which was different than what their surveys said), but also created some great incentives for the salesforce that energized them and helped them to further succeed.

Whether you are a large or small business, in leadership, or consult for companies, always remember that the further you get away from the trenches, the harder it is to make decisions that really work well.  You have to have the feedback loop of real world information on what is truly happening directly from those doing it.  The better you get at that, the faster you will boost your success and the faster you can reach the next peak in your business.