This month we invited Rachel Randolph, the Founder of Spec, Introspective Communication Coaching, host of a communication skills meetup, and a certified NLP master practitioner – to share with you the importance of reframing your vision and maintaining your mission. As a communication coach and writer, Rachel finds joy in bringing under explored concepts to life, turning over rocks and finding creative ways to keep the flame of entrepreneurship alive, despite the inevitable struggles. One of the most underutilized tools for maintaining a business mindset is reframing, so that’s what we will be exploring in this article thanks to Rachel.
Reframing is understanding your current business and/or personal situation from an entirely new perspective. This can be very helpful in problem-solving, decision-making and learning. Reframing can help you and your team become more constructively effective – by moving on from a situation in which you and/or team members feel stuck, confused or hit a plateau. The ultimate goal of reframing is to shift your perspective to be more empowered to act while learning at the same time.
Have you ever heard the phrase “You’re only three feet from gold?”
If you haven’t, it’s a phrase dating back to the extraordinary entrepreneurial learnings of Dale Carnegie when he set out to write his bestselling book, Think and Grow Rich. The basic premise is to not give up on your dreams or your life’s mission because you may very well be a mere three feet from striking gold.
When it comes to maintaining a clear vision for your business, this concept applies.
As a business owner, you deal with a mountain of things to think about on a daily basis, both professionally and personally. Understandably, it can be daunting to stay on task and maintain the mission of your business. How can your business’s original core values remain a strong foundation as life, stress, relationships, love, new ideas, and the like flood your day-to-day life?
With the skill of reframing, you can cultivate a mindset that always has you striking gold and obtaining clarity on your vision, no matter how far away it feels.
When you are faced with an obstacle, or your mission feels just out of reach, tap into that reframing skill set. Take a moment and ask yourself, “Are there any other ways I can look at this?”
Asking open-ended questions provides an expanded perception of the experience you’re having — and in that expansion, there’s an opportunity to apply your foundation of core values and lessons learned so you can continue moving forward with your mission. Here’s the heart of it: You can “strike gold” and obtain clarity by “overturning rocks” in a new way.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help reframe your vision when that gold seems to be glinting just out of reach:
-
If I look at this obstacle from the exact opposite perspective, what do I see?
Example: an obstacle is not an obstacle at all. -
How can I use the marketing foundation of my business to see the current obstacle I’m facing differently?
Example: does overcoming this obstacle move my business forward? -
How can adding clarity around what (VISION) I do bring more clarity to how (MISSION) I do it?
Example: doing ______ obviously benefits my mission of ______.Tomato Fish’s VISION – To develop roadmaps & tools that will enable organizations to drive change and increase revenue potential. & MISSION – To evaluate using redMAP, engage with clients, and oversee execution of strategy.
- When I am faced with an obstacle, in what ways does seeing it from multiple perspectives strengthen my mission?
Example: list out the benefits of facing an obstacle.
Why is reframing so powerful?
As a business owner, only you know the extent of what you are going after, how you’re going to do it, and the true extent of the obstacles in the way. The demands of your business, the demands of your personal life, communicating and making decisions all fall on your shoulders. Through reframing, you offer yourself options and clarity that no one else can. Even the best advice is limited by the lens of the advisor.
When you learn to reframe an obstacle, you become your mission’s most powerful advisor and advocate.
Does Rachel’s reframing article now have you wondering if you have all the basics? If so, try taking our quick free marketing assessment quiz and find out a little bit more about what you can do to make sure you don’t have any major gaps in your marketing foundation as your VISION and MISSION should certainly be live and well within your marketing foundation. We’d love to help you get started on the right path for your own strategic marketing journey.
Tomato Fish Is An Indianapolis Consulting Company Focused On Helping Small And Midsize Businesses Make Good Strategic Planning Decisions. Thanks Rachel for your article…
