Only 14% of Canadians have entrepreneurial ambitions; moreover, that figure is shrinking as we continue moving into the future. The entrepreneurial journey is not a path for the faint-hearted. So by committing to this undertaking, you are demonstrating faith in your ability to flourish, and I’ll tell you what, perhaps most importantly, you’re creating a life of success, service, and satisfaction.
But with any goal, it helps to have a roadmap—a framework of what you can expect. So whether you’re just starting out or you’re currently crushing it, every single one of us on our leadership journey will go through these 6 phases of the dream. Keep reading to learn more.
1. Excitement
Sometimes the dream hits you randomly. You’re going through life, and things feel dull, drab, and dreary. And then an idea or inspiration is sparked; out of nowhere, dopamine floods your thinking as you daydream about your new and exciting entrepreneurial endeavour. I remember when I started to dream about my future. I grew up in an environment with a lot of poverty and hardship. But I started to dream…
And all of a sudden, I felt this massive level of excitement. However, that excitement wasn’t what got me to my dream. It got me started, but it was the next phase that really built momentum and started shifting things around in my life.
2. Exploration
Anybody who has ever had a great idea or concept stir their emotions was in the excitement phase. But with most people, this is usually where the buck stops. It’s at this point (when the excitement for an idea has gripped you) where you now need to explore the idea and get a feel of what it will look like. Moreover, this is the phase where some practical questioning of the business idea can be helpful. For example, you can ask yourself questions such as…
- What are the costs?
- What are the benefits?
- What will the process look like?
- Who will I need to contact to help me?
- How can I get started?
And it’s at this moment; the moment between excitement and exploration that we then begin to move into the third phase of a dream. And this phase is…
3. Execution
Executing on your dream is where the real work begins. The excitement phase offers you the dopamine rush and energy boost of a novel idea; the exploration phase is the “hashing out” of the ideas with a coach or a whiteboard, and now the execution phase is where you’ll move into practical systems and processes. You want to think about maximum productivity at this phase. Your goal is to take this vision of yours and actually turn it into something!
I’ll tell you what, the local cemetery is filled with people who had the excitement of a dream. And they may have even explored it. However, they never executed on it. Now, I’m not judging them for it; it’s tough to execute on your dreams and move from vision to reality. But it’s in the execution phase that you start getting it done.
And I quickly discovered in my execution phase that I started hitting some enemies, and I’m not necessarily talking about people (although they’re out there too). But I’m more so referring to the inner demons that hold us back. It could be…
- Self-doubt
- Insecurity
- Self-sabotage
- Fear of success/failure
- Analysis paralysis
- Perfectionism, etc.
You have to deal with these things; these are the biggest giants you have to slay. Because here’s the deal… If you can slay your mental and emotional giants, you’ll be absolutely unstoppable. And if you navigate this phase correctly, you then move into the next phase which I call…
4. Education
Education is the only thing (I think) that we need more than ever before. Now, what do I mean when I say education? Do I mean going to University or taking some guy’s course or program? Maybe. But there’s a lot of people who go through those kinds of processes who are no smarter than they were before. In fact, many times they’re even dumber because now they “think” they know what they need to know because they took some guy’s course or have letters behind their name. However, they still don’t have education.
Someone once said to me, “If you could take the wisdom of an old person and combine that with the energy of a young person, then you’d have an unstoppable force.” Real education comes through something I call the “School of Hard Knocks.” I’ve experienced this in my own life and business. I was excited when I first started my entrepreneurial journey, but then, I got “punched in the face.” So I experienced the enemies. And some of that stuff was on the inside and other things were on the outside. But because I got kicked in the teeth and experienced the pain, I grew resilient.
So now you can throw pretty much anything at me and I’ll come out the other side unscathed. Why? Because I’m standing on the strong foundation that I built through my past experiences. I don’t have to worry about what’s going to happen today because I got through yesterday. And nothing can beat that real-world education.
5. Enjoyment
You know what? I’m almost tired of people saying, “You just gotta find what you love and do it with all your heart.” It’s just so lame because I love what I do. But I had to fight hard to get where I am. In other words, it’s not like every day it’s tulips and rainbows, and we’re tickling each other behind the ears, and everything is good. You’ve gotta fight. You gotta fight for your dreams, for your victories, and for your future.
And I’ll tell you what, when you have that, what it brings you is a level of enjoyment. And guess what? That is a transferable skill set. You can take it from one business to another; you can take it to your relationships; to your physical health; to how you parent your kids, the list goes on.
Conclusion
Wherever you are in these 6 phases, celebrate it. Honor it. Acknowledge it. Why? Because your dream is worth fighting for; the world needs what you’ve got. And I want you to know that whatever you’re dealing with on your entrepreneurial journey, we’ve got your back. That’s why we’ve created a free resource to help. If you want to scale your business and elevate your thinking, be sure to sign up for our free online course today!
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