{"id":3898,"date":"2023-02-21T20:38:03","date_gmt":"2023-02-21T19:38:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/growth-begins-with-you-part-1\/"},"modified":"2024-05-13T12:28:52","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T10:28:52","slug":"growth-begins-with-you-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/growth-begins-with-you-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Growth begins with you\u2019 part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>Think BIG, to be bigger\u2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Part 1 of series: Growth begins with you &#8211; watch the introduction <a href=\"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/growth-begins-with-you-series\/\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4111  alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/big-tree-scaled-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"427\" height=\"310\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The global economy continues to be rocked by all manner of negative factors, with rising interest rates continuing to adversely affect economic activity:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The IMF\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imf.org\/en\/Publications\/WEO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">very latest<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> World Economic Outlook projects that global growth will fall to 2.9% end of this year<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Investment in emerging markets and developing economies <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldbank.org\/en\/publication\/global-economic-prospects\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is predicted<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to fall<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employment rates across Europe are at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.weforum.org\/agenda\/2023\/01\/davos-2023-this-is-europe-s-economy-in-2023-according-to-the-head-of-the-european-central-bank\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">historically low levels<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A wage-price spiral makes it harder for the European Central Bank to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www2.deloitte.com\/us\/en\/insights\/economy\/global-economic-outlook\/weekly-update.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">control inflation<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But I\u2019m not here to spread bad news. I am here to tell you: now is not the time for fear or complacency. With crisis comes opportunity.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Look out and lean in<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When the economic climate around us, over which we have no control, is stormy, it\u2019s easy to feel that there\u2019s not much we can do as entrepreneurs and business owners. Keep your head down, accept that things will be hard for a while and try to keep going may feel like the only way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But acceptance and fear can set you on a backwards course as competitors surge ahead. Opportunities missed, potential remain untapped.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Think big, to fuel growth<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now more than ever is the time for positivity, for big ideas. Thinking big is how you become bigger. When you start talking the language of big, you feel big. You project big. You propel your business forward to the next stage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thinking big and painting a vision of a brighter future is absolutely not about changing the fundamental essence of who you are as a person, or altering the business purpose that guides you. These are the unique strengths that guide your company and communicate your values to clients and customers. Thinking big is about <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/guides\/business\/how-to-grow-your-business\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">growing your business<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on your own terms, staying connected to the things you love and believe in.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And when thinking big is fully rooted in your company\u2019s purpose, great things can happen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Visionary thinking<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Growing your business begins by setting out what you want to change. By thinking in terms of vision, you inspire the right people to join your journey who help you discover that it is possible to get where you want to be. What you have today is not what you want to have tomorrow, think beyond where you are now and visualise where you want to be. Look up from the everyday and paint a vision of the change you want to see. Imagine the future. Be excited for the journey.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Re-framing the future as full of possibility, rather than serving up more of the same is crucial if you are to take the right next step, as one of our Wyseway graduates, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/luces-growth-story\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Luce explains<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI couldn\u2019t see where the opportunities were going to come from. The spirit was flat, growth wasn\u2019t there because I didn\u2019t want to find it anymore.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h2><b>Discover the joy of the journey<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4110  alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/joy-of-the-journey-scaled-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"416\" height=\"234\" \/>Vishen Lakhiani, in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/en\/book\/show\/50984757\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">his book<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2018The Buddha and the Badass: The secret spiritual art of succeeding at work\u2019, really helped me to see the power of thinking BIG. It&#8217;s natural for us to think (and especially those of us with our own businesses) that work is about us. It\u2019s not, it\u2019s about the journey we are taking to where we want to go, not the outcome. Once you start to look at it this way, thinking BIG becomes freeing. Transformational.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So many of the entrepreneurs I work with (and I include myself), are afraid of not making the picture of success that they hold come to life. We may be embarrassed or ashamed that we could even consider the possibility of making that vision come true. Perhaps that&#8217;s why we keep the bigger picture hidden only to ourselves, for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nesslabs.com\/fear-of-judgement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fear of judgement<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Afraid that by bringing our vision out of our heads and hearts, it is no longer ours.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But when we remove ourselves from the centre of everything, as Vischen suggests, we can think bigger. Having a vision of where we are going makes it easier to enjoy the journey. The joy of the journey helps us attract what we need to make that journey, to make the difference. Fulfilment follows this discovery, magnified by the people we meet along the way.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Clarity of vision<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ve spoken with Dame Mary Perkins, co-founder of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.specsavers.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Specsavers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, to understand what drove her to build her idea of making glasses an affordable accessory into a hugely successful business operating in 13 countries and employing 30,000 people: <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4107  alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/20210508_142411-scaled-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"323\" height=\"602\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI wanted people to have as many spectacles as an optometrists\u2019 partner and family\u201d<br \/>\n<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dame Mary Perkins, co-founder of Specsavers<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But whilst her founding vision and purpose was clear, when she set out she had no idea what it would look like in 30 years\u2019 time. For her it was about the journey, not the destination &#8211; she wanted to make it fun and fulfilling. It\u2019s fair to say that she and Doug are still having fun today!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doug always carried his five-year vision with him, summarised on an A4 sheet of paper. Keeping this vision close enables him to make decisions today that meet the needs of his customers in five years\u2019 time, including the right people you need tomorrow. It also explains why he came back from holiday in the early days with an IT manager!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alan Gilmore, Art Director for two of the Harry Potter films, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/interview-with-art-director-alan-gilmore\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">told me<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that he always shakes hands with people he meets as if he will know them for the rest of his life. He thinks about what skills they have, how they could work with his team in the future. Sometimes this will become true, and maybe that\u2019s because in that moment his visionary approach changed the course of the journey they will go on together.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Think of the future difference you wish to make, like many visionaries before you, you don&#8217;t need to know how to get there, just believe in it to inspire others who do.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Trust yourself, follow your vision<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here at Wyseminds, our goal is to support female entrepreneurs like you to grow your business on your own terms, staying connected to the things you love and believe in.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your business is unique and special precisely because it\u2019s yours. Brought to life by you, nurtured by you, part of you. If you\u2019re feeling that you\u2019re not clear where to go next, how to take growth to the next stage, then the first step is to identify what you want to change. Visualise what \u2018bigger\u2019 looks like and free yourself to take the journey there. Think BIG.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In my next blog in this trilogy series, I\u2019ll be looking at the power of subtraction \u2013 the value we can bring to our businesses by saying goodbye to things that are no longer adding value. Taking only what you need on the journey. A difficult, but necessary process that ensures we always face forwards, towards continued growth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the meantime, try out our online support programme\u00a0 for free, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/yourjourney.wyseminds.com\/registration\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to discover how you too can become a visionary thinker and think BIG.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Think BIG, to be bigger\u2026 Part 1 of series: Growth begins with you &#8211; watch the introduction here. The global economy continues to be rocked by all manner of negative factors, with rising interest rates continuing to adversely affect economic activity: The IMF\u2019s very latest World Economic Outlook projects that global growth will fall to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3899,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[60,187,188],"class_list":["post-3898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-growth","tag-business-growth","tag-think-big","tag-visionary-thinking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3898"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4168,"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3898\/revisions\/4168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}