Don't buy into the bullshit - Carve out your own destiny

“When I was 22, I used to catch up regularly with a couple of mates for what we called mastermind sessions; Steve, James, Michael and I had chats about business, our future and what we wanted to achieve. We were young, ambitious, and super-excited about life. 

So one night, we decided to try this “future-setting” exercise where we had to imagine what we wanted our lives to look like in five years time. The idea was to create a really clear and detailed vision of the future for each of us to work towards. 

In my journal, I set the date for exactly five years later, to the day. Then I started imagining what I wanted the next five years to look like – and when I started writing, this vision poured out of me. I saw myself getting married, buying a big home, having my first kid, killing it in business and helping others do the same. I also wrote about my friend’s journeys, because it mattered to me that we were in this together. 

I was 29 when I found this letter under some notepads in an old drawer. I completely forgot that I even wrote it. When I opened it up and read it back I was like… Holy fuck. I couldn’t believe how close it was to reality. I was 25 when I got married to my beautiful wife, and 27 when I had my first kid,, exactly as I’d mapped out. I was pretty close to my business goals as well. It was scary. Almost like by doing this exercise and visualising my future, I’d created the roadmap for my own destiny”

Greg Allan, founder of the Electricians Success Academy

One of the very first things we try to teach at The Academy is the importance of goal-setting, and the importance of reaching for a higher quality of life.

If you’re serious about taking your electrical business and personal growth to the next level, the first thing you need to do is take a deep dive inside yourself to nail down what it is you really want. Then, you need to reverse engineer a path to get it.  

The process of imagining your future and defining what success looks like to you, is one of the most fundamental and powerful techniques we teach at The Academy; it’s actually the secret sauce.

That’s why in this article, we’re going to break down the “future setting” method so that you can stop buying into the bullshit limitations you set on yourself, and what others expect from you. Once you let go of that, you can start manifesting your destiny. The experts call this the self-fulfilling prophecy.

If you’re just going through the motions, and hoping business will pick up or that things will change on their own, that’s not good enough. You need to start taking responsibility for your business, and your growth. Otherwise, you’ll continue to feel like you’re running on the spot, without the time, money or freedom you need.

Your five-year plan is like writing an all-binding contract to yourself. But don’t make the mistake of just thinking about what you can achieve in five years, or what you think is attainable – think endgame. What does the ideal life look like for you? The destiny you envision should seem extreme.

Once you know where you want to be, you need to make sure the things you’re doing are actually aligned with your goals – if you want to own a home, or a boat, or a nice car, how are those late nights on the town or those four-figure sports bets contributing?

A five year plan forces you to shift from thinking short-term, into thinking long-term. That’s where you need to be, cutting out the shit that isn’t relevant to your future.  

I often hear people saying they want money, they want to run successful businesses, and that’s all good – but you should always ask yourself “Why?” Why do you really want this?

Because the why is what’s going to keep you firing - especially during the hard times.

If your future isn’t totally clear to you right now, this exercise is exactly what you need to bring it into perspective. 

Because if you don’t have a clear and vivid vision of where you want to be, how can you expect to get there? 

Step One: Write down your five year goal.

Be as specific and ambitious as possible.

Often, the guys we work with sell themselves short. They say they want to put another tradie on within the next five years; so we tell them to 10x that. Why aim to put one tradie on when you can put on ten?

The other mistake people make is using the success of others as a benchmark for their own. If you compare yourself to others, you’ll only cap what you can achieve. Think bigger than that, and remember – their “why” is not yours. Be true to who you are, and what you want.

Once you’re amped up, you need to find a quiet space, grab your journal, and make specific, concrete statements about the future; what does your life look like in five years time, and what milestones do you want to hit along the way? 

Where do you want to live?

Who do you want to live with?

How many kids do you want?

Who are your friends? Who’s got your back?

How much money do you want to be making?

What would you like to own?

Where do you want to have travelled?

What else comes to mind when you think about your future?

Imagine it, and record it. A lot of the time people don’t realise how ambitious they really are until they do this exercise – Don’t doubt your vision if it seems extreme, just own it.

Next, you need to start reverse engineering your vision – this means working backwards from your five-year plan to determine how you’re going to get there. Which brings us to the next step.

Step Two: Write down your one-year goal

A five year vision will give you perspective of what your future looks like, and the one year goal will give you the trajectory, like the take-off for a rocket being launched into outer space. 

You need to break down your vision into manageable sections so you can see the path to that goal clearly.

What do you have to do in the next 12 months to be on track to hit that five year target?

For example, if you want to have a team of ten tradies in five years – you’ll need to bring on two this year. So how are you going to bring in that extra work? How are you going to implement the systems to support extra staff?

Step Three: Write down a monthly goal and daily action steps

In other words, it’s time to cut the bullshit. You’re going to pull the trigger today.

What action steps can you take each week push you towards your goal? Is it an extra hour of marketing and lead generation? Maybe enrolling in an academy program tailored to what you’re wanting to learn? Is it just building relationships?

Whatever it is, you can start building towards your five-year vision today. Then you need to commit to continuing to build your future every day, laying the foundations for your vision brick by brick.

At the Academy, we’ve helped thousands of electricians map out their five-year vision, put together a strategy to get them there, and helped them grow and level up to each milestone.

If you want to learn more, book yourself in for a chat or visit our Facebook group to check out some more content. We’ve got videos and articles designed to help electricians of all experience levels.

So don’t buy into the bullshit – Carve out your destiny today.