Regardless of your role within your business, you have goals. You may own the place and set them yourself or you may have a boss that walked in and laid them out for you. Either way, there are things that need to be accomplished before year's end or within a few years.

Reaching some goals is pretty easy so I'm not going to talk about low hanging fruit here. I'm going to talk about a goal that either scares you to death or exhilarates you. Take a moment to think about that big goal and answer these questions:

* What would it mean to you if you actually achieved it?

* How would you act differently after achieving it?

* What would you take on that you're not currently?

* What would you leave behind?

* Why is the goal truly important to you?

* What's standing in your way of achieving it?

I know those questions aren't always easy to answer. But think about how empowering it is to know the answers to those questions. Think about how good it would feel to be on the other side of achieving your goals and being the answers to those questions.

Now, let's focus on what's standing in your way.

Do you have the skills necessary to reach your goal? Do you have the time? Do you have the energy? Think about what's holding you back. If nothing is standing in your way, I'd contend that your goal isn't big enough. Think bigger - dream a little. If you have an income goal that seems well within reach, think bigger. You want your big goal to be attainable, but just out of reach. You want it to scare you a little bit.

More often than not, we have a mental block around what we can achieve. For some people, there's never enough time. For others, they'll never be educated enough or experienced enough. The psychological barrier stops them from moving forward. The attainable goal becomes unreachable and they decide to focus on something else like cleaning their office or tweaking their website. Unfortunately these delay tactics sabotage our future and they stifle our ability to reach our true potential.

We've all heard the stories of the uneducated kid that went on to be the top salesman. Or the working mother raising four children while making a six figure income from two jobs. Or the serial entrepreneur that seems to have the magic touch and every project turns to gold. For these people, failure is not an option. It's not in their vocabulary. They do not let limiting thoughts enter their mind. They have a big and very clear vision for their future and nothing is going to hold them back.

As a business owner, you may have a goal in mind, but you may not be sure how to get here. One thing is for sure, what got you where you are today probably won't get you here you need to be. If business growth is your goal, you have to become a better marketer. You know that you should promote your services, but there's always seems to be something that pops up. There's always billable work that needs to be worked on; and of course, the office could always use a little cleaning. A lot of business owners are mentally blocked then it comes to marketing their own services. And it seems easy to justify. After all, a steady stream of referrals isn't a bad thing. No, it's not a bad thing; but let's go back to your goals - your vision for your business. Is your referral flood generating enough business to get you where you want to be? To quote Michael Gerber, "are you working on your business or in your business?"

The good thing about mental barriers is that they can be broken down. I spend a lot of time with clients determining their barriers to marketing and helping them turn it around. The process isn't difficult, but it does require you be honest with yourself.

Your goals mean something. They're the future of your business - and life. They are your hopes and dreams for your firm. And there are consequences for not achieving them - mainly in the form of lost opportunity. It may seem difficult to quantify lost opportunity. Yet in my experience, you can quantify almost every aspect of your goals; you just have to keep digging. When you start looking at the lost opportunities that result from burying your head in the sand when it's time to market, you realize that your business could be completely different. You begin to realize that you're leaving a lot of money on the table by staying in your comfort zone. If you could no longer think those negative thoughts about marketing, you'd generate more opportunities for growth and profit.

Think about who you would be if you couldn't think limiting thoughts around marketing your business.

If your biggest obstacle is mental, don't let that slow you down. Whether it's getting more training to develop the skills you need or simply changing the way you think about marketing, you control your own destiny. The key is to take action now. Stretch a little outside of your comfort zone. When you dream big about your business and imagine living the life you've always wanted, you're not going to let a little thing like a limiting mindset hold you back.

Nick Rice is an accomplished visionary marketing mentor with both corporate and agency experience in marketing, sales, strategic planning, communications and branding. He works with successful professional service firms that struggle to attract more clients or take their business to the next level.

For 13 years, Nick has given marketing and advertising advice to large companies like IBM, Sabre, Adobe, Lexmark International, Farmers Insurance, Salvation Army and Dell as well as dozens of small professional service businesses.

Learn more at http://www.nick-rice.com

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